FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Heritage University’s new Master of Social Work program is granted pre-candidacy status

Toppenish, Wash. – Heritage University’s new Master of Social Work (MSW) program is on its way to becoming officially recognized and accredited by the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Board of Accreditation. The CSWE has placed HU’s MSW on the June 2024 BOA Agenda for candidacy review and has been granted “pre-candidacy status.”

Students who enter programs in pre-candidacy will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program once the program earns initial accreditation. The accreditation process can take three years, and there is no guarantee that a program in pre-candidacy will eventually earn candidacy or initial accreditation. Accreditation provides assurance about the quality of the program and the competence of students graduating from the program.

Corey Hodge, MSW, the chair of the Social Work program at Heritage University, is confident the HU MSW will achieve initial accreditation and later full accreditation. “The pre-candidacy is good news. We have passed a major milestone en route to accreditation for our program. Our hard work to prepare documents to support our application for accreditation has paid off,” said Hodge. “Graduates of the BSW program at Heritage who want to continue their education in social work, often have limited opportunities in eastern Washington. Having our own accredited MSW means our students can continue to work and live here with their families while obtaining the education and training needed to serve and support families in our communities.”

The MSW program at Heritage is on track to begin accepting students into classes which will start in the fall of 2024. Heritage expects the MSW to achieve accreditation in June 2026. For more information about the program, please contact Miguel Juarez at (509) 865-0423 or Juarez_M@heritage.edu or Corey Hodge at (509) 865-0411 or Hodge_C@heritage.edu.

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