The Council on Social Work Education has granted full reaccreditation to New Mexico State University’s undergraduate and graduate programs in social work, placing them among more than 800 accredited social work programs in the United States.
NMSU offers bachelor’s and master’s programs to train students for ethical and evidence-informed professional social work practice through the School of Social Work in the College of Health, Education and Social Transformation.
“For me, it is an honor to lead the only school of social work in New Mexico associated with a research university,” said Héctor Luis Díaz, director of the NMSU School of Social Work. “Our school aims to lead in culturally responsive and inclusive education, applied research, community engagement, and interdisciplinary and international collaboration. We work to prepare future social workers for New Mexico and beyond.”
The Council on Social Work Education, also known as CWSE, is the only accrediting agency for social work education in the U.S. and sets accreditation standards for baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in social work. It conducts accreditation reviews every eight years.
To earn reaccreditation, the NMSU School of Social Work measured student learning outcomes across both programs and met educational policy and accreditation standards set by CWSE. The bachelor’s program has been CWSE-accredited since the mid-1970s, while the master’s program has been CWSE-accredited since the early 1990s. The online master’s program has been CWSE-accredited since 2018.
For social work students, graduating from an accredited program is required to qualify for a professional social work licensure.
“This welcoming news further elevates the quality and integrity of our social work programs in the College of HEST at NMSU as the engine of workforce development and community building across the state of New Mexico,” College of HEST Dean Yoshi Iwasaki said.
The reaccreditation comes at a time when the NMSU School of Social Work is working to graduate more students. To increase student capacity, the school received $16.5 million in endowments from the state of New Mexico to create six faculty positions, with the goal of doubling the number of graduates over the coming years. The school, on average, currently graduates about 120 students every year.
The reaccreditation runs through October 2028. For more information about the NMSU School of Social Work, visit https://socialwork.nmsu.edu.