Trent’s Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is a four-year, full-time undergraduate degree program and fully accredited by the Canadian Association of Social Work Education (CASWE). It is offered in-person, on both our Durham and Peterborough campuses.
- This program prepares students to be generalist social work practitioners; students will acquire a comprehensive set of knowledge, values, and skills that are transferable across a range of fields of practice and a range of social work roles.
- A student pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work at Trent is required to complete:
- General Years (Years 1 and 2): Social Work courses in years 1 and 2 are open to any student. Any student may declare a social work major. Declaring a major does not guarantee admission into the Professional Years.
- Professional Years (Years 3 and 4): All students apply for admission into third year, the first of two Professional Years. Admission to the Professional years is limited and is a juried process. There are a maximum of 30 spaces available on each campus (Peterborough and Durham).
- Students complete a minimum of 700 hours of supervised field placement, during their third and fourth years:
- Year 3: 3 days a week in winter (240 hours) and Year 4: 3 days a week in fall and winter (460 hours).
- Placements typically occur within an hour of the student’s assigned campus.
- Students are assigned their placements based on criteria that will maximize their learning as a generalist social worker while meeting the demands of the overall program and participating agencies.
- Trent graduates are eligible to register with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers upon successful completion of the program.