The Department of Social Work (DSW) offers undergraduate and graduate programs that aim to educate current and future social workers on integrative social work practice anchored on critical and culturally relevant theoretical perspectives. Through its people-centered and praxis-oriented curricula in both the undergraduate and graduate levels, it ensures that social work practice is responsive and relevant to the realization of people’s empowerment and social transformation. 

At the forefront of social work education in the Philippines, It is the first to offer graduate education in distance mode, in partnership with the UP Open University, paving the way for more accessible post baccalaureate programs. It also takes an active role in the development of national standards for social work education. Its strategic goal is to be the center of excellence in social work education in Southeast Asia.

History

The tradition of excellence and commitment to progressive social work education started in the 1950s when Social Work became an academic subunit of the Department of Sociology and Social Welfare of the College of Liberal Arts, and later in 1961 as a separate Department of College of Arts and Sciences. It was one of the two departments that comprised the Institute of Social Work and Community Development formally established in 1967. In 1987, the Institute became the College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD).

The Department’s roster of graduates includes social workers who have distinguished themselves in various fields of practice, locally and internationally. Among them are those who have served as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other leadership positions in government and non-government organizations, as chair and members of the Board of Examiners for Social Work, consultants, leaders, and staff of international social welfare and development agencies, as well as social work educators and administrators. Our graduates have not only maintained a 100 percent passing rate in the Social Work board examination but have consistently been in the Top 10.