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UT Tyler to Launch Social Work Degree Program

February 13, 2020

Media Contact: Beverley Golden
Senior Director of Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.566.7303

The University of Texas at Tyler announced that a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree program has been approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The program is intended to help address the growing need for social workers in today’s society.

Pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the program may be available in fall 2020.

“There is a critical shortage of social workers across the country, and particularly in our own East Texas region,” said Dr. Amir Mirmiran, UT Tyler provost and vice president for academic affairs. “As society grows and becomes more complex, so do the social issues with which it must deal. Social workers are an important part of a well-functioning society.”

Because of its rural nature, aging population, economic challenges and a growing drug epidemic, East Texas has a unique need for social workers, according to information in the 2018 Comptroller’s report.

“East Texas organizations have expressed a strong need for a social work program in the region. We are listening and working closely with them to build programs that will impact East Texas,” said Dr. Neil Gray, UT Tyler College of Arts and Sciences dean.

The Department of Social Sciences will deliver the program in both face-to-face and online formats. Students will learn such social work foundations as promoting human well-being and applying preventative and intervention methods to social problems at individual, group and community levels.

This will be the only BSW program offered by a public university within 50 miles of Tyler.

There are four primary areas for social work employment: child, family and school; healthcare; mental health and substance abuse; and social worker teaching. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the projected need for social workers in Texas is on the rise. Child, family and school is the largest employment area, but all employment areas are experiencing good or excellent growth.

For more information, contact Dr. Thomas Guderjan, Department of Social Sciences chair, 903.566.7418.

A member of the prestigious UT System, The University of Texas at Tyler focuses on student success and innovative research in the more than 80 undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered to nearly 10,000 students. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News and World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.