Qualifications & Application
Prospective students must demonstrate the potential for doctoral studies. All applicants to the PhD Program in Social Work must provide the following:
- Completion of the PhD Application.
- Official copies of all official undergraduate and graduate transcripts.
- Personal Statement: Why do you want to pursue a social work PhD? Describe your experiences with research and how they prepared you for pursuing a PhD. What research questions or social issues do you want to study? How might you approach studying them? Describe why Pitt SSW would be a good place for you to pursue your research interests. Note potential faculty mentors at Pitt and other campus resources you might engage. What career would you like to pursue? How will a social work PhD contribute to your career goals?
- Social Justice Statement: What aspects of your personal and/or professional history have informed how you have come to understand social justice? How do your history and understandings of social justice connect to your career goals? Anti-racism and anti-oppression are core values in the Pitt SSW. How do you see your time in the Pitt SSW PhD program, current and/or future work (e.g., research, teaching, mentoring, community organizing, advocacy, activism, etc.) as aligning with anti-racist and anti-oppressive praxis?
- Writing sample: Please provide a writing sample that is solely authored by you. You may choose anything that will show us that you can write clearly and coherently about topics relevant to social work, ideally, research topics relevant to social work. Your writing sample should be approximately ten to fifteen pages.
- Three letters of reference from professors and others who have known the applicant in a professional capacity. Do not include personal references.
- We require a course-by-course evaluation completed for any international college courses taken. An evaluation is also needed for any transcripts not provided in English. We accept evaluations from any members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) organization. Find a list of NACES members.
- The $50 application fee is waived for fall 2025 applicants.
Please use the above link and follow GradCAS guidelines for sending official transcripts. Please contact the admissions office if you are experiencing difficulty.
The doctoral program is strongly committed to a policy of equal educational opportunity for people of all races, ethnic origins, genders, religions, sexualities, abilities, nationalities, and backgrounds.
Apply to the School of Social Work PhD Program