Mandel School alumni will have the option to purchase a Master of Social Work (MSW) equivalency certificate effective August 13, 2021 at 11 a.m. EST. The certificate will state the year in which the alumna/alumnus received the Master of Science in Social Administration (MSSA) degree with a note that it is equivalent to the MSW degree now offered by the Mandel School.
On or after August 13, alumni can purchase a hard-copy equivalency certificate from the University Registrar's office. The price of the equivalency certificate is based on the delivery time and destination, listed below.
When filling out the equivalency certificate request form, list “MSW Equivalency” in the Reason column.
Note: It was recently discovered that the electronic equivalency certificate option is NOT available for the MSW. This information was unknown when it was mentioned at the May 17 MSSA to MSW Degree Transition Virtual Panel Discussion event.
Please contact the Mandel School's registrar with any questions.
| USA Delivery | |
| 3 weeks (standard) | $50 |
| 2–3 days (expedited) | $100 |
| International Delivery | |
| 3 weeks (standard) | $80 |
| 3–5 days (expedited) | $130 |
Purchase a MSW equivalency certificate
On April 1, 2021, Case Western Reserve University and the Ohio Department of Higher Education authorized the Mandel School to offer the MSW degree, recognizing that the MSW is the degree most identified with professional social work.
In surveys of current students and alumni, there was strong support for adopting the MSW degree name. With automated application processing by human resource departments, it was acknowledged that the Master of Science in Social Administration (MSSA) could be a barrier to obtaining a job interview. Alumni shared stories of challenges they had faced, particularly in recent years. The Mandel School has great respect and appreciation for the distinctiveness of the MSSA and all it has represented in social work for over 100 years, so this decision did not come lightly.
Designed to prepare the next generation of social work leaders, our social work program promotes leadership and scholarship as the path to wide-reaching social change. Although the degree name will be different going forward, the Mandel School’s level of excellence and commitment to its incredible alumni community will continue well into the future.