Rooted in Boston.
About the School of Social Work
The Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) educates students to address the world’s most pressing social problems in innovative and effective ways. We collaborate with communities embedded in social dilemmas to design enduring solutions and prioritize equity, justice, and inclusion in everything we do.
Our Vision
Improving vulnerable lives through pioneering social work education, research, scholarship, and practice at home and in the world.
-
Dean Gautam N. Yadama
"Engaging in place-based work and transcending disciplines to tackle complex social problems amplifies and strengthens the contributions of the School of Social Work. When we are in partnership with communities and with scholars from across our universities, our work not only has translational impact, but solutions to the world’s most complex problems are within closer reach."
Dean's Impact Reports
Tackling Complex Global Challenges: Our Collective Response
Humanitarian crises are increasingly an outcome of complex emergencies. Millions of families, women, and children are affected and displaced by war, civil strife, climate and environmental risk, famine, and epidemics around the globe, including those arriving on the doorstep of the U.S. border.
The world needs a community of practitioners to rise and meet these challenges. For the past 18 years, faculty and staff of the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) have been preparing social work practitioners for careers in global social work with a particular focus on systems strengthening, capacity building, and accompaniment.
Serving Latinx Communities: Our Collective Response
The demand for social workers trained to respond to the needs and aspirations identified by Latinx communities, from culturally and linguistically appropriate social services to accessible mental health and healthcare, is urgent. Through award-winning academic programs and research, the BCSSW has established a community-centered approach to meet these aspirations and needs.
Crisis Migration: Our Collective Response
Ten faculty members in the Boston College School of Social Work are working to address the compound needs of migrants who have been forced to flee their homes because of war, natural disasters, political upheaval, and other problems around the world.
BCSSW Initiatives
Latinx Leadership Initiative
The LLI develops leaders equipped to work with the Latinx community on sustainable solutions for complex problems.
Black Leadership Initiative
This initiative supports, develops, and prepares MSW-level practitioners regarding issues faced by the Black community.
Trauma Integration Initiative
The goal of this initiative is to establish BCSSW as a national thought leader in trauma-informed social work education within three domains: curricula, field education/student formation, and research.
Global Symposium on Forced Migration
"“BC is a global university, and opportunities to come together and talk about issues that extend far beyond our campus are critically important.”
At a time when the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has reached unprecedented levels, the Boston College School of Social Work’s Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) and the Trinity College Dublin Centre for Forced Migration Studies gathered together at a symposium in Dublin to discuss the spectrum of resources and services necessary to aid such populations in remaking their lives.
BCSSW at a Glance
117
Number of Full- and Part-time Faculty
8
U.S. News and World Report Ranking (2024)
613
MSW Students
22
PhD Students
-
Global Practice at BCSSW
Boston College School of Social Work student Natalia Evens De Menezes reflects on her field experience in Kigali, Rwanda, with the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA).
Our Community
Our core commitments to equity, justice, and inclusion emphasize empathy, collaboration, and innovation in all that we do to foster an environment of support and success.