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The theme of this issue of BPD Update is "BSW Programs at Risk". In addition to this summary article on program
closings from 1992 to 2004, you will find articles on the Rochester Institute of Technology Program, which is currently scheduled
to close, and the Governor's State Program, which has just been removed from the Provost's watch list for elimination.
To determine which BSW programs are likely to be at risk at present or in the future, a preliminary analysis was completed
of BSW Programs closings between 1992 and 2004. According to data from the 2003 CSWE Directory, provided by Dean Pierce,
there were 33 program closings during this period.
Six programs (18.2%) were closed along with the Colleges/Universities operating them, but 27 programs (81.8%) were located
at College/Universities that continued to operate. Of the six institutions that closed, five were private and one was public.
Public/Private
Of the closed programs, 24 programs (72.7%) were housed at private Colleges/Universities and 9 (27.3%) were housed at
public Colleges/Universities. This breakdown is similar to the breakdown for programs in candidacy, where 10 programs (66.7%)
are in private Colleges/Universities and 5 (33.3%) are in public Colleges/Universities.
Program Closings by Year
The following graph depicts the number of program closings per year:
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| BSW Program Closings, 1992 to 2004 |
As the graph shows, the number of program closings has ranged from zero to seven per year, with 1996 being the year with the
most program closings and 1998 being the year with the fewest closings.
Program Closings by Region
A cursory examination of the geography of the closed programs was also completed. This analysis was completed using NASW's
regional structure. NASW regions were combined to produce three major geographic subdivisions: Eastern States (NASW Regions
I - VI); Midwest States (NASW Regions VII - XI); and Western States (NASW Regions XII - XIII).
The following tables show the total number of currently accredited BSW programs per state compared to the number of BSW
program closings and to the number of new BSW programs in candidacy.
Click here to view the three tables:
In summary, there are 479 BSW programs that are currently accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Of these
programs, 195 (40.7%) are in eastern states, 237 (49.5%) are in mid-western states, and 47 (9.8) are in western states. Of
the 33 closed programs, 12 (36.4%) were in eastern states, 20 (60.6%) were in mid-western states, and 1 (3.0%) was in a western
state. Of the fifteen new programs in candidacy, 4 (26.7%) are in eastern states, 8 (53.3%) are in mid-western states, and
3 (20.0%) are in western states. If all of these programs achieve initial accreditation, there will be a net loss of eight
programs in eastern states, a net loss of 12 programs in mid-western states, and a net gain of 2 programs in western states.
What other characteristics do the closed programs have in common? Is there a way to predict which BSW programs are at
greatest risk? Are there steps that a program that is at risk can take to ensure its survival? These questions will be further
explored in the Spring issue of BPD Update.
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