The Advanced Standing Online Bilingual Master of Social Work (MSW) is an innovative offering by the School of Social Work to ensure that communities have professional social workers who are linguistically competent and culturally aware of the nuances faced by individuals, families, groups, and communities when faced with receiving services. This unique program seeks to enhance the knowledge, values, and skills in order to work with vulnerable, disenfranchised individuals in society. The program is part of the Micro Specialization with a Migration Studies track and focuses on Latinx/e communities. Advanced Standing Students will complete a total of 23 credit hours to earn their MSW degree.

The courses are taught in both English and Spanish by faculty who are language proficient in Spanish. It is important that students are proficient in both languages for the coursework as well as the internship settings. Meaningful, application-oriented coursework and assignments will ensure that you are prepared to join the workforce with confidence and serve the people that need your support towards leading a sustained, fruitful, healthy life.

Related Programs

Curriculum

If you have earned a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), you can apply for the Advanced Standing program. Visit the MSW Advanced Standing Option page to see if you qualify. Our curriculum is a well-thought-out sequence of courses that prepares you to practice as a professional social worker in your community. The course content and training will also enable you to sit for the licensure exams in your respective states.

The academic curriculum of the Advanced Standing Bilingual MSW program is only 23 credit hours. This option allows BSW graduates to complete an MSW in just 4 consecutive semesters, including a Summer semester.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Specialized Courses
SOWK 632	Clinical Social Work with Older Adults	3
SOWK 680	Advanced Micro-Level Practice	3
SOWK 682	Advanced Mezzo and Micro Practice 1	3
or SOWK 681	Advanced Mezzo & Macro Practice
SWII 632	Internship Instruction III & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SWII 632S	Integrative Seminar	1
SWII 633	Internship Instruction IV & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SOWK Elective Course		3
Micro Practice Specialization
Migration Studies Track
SOWK 730	Immigration Dynamics and U.S. Social Policy	3
SOWK 731	Social Work Practice with Refugees and Immigrants	3
SOWK 732	Migration, Social Justice, and Human Rights	3
Total Hours		23

¹

Students who matriculated before Fall 2025 should take SOWK 681. Student who matriculated in Fall 2025 or after should take SOWK 682.

Internship

Basic Information about Internships

Completion of the internship requirements in the indicated time is required for graduation.

Advanced Standing Program - One Internship Required 

• Specialized internship – 600 hours to be completed in 2 semesters

SPECIALIZED INTERNSHIP: DESCRIPTION

• The specialized internship offers students the opportunity to practice advanced clinical skills, including providing individual and group therapy services. Students are required to complete a total of 600 hours over the course of two consecutive semesters, requiring approximately 20-24 hours per week. Of the 600 hours, 50-70% of the hours should be focused on clinical work and in direct service to clients.
• Internship begins in the seventh semester of the program.
• The student receives weekly clinical supervision at their internship site.
• Students work with Latinx/ Migrant populations during internships.
• Students are required to be supervised during internships by a professional that has an MSW with two years post masters experience or Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Students should receive weekly supervision from the site supervisor.
• Internship schedules are determined together by the student and site and should be discussed during the interview process. Start dates, end dates, and number of hours worked per week should be discussed. Students should determine with the site a consistent schedule for the internship.

For additional information related to internship policies and requirements, please review the School of Social Work's Internship Manual available to view here: https://www.luc.edu/socialwork/student-support/internship/ 

Specialization & Track Option

This degree program is only compatible with the Micro Practice Specialization with Migration Studies Track.

Suggested Sequence of Courses

The below sequence of courses is meant to be used as a suggested path for completing coursework.  An individual student’s completion of requirements depends on course offerings in a given term as well as the start term for a major or graduate study.  Students should consult their advisor for assistance with course selection.

Plan of Study Grid

Year One
Spring		Hours
SOWK 680	Advanced Micro-Level Practice	3
SOWK 681	Advanced Mezzo & Macro Practice	3
	Hours	6
Summer
SOWK 730	Immigration Dynamics and U.S. Social Policy	3
SOWK 732	Migration, Social Justice, and Human Rights	3
	Hours	6
Year Two
Fall
SOWK 731	Social Work Practice with Refugees and Immigrants	3
SWII 632	Internship Instruction III & Simulated Experiences	0.5
SWII 632S	Integrative Seminar	1
	Hours	4.5
Spring
SOWK 621	Clinical Practice in Addiction	3
SOWK 632	Clinical Social Work with Older Adults	3
SWII 633	Internship Instruction IV & Simulated Experiences	0.5
	Hours	6.5
	Total Hours	23

Students must adhere to the course sequence.  Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to remain in good academic standing.  A grade of "C" or higher is required to pass a course.  A "F" grade in any course will result in dismissal from the program.

