A Master of Social Work (MSW) from Calvin equips you to address complex social issues, empower communities, and enact meaningful change.

Our program is guided by the core values of social justice and the dignity of every person. At Calvin, you'll boldly explore the intersection between faith and the profession. You'll learn in robust, conversation-driven classes that emphasize professional competence, integrity, and service to your community. You'll be connected to our incredible network of over 150 partner agencies.

Whether or not you have earned a BSW, your educational needs, career goals, and schedule are unique, so we've designed a program that's flexible and responsive. Courses are online and synchronous, and instructors provide personalized advising to help you reach your goals. You'll graduate with practical skills and experience—and a vision to use them to help people flourish.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with a deadline of April 20, 2026.

Collegiate Scholars are motivated to excel academically and serve and lead in the larger community.

Are you a motivated student that is looking for opportunities to grow as a scholar and engaged citizen? Does the thought of learning off-campus, conducting research with a faculty-mentor in your discipline, developing your capacity as a leader and engaged community member, and examining challenging topics with students from other disciplines excite you? Welcome to Collegiate Scholars.

As a Collegiate Scholar you will complete four advanced academic or co-curricular activities. These activities could include participation in a musical ensemble or the Calvin Theatre Company, earning a second major, or studying abroad for a semester. Collegiate Scholars take upper-level Honors colloquia courses, designed to offer interdisciplinary engagement with big questions. The Collegiate Scholars track aims to inspire academic excellence while anchoring those achievements within the larger collegiate community.

Ask big questions with humility, explore with wonder, and pursue advanced academic opportunities in community.

Do you get excited about connecting ideas across science, society, and the arts? Want to use your city as your classroom or conduct impactful research and projects alongside a faculty mentor? That’s what Honors Scholars is all about.

Who Can Apply?

• Students from any major and background, with a wide range of academic interests and passions

• You can also double major, play varsity sports, or study abroad as an Honors Scholar—it just takes some extra planning

   

Apply to Honors Scholars

Learn more about Cohorts at Calvin

Gain the skills and knowledge to become an agent of justice and renewal.

As a criminology major at Calvin, you'll focus on more than scientific inquiry into crime and the criminal justice system. You'll think analytically about crime, deviance, and harm—learning about their root causes and evaluating efforts to address them.

You'll engage directly with the real-world pursuit of justice through opportunities through Calvin's Prison Initiative, volunteering at rehabilitation facilities, interning at a police department, or working with community-based violence prevention organizations. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to global conversations about crime by partnering with faculty in research projects and presenting at professional conferences.

Delve into tough questions about how our communities and social relationships shape our lives. Instead of easy answers, you’ll find rich conversations and different approaches to God’s plan for the world.

You’ll examine tension and disorder in society, examining the causes of injustice and suffering. You'll gain a deep understanding of human behavior and relationships, and you’ll equip yourself with the skills to foster renewal and work toward justice in both individual lives and entire communities.

Take your learning outside the classroom through paid research, community internships, off-campus programs, and featured lectures and seminars. You’ll graduate well-equipped for a career in criminology, missions, international development, social work, and more.

In our complex world, important issues often transcend the boundaries of academic disciplines.

The Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) program at Calvin University equips socially conscious and intellectually curious students to pursue responses to real-world challenges with a robust complement of philosophical and social science tools and approaches.

The PPE program is an interdisciplinary major that brings philosophical insights to bear on empirical social science research. In this program, you'll learn to employ the methods of social science to measure philosophical claims about foundational concepts such as equality and justice.

Calvin graduates solve problems in the real world. And in an energy-hungry society, one of the ways you’ll make a significant difference is by solving those problems sustainably.

Adding a sustainability designation to your degree means you’re committed to a bigger vision of what you can do as a student at Calvin. It means everything you do takes into account the impact it will have on the people and places around you. It means you’ve immersed yourself in courses that analyze the most pressing environmental challenges and opportunities. And it means you embrace Calvin’s unique understanding of renewal as a way to serve, heal, and restore God’s creation.

It also means you’ll be well-suited for the job market. As more and more companies understand the importance of efficiency and sustainability, you are sure to stand out from the crowd.

Develop a compassionate heart for our broken world—and gain the skills you need to do something about it.

In Calvin's accredited bachelor of social work (BSW) program, you'll wrestle with some of society's greatest concerns, like child abuse, drug addiction, homelessness, aging, and mental illness. Through your studies and experiences, you’ll learn what it means for people and communities to flourish.

You'll learn from expert faculty who are actively involved in research on contemporary issues. You'll take your learning even further with a field placement, where you'll get critical hands-on experience. When you graduate, you'll know how to connect groups of people, bring clarity to difficult situations, and improve everyday lives.

Join a small, faith-infused program that prioritizes hands-on learning. You might do research at the internationally -known Umm el-Jimal Project in Jordan , or learn in Calvin's cutting-edge archaeology lab.

At Calvin, you'll discover an ethical perspective on archaeology and history that looks beyond dates and artifacts. You might engage with refugees living near archaeological sites, or see how ancient water systems can provide clean water to threatened communities.

A minor in archaeology gives you valuable skills in history, art, geology, and many other disciplines. It complements and deepens almost any other field of study—from engineering to music.