Bachelor’s in social work recipients practice in a variety of social welfare settings, and with a variety of populations. The School of Social Work welcomes diversity and invites interest and applications from those who seek to participate in a profession committed to helping people.
Bachelor’s in Social Work Admission Requirements
Courses required for eligibility in the bachelor’s in social work program must be completed with a grade of C or higher. SOCWRK 101 and 201 must be completed with a grade of B or better.
A minimum GPA of 2.5, or a minimum GPA of 2.8 from the two previous full-time semesters is required at the time of application. In order to maintain candidacy status once admitted, students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 in required social work courses.
Typically, students accepted into the program have completed between 60 and 70 total credits. Students may apply for upper-division status during the semester in which they are completing the required foundational studies and other prerequisite courses.
Students must be accepted at Boise State before they can apply to the BSW program.
BSW Program Prerequisite Courses
The following table contains prerequisite courses for the BSW program.
| Course Prefix | Course Number or Description |
|---|---|
| ENGL | 101, 102 |
| UF | 100, 200 |
| FA | Foundations of Visual and Performing Arts |
| FH | Foundations of Literature and Humanities |
| FM | Foundations of Mathematics. (MATH 153 is recommended.) |
| FN | Biology – must take BIOL 100, 107, 191, or 227 (BIOL 103 does not fulfill the requirement) |
| FN | Second Foundations of Natural, Physical, and Applied Science (Please note: The second FN course cannot be a Biology course.) |
| COMM | Any course in communications. (COMM 101 is recommended.) |
| PSYC | 101 |
| ECON | 201 or 202 |
| SOC | 101 (SOC 230 is no longer required. Please enter IP on your application.) |
| SOCWRK | 101, 201 |
| POLS | 101 |
Please note, the school does not approve academic credit for prior work or life experience.
Apply to the Bachelor’s in Social Work Program
Students who wish to enroll in the bachelor’s in social work program must first apply and be accepted to upper-division status for the bachelor’s in social work. The school reviews and approves applications for admission to upper-division status each October and March. Applications for students to begin upper-division coursework in the spring semester should apply by October 4th 2024. To begin upper-division courses in the fall semester, students should apply by March 7th, 2025. Application deadlines are always the first Friday in March and October.
Admission to candidacy for the degree is determined by faculty evaluation of a student’s application. Applications are judged by the following criteria:
- Quality of written statement
- Recommendation letters
- Quality and quantity of work/volunteer/service learning experience in the human services
- Criminal background
Application Forms
Students should review and complete the academic checklist and appropriate plan with an academic advisor before applying. Applicants must also complete a background check (a fee applies) and two letters of recommendation. One letter should be an academic reference, and one should be a professional reference (work or volunteer). Students should also have a letter from their service learning. Boise State students completing SOCWRK 201 will automatically have their letters submitted, transfer students will need to submit their own on the application. The service learning letter is in addition to the two letters of recommendation previously mentioned.
Before filling out the application, please use the accompanying “BSW Application Materials” table to be sure that you have all your application materials ready – the application must be completed in one session, and you will not be able to revise the application once it is submitted.
When you are ready to fill out the application, click the “Apply Now” button to be taken to the online form. The application is best completed from an Incognito tab with your browser cleared.
BSW Application Materials
The following table contains the application material item, description, and requirement.
| Item | Description | Required for Application |
|---|---|---|
| Application instruction can be found here. | Detailed instructions for the application process – includes student essay guidelines. | Download and read in preparation. |
| Student Essays | Two student essays are required for the BSW application. Each essay should be between 750 and 1000 words in length. | Yes – These will be attached. Please use Word, Google Docs, or PDF when attaching these to your application. |
| Academic Checklist, 2015/16 – 2017/18 | Checklist used for advising purposes – it is recommended all applicants meet with a major advisor to complete this before applying to the BSW program.
See the undergraduate advising page if you need to schedule a meeting with an advisor. Undergraduate Advising |
Yes – You will use the information from the first page of the checklist to fill in the online application. Please see Application Instructions. |
| Academic Checklist, 2018/19 – 2021/22 | Checklist used for advising purposes – it is recommended all applicants meet with a major advisor to complete this before applying to the BSW program.
See the undergraduate advising page if you need to schedule a meeting with an advisor. Undergraduate Advising |
Yes – You will use the information from the first page of the checklist to fill in the online application. Please see Application Instructions. |
| Academic Checklist, 2022/23 – present | Checklist used for advising purposes – it is recommended all applicants meet with a major advisor to complete this before applying to the BSW program.
See the undergraduate advising page if you need to schedule a meeting with an advisor. Undergraduate Advising |
Yes – You will use the information from the first page of the checklist to fill in the online application. Please see Application Instructions. |
| Resume or CV (Work/Volunteer/Service Learning History) |
Including Type, Organization, Title, Supervisor Name, Duties, Hr/Week, and the start and end date of each activity. You are required to upload a resume. | Yes – You will need to have a completed resume to upload to the application. |
| BSW Notarized Forms | Forms which must be completed, signed, notarized, scanned and uploaded as part of the BSW online application. • Criminal & Substantiated Abuse History Disclosure • Verification of Candor and Accuracy • Ethical Statement. Please DO NOT sign any forms needing to be notarized until you are in the presence of the Notary Public. Picture identification is required. *The School of Social Work is currently not taking appointments for notarizing forms at this time. Some alternate options are: most banks have a notary on-staff and will notarize for their clients either free of charge or for a small fee. If you don’t have a local bank or if yours does not have a notary, usually small postal shops also have notary services for a small fee (ie: Mailboxes Etc., The UPS Store, Postal Annex, etc.). Be sure to bring with you a picture ID with your name and signature on it and to NOT pre-sign the forms (only sign forms in the presence of the notary).* |
Yes – These documents will need to be available to upload. |
| Unofficial Transcript | A PDF copy of Boise State unofficial transcript – this document can be generated in the Student Center through myBoiseState.
Transfer students should include their unofficial Boise State transcript once all credits from other institutions have been included. If for any reason your Boise State transcript doesn’t show all your credits, or if are currently enrolled in a different school, you may upload your previous schools transcripts as well. |
Yes – This document will need to be available to upload. See Application Instructions for information on how to generate the unofficial transcript. |
| Letter of Recommendation Form (Evaluation Form) Online Version | Two letters of recommendation are needed. One should be academic, and one should be professional from either work or a volunteer activity.
The letters should be completed using either the online form or the paper form. If the reference writer chooses to use the paper form, it will need to be placed in a sealed envelope with their signature over the seal. The envelope will then need to be dropped off at the School of Social Work office on the Boise State campus (7th floor of the Education Building). Emailed versions of the paper copy will not be accepted. If the student has taken SOCWRK 201 through Boise State, their service learning letter will automatedly be sent to the BSW department. If they took the equivalent class through another school, they will need to submit their service learning letter via the application. This letter is in addition to the two letters of recommendation previously mentioned. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO ACCESS THE INFORMATION IN YOUR LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION, PLEASE USE THE PDF FORM, NOT THE ONLINE FORM. |
Yes – These are in addition to the online application process. |
| Background Check Procedure | Instructions and timetable for background check processing through CastleBranch is available in Application Instructions. A fee applies. | Yes – However this is in addition to the online application process through CastleBranch. |
| Background narrative | If you have misdemeanors, felonies, or anything else that will show up on a background check, a background narrative is required. Please take some time to explain these things, as well as what you learned from the experience. | Yes- If you have flags on your background check. |