¹

SWII 632/SWII 633 - 600 hours

²

SWII 632S Integrative Seminar - Meets eight (8) times

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.

MSW Program Specialized Micro Learning Outcomes

Competency 1: Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

Social workers understand the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant policies, laws, and regulations that may affect practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand that ethics are informed by principles of human rights and apply them toward realizing social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in their practice. Social workers understand frameworks of ethical decision making and apply principles of critical thinking to those frameworks in practice, research, and policy arenas. Social workers recognize and manage personal values and the distinction between personal and professional values. Social workers understand how their evolving worldview, personal experiences, and affective reactions influence their professional judgment and behavior. Social workers take measures to care for themselves professionally and personally, understanding that self-care is paramount for competent and ethical social work practice. Social workers use rights-based, antiracist, and anti-oppressive lenses to understand and critique the profession’s history, mission, roles, and responsibilities and recognize historical and current contexts of oppression in shaping institutions and social work. Social workers understand the role of other professionals when engaged in interprofessional practice. Social workers recognize the importance of lifelong learning and are committed to continually updating their skills to ensure relevant and effective practice. Social workers understand digital technology and the ethical use of technology in social work practice.

Social workers: 

• Demonstrate professional use of self as a social worker, reflecting knowledge of personal professional strengths, limitations, challenges, and cooperatively resolving interpersonal conflicts.  
• Demonstrate ethical use of advanced modalities in practice and any related technological applications in the micro field of social work.
• Recognize and manage ethical violations and resolve conflicting ethical obligations.  

Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice

Social workers understand that every person regardless of position in society has fundamental human rights. Social workers are knowledgeable about the global intersecting and ongoing injustices throughout history that result in oppression and racism, including social work’s role and response. Social workers critically evaluate the distribution of power and privilege in society in order to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice by reducing inequities and ensuring dignity and respect for all. Social workers advocate for and engage in strategies to eliminate oppressive structural barriers to ensure that social resources, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected.

Social workers:

• Articulate human rights violations the client and client’s system are experiencing, including environmental and economic issues that endanger the health of the client system.
• Demonstrate understanding of the impact of intersectionality of marginalized identities, systemic racism, and associated oppressions and plan practice accordingly.
• Demonstrate ways in which social workers can advocate for human rights at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community system levels as it relates to the micro field of social work practice

Competency 3: Engage in Anti-racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice

Social workers understand how racism and oppression shape human experiences and how these two constructs influence practice at the individual, family, group, organizational, and community levels and in policy and research. Social workers understand the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and use their knowledge, awareness, and skills to engage in anti-racist practice. Social workers understand how diversity and intersectionality shape human experiences and identity development and affect equity and inclusion. The dimensions of diversity are understood as the intersectionality of factors including but not limited to age, caste, class, color, culture, disability and ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, generational status, immigration status, legal status, marital status, political ideology, race, nationality, religion and spirituality, sex, sexual orientation, and tribal sovereign status. Social workers understand that this intersectionality means that a person’s life experiences may include oppression, poverty, marginalization, and alienation as well as privilege and power. Social workers understand the societal and historical roots of social and racial injustices and the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination. Social workers understand cultural humility and recognize the extent to which a culture’s structures and values, including social, economic, political, racial, technological, and cultural exclusions, may create privilege and power resulting in systemic oppression.

Social workers:

• Understand and demonstrate an understanding of anti-racism practice at the individual, group, organizational, community, research, and policy levels that will allow for diversity, equity, and inclusion practice in the micro-level field of social work. 
• Demonstrate an understanding of discrimination patterns in society and how micro-level oppression impacts micro-level social work practice regarding race, class, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, age, and any other social categories in which oppression occurs.
• Demonstrate the ability to formulate how an anti-racist practice will advance the client and client system’s human rights. 

Competency 4: Engage In Practice-Informed Research and Research-Informed Practice 

Social workers use ethical, culturally informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive approaches in conducting research and building knowledge. Social workers use research to inform their practice decision making and articulate how their practice experience informs research and evaluation decisions. Social workers critically evaluate and critique current, empirically sound research to inform decisions pertaining to practice, policy, and programs. Social workers understand the inherent bias in research and evaluate design, analysis, and interpretation using an anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspective. Social workers know how to access, critique, and synthesize the current literature to develop appropriate research questions and hypotheses. Social workers demonstrate knowledge and skills regarding qualitative and quantitative research methods and analysis, and they interpret data derived from these methods. Social workers demonstrate knowledge about methods to assess reliability and validity in social work research. Social workers can articulate and share research findings in ways that are usable to a variety of clients and constituencies. Social workers understand the value of evidence derived from interprofessional and diverse research methods, approaches, and sources.

