Turn your compassion into a career at Baylor
At Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, students prepare for careers that change lives — including their own. Guided by its mission of valuing humanity, engaging spirituality and promoting equity, the Garland School equips social workers and social-sector leaders for worldwide service and leadership, just 90 minutes up I-35 from Austin in the heart of Texas.
Social Work Education
The Garland School’s CSWE-accredited Master of Social Work is offered two ways: a residential program on Baylor’s Waco campus and a fully online MSW available from nearly anywhere. Both pathways combine rigorous coursework that prepares graduates for both clinical and community practice, alongside supervised field internships in real agencies and communities, such as healthcare settings, schools churches, nonprofits and community leadership positions. Advanced standing options allow BSW graduates to complete the degree on an just one year, and dual-degree opportunities (in Waco) let students integrate social work with complementary callings such as ministry or business.
What sets the Garland School apart is its distinctive approach to the ethical integration of faith and practice. As a leader in this area of social work education, the school prepares students to serve clients of every background with cultural humility — understanding religion and spirituality as dimensions of human experience that competent professionals must be equipped to engage. Students of all faith perspectives find a community here that takes both professional excellence and personal calling seriously.
For those called to research and teaching who have an MSW, the PhD in Social Work is fully funded and offered online.
New Graduate Offerings
Beyond the MSW, the Garland School offers two new graduate programs across the social sector. The online Master of Arts in Social, Nonprofit and Public Leadership (SNPL), offered in partnership with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, can be completed in as little as 12 months and develops character-driven leaders to address challenges like poverty and food insecurity. The online, customizable Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) draws courses from Baylor’s schools of Social Work, Business, Education, and Health & Human Sciences.
Caring Faculty Mentors
Garland School faculty are active scholars whose research shapes the field — from gerontology and caregiving to trauma, congregational social work, and the intersection of faith and human services.
Students learn directly from professors who not only publish and practice but who also provide mentorship because they truly care about student success. Why? Because student success translates into meaningful change and impact in the lives and communities they will serve.
“All of the professors have real-world experience. They’re really competent, and they’re all pulling for your success — in school and even afterwards,” Army veteran and online MSW student Ron Mouw said.
Careers Acrosss Sectors
The proof is in the alumni. Garland School graduates serve as clinicians and therapists, hospital and hospice social workers, school social workers, nonprofit executives, researchers, professors, authors and advocates — in Texas and around the world. Wherever there are people, there is a place for service, and Garland School alumni show just how far their training can go.
Visit the Garland School of Social Work at the Graduate School Fair, or explore programs, admissions and scholarship information at baylor.edu/socialwork.