Below is a summary and description of the application requirements for the PhD Program. Applications for the Fall 2027 semester will open on July 1 are due on January 5, 2027. Apply now, or email phd@ssw.umaryland.edu with specific questions.
If you have more questions about the PhD Program, view the frequently asked questions. We can also connect you to a current PhD student.
Please write a 3-5 page personal statement that describes your career goals and how the University of Maryland School of Social Work (SSW) PhD Program will help you achieve these goals. Detail your research and teaching interests and how your previous professional and personal experiences inform them. Identify any SSW faculty members whose work would be particularly influential on your doctoral education and career. Finally, describe your strengths in terms of critical thinking, communication, tenacity, maturity, and other personal qualities that prepared you for PhD-level work and that would contribute to the culture and climate of a PhD program. (Although the Graduate School Application asks for a 300-500 word statement of goals and objectives, please provide this personal statement instead.)
You can find our faculty bios and CVs by searching tenure-track faculty at: https://directory.ssw.umaryland.edu/
Please provide a recent paper, report, or publication on which your role was the primary or sole author. The writing sample should demonstrate how you formulate and communicate ideas or findings and how you build a logical argument or support a thesis. If using a co-authored product as your writing sample, include an introductory comment describing your contributions to the work.
Include a copy of your vita showing your educational background, your work experience, and any research projects and publications. At the end of the vita, include the names and qualifications of your three references.
An official transcript from each college or university that you are currently attending or that you previously attended must be provided to the Graduate School. Official, stamped transcripts must be provided in sealed envelopes by the issuing institution. Encrypted, electronic transcripts are accepted in lieu of sealed, paper transcripts. You may include an unofficial, scanned copy of your college transcripts with your online application for early review purposes if you’d like, but official versions are still required for the review process. Send encrypted, electronic transcripts from your issuing institution to: gradapply@umaryland.edu. Send official, sealed, and stamped transcripts to:
ATTN: Admissions
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Graduate School
620 West Lexington Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1508
Transcripts (US only) may also be provided through one of the following transcript clearinghouse services:
https://www.parchment.com/
https://www.studentclearinghouse.org/solutions/learners/
When completing the online application, you can pay the application fee($75) by credit card or debit card. The application fee is non-refundable. We have reached our maximum for application fee waivers for the Fall 2025 application period. We are no longer accepting application fee waiver requests for Fall 2025 admission.
To apply, you must submit the online application and all required documents to the UMB School of Graduate Studies along with the required nonrefundable application fee. The School of Graduate Studies will not process or review an application until the application fee is paid.
Select three references that are able to assess your conceptual, analytic, and research skills as well as your ability to apply theoretical and abstract knowledge to social work problems. They should clearly describe their relationship with you, the duration of that relationship, and your potential as a social work scholar and teacher. Ideally, recommenders will possess a PhD or other doctoral degree. Please provide this guidance to each recommender and request that they upload or email a letter of recommendation on letterhead directly to the PhD Program Academic Services Specialist.
The PhD Program in Social Work welcomes International Applicants. The program maintains a strict language requirement for non-native speakers of English. All applicants to the doctoral program whose native language and/or language of the home is not English are required to submit results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Duolingo English Test. Click here for more information.