Social workers:

• Demonstrate understanding of and be able to contribute to the evaluation of social research regarding advanced micro practice. 
• Critically evaluate and select potential practice models relevant to the client’s systems.  
• Use their experience from their internship or practicum placement to identify real-life challenges and address the practical needs of clients
• Engage in partnerships with experienced social workers to help bridge the gap between theory and practice and broaden knowledge of social work practice as it relates to the micro field of social work.

Competency 5: Engage in Policy Practice 

Social workers identify social policy at the local, state, federal, and global level that affects wellbeing, human rights and justice, service delivery, and access to social services. Social workers recognize the historical, social, racial, cultural, economic, organizational, environmental, and global influences that affect social policy. Social workers understand and critique the history and current structures of social policies and services and the role of policy in service delivery through rightsbased, anti-oppressive, and anti-racist lenses. Social workers influence policy formulation, analysis, implementation, and evaluation within their practice settings with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers actively engage in and advocate for anti-racist and anti-oppressive policy practice to effect change in those settings.

Social workers:

• Communicate to stakeholders and policymakers the implications of policies and policy change in the lives of clients.  
• Conduct and design a plan for organizational analysis and change, working with relevant constituencies to evaluate interventions that impact clients and communities utilizing best practice models reflecting social work values, ethics, and the organization's mission.  
• Collect, maintain, interpret, and analyze data from both internal and external organizational environments, the community of stakeholders, and diverse client groups to identify and prioritize social problems.  
• Recognize how oppression and social injustice affect client groups, organizations, and communities and intervene proactively for human rights and justice.  
• Understand strategies and techniques for advocating at local, state, and federal levels in policy development.  

Competency 6: Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities 

Social workers understand that engagement is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with and on behalf of individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Social workers value the importance of human relationships. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and person-in-environment and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge to facilitate engagement with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are self-reflective and understand how bias, power, and privilege as well as their personal values and personal experiences may affect their ability to engage effectively with diverse clients and constituencies. Social workers use the principles of interprofessional collaboration to facilitate engagement with clients, constituencies, and other professionals as appropriate.

Social workers:

• Apply culturally appropriate resources available to assist with problem-solving. 

• Recognize and describe self-reflective competency in identifying bias, countertransference, and potential microaggressions when engaging diverse client systems. 
• Implement and describe the use of reflective listening tools when needed to engage and empower members of families and groups.  

Competency 7: Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that assessment is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, and they critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in culturally responsive assessment with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Assessment involves a collaborative process of defining presenting challenges and identifying strengths with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities to develop a mutually agreed-upon plan. Social workers recognize the implications of the larger practice context in the assessment process and use interprofessional collaboration in this process. Social workers are self-reflective and understand how bias, power, privilege, and their personal values and experiences may affect their assessment and decision making.

Social workers:

• Collect and organize data to support their professional decision-making as well as demonstrate critical thinking to interpret information from clients and constituencies. 
• Illustrate knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies, understanding the lack of political neutrality in their work.  
• Exemplify a process in which mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives are generated based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and constituencies in their social environment; and  
• Convey a deeper understanding of how to select appropriate intervention strategies informed by assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituencies through the exercise of antiracist practice principles. 

Competency 8: Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that intervention is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice. Social workers understand theories of human behavior, person-in-environment, and other interprofessional conceptual frameworks, and they critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in selecting culturally responsive interventions with clients and constituencies, including individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers understand methods of identifying, analyzing, and implementing evidence-informed interventions and participate in interprofessional collaboration to achieve client and constituency goals. Social workers facilitate effective transitions and endings.

Social workers:

• Practices self-reflective understanding of the professional use of self in interventions with diverse types of client systems in order to understand and challenge oppressive social forces as well as to avoid perpetuating racist biases, microaggressions, and disempowerment of clients.  
• Use supervision and consultation appropriate to developing skills for advanced and interdisciplinary practice.   
• Demonstrate an ability to intervene collaboratively and collectively with clients in choosing treatment plans and their implementation. 

Competency 9: Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

Social workers understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with and on behalf of diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers evaluate processes and outcomes to increase practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Social workers apply anti-racist and anti-oppressive perspectives in evaluating outcomes. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and person-in-environment, as well as interprofessional conceptual frameworks, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Social workers use qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating outcomes and practice effectiveness.

Social workers:

• Demonstrate understanding of the logic and method of single case evaluation of practice from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. 
• Competently demonstrate case evaluation, including identifying problems and their resolution, the fulfillment of goals co-identified with client, and managing systemic problems that impinge on client well-being. 
• Demonstrate competence in incorporating client feedback processes in planning and carrying out the intervention plan.