Doctorate of Social Work: Online
Elevate the practice of social work
You’ve worked hard to build your social work career. Now, take the next step and help influence the future of your profession.
The Simmons Online Doctorate of Social Work is for social work leaders who refuse to choose between clinical depth and systemic impact. As a student at the nation’s first school of social work, you’ll be prepared to teach, lead, and revolutionize practice.
Why earn a Doctorate of Social Work at Simmons?
The Simmons DSW program offers live, cohort-based classes that encourage strong connections between students and faculty. Delivered in a flexible online format, the program prepares you for advanced roles in various settings while letting you move through coursework at your own pace.
There is no residency requirement, but regular synchronous sessions bring the classroom experience to life, creating opportunities for engaging discussions and a strong sense of community.
You can complete your DSW part time in about three years, or full time in as little as two years.
At Simmons, social justice is the foundation of our approach. Every course is infused with our DEIPAR social justice framework: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Intersectionality, Power Analysis, and Anti-Racism. You will learn how to apply these principles at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels, ensuring your leadership creates lasting, equitable change.
Simmons online DSW curriculum
The Simmons online Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) offers strong clinical training for those who want to lead in social work practice and education. Created by social workers for social workers, the curriculum infuses social justice learning across three program pillars:
- Inclusive Leadership
Go further than traditional management. Learn to build and sustain socially just organizations that live up to the core values of our profession. - Advanced Clinical Practice
Learn new practice models to support decolonized practice with clients from many backgrounds and with complex needs, using advanced clinical skills. - Teaching and Education
Develop the teaching skills you need to train future social workers.
At the end of the program, you will complete a capstone project that comes from your vision for needed changes in practice related to one or more of these focus areas. You explore real-world topics in social work and bring together everything you have learned.
What can you do with a Doctorate in Social Work?
The Simmons online DSW program helps you grow in all areas, preparing you for many different career paths. Here are just a few professional tracks you might choose to pursue after graduation:
- Higher Education: Tenure-track, non-tenure track, adjunct professorships or clinical instruction.
- Executive Leadership: CEO, Executive Director, or Clinical Director in healthcare and nonprofit systems.
- Advanced Private Practice: Specialized clinical consulting and high-level therapeutic roles.
Highlights of Social Work at Simmons
1st
School of Clinical Social Work in the Country
The School of Social Work (SSW) is distinguished in many ways — with nationally acclaimed faculty, a strong emphasis on clinical practice, and our ideal Boston location among world-renowned teaching hospitals and research facilities.
125+
Years
For more than a century, Simmons has set the standard for clinical social work education and social justice advocacy.
Our Faculty
The faculty and course designers at Simmons School of Social Work are seasoned professionals and educators actively involved in various aspects of social work, including research on topics like child welfare, health disparities, trauma, and social justice.
Jacqueline Dyer
Associate Professor of Practice and DSW Director
Jennie Sucilsky
Associate Professor of Practice and Associate Director of the DSW Program
Allah-Fard Sharrieff
Associate Professor of Practice