Social Welfare - Minor

The social welfare minor at Nazareth College provides students with an understanding of the social welfare system in the United States and globally. The minor facilitates exploration of poverty and its impact as well as the effective delivery of health and human services to individuals, families, groups, and communities. The minor introduces students to the wide variety of positions and areas of practice relevant to the social work profession and to human service jobs.

Students complete two required courses and four elective courses offered by the Social Work Department, for a total of 18 credit hours. Students must maintain grades of “C” or higher in the social work courses completed.

The minor in social welfare provides a basic understanding of social welfare and the social work profession, and facilitates beginning preparation for careers in human services organizations and/or graduate studies in social work leading to the Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. It does not prepare students to practice as baccalaureate level social workers, nor does it provide them with the option of advanced standing in MSW programs. This minor can enhance the student’s selected major and/or deepen the student’s understanding of civic engagement and service.

If a student chooses to major in social work, the courses taken in the social welfare minor will apply to the major. However, a student cannot receive both a minor in social welfare and a major in social work.