Is this a good career move? have a bachelors in Social work & get my Masters in public administration?

Try and work in the field for a few years before getting your Masters. Employers are going to want experience before having top part somebody more money for a higher degree. Also, I would go with the MSW since a lot of top social work jobs will require it then you can take that experience and use that to get a policy job. If you went the public administration route your initial opportunities for experience would be more limited.

Try and work in the field for a few years before getting your Masters. Employers are going to want experience before having top part somebody more money for a higher degree. Also, I would go with the MSW since a lot of top social work jobs will require it then you can take that experience and use that to get a policy job. If you went the public administration route your initial opportunities for experience would be more limited.

Get more information from your college advisor. Take public policy and political science coursework. Administration and public policy are two different fields. You won't be making changes to public policy with a Bachelor's or Master's degree, changes are usually made incrementally through state and federal legislators, but as an administrator you will be implementing them. Once you get into social work in children's services for a year, you will be eligible to go on to higher education at their expense and you will have ongoing training that will qualify you for higher positions within an agency. Formal education is not as important to the state and government as their own training as far as pay and advancement. You don't have to make any life changing decisions today. Work in Children's services has a very high turnover - it's no dream job. It's nice to think you will be able to help children, but it is not reality.

In the U.S., the majority of MSW programs (if not all) have Administrative concentrations/tracks. Some Universities also have MSW/MPH joint/dual programs. A student who was doing her MSW and MPH when I was a student only had to spend one extra semester to finish up with her MPH which isn't too bad in the scheme of things! Journal Article: Social Work and Public Health-Perfect Partners http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/011909p28.shtml Examples of Dual MSW/MPH programs http://sph.berkeley.edu/students/degrees/programs/msw_dual.php http://www.publichealth.med.upenn.edu/msw-mph.shtml http://www.nyu.edu/socialwork/our.programs/msw.mph.html http://socialwork.uw.edu/programs/msw/mswmph/mswmph-concurrent-degree-program My advice would be if you are wanting to work with policies and administration in Children Services and don't want to spend the extra time in college or tuition costs for a MPH, that MSW would be sufficient. A big predictor in getting positions in state government at higher levels is networking. Ultimately the degree is somewhat important, but who you know is probably more important! Seen this time and again! So once you start with children services you want to network, make positive relationships and strive for continuing education and look for job opportunities as they come up.

You don't say how far along you are in college. Assuming you are below the junior level then yes going for a BSW would be your best bet to getting into social work. If you know you want to go into administration then you will probably want an MSW (if you have a BSW you can do your MSW in a year rather than in two). Now as to the MSW and MPA or MBA. You may find that doing your concentration year of your MSW in a program that has an administration track would be sufficient. This does not preclude doing an MPA or MBA - however social work does have a strong history of organizational practice. DA

In the U.S., the majority of MSW programs (if not all) have Administrative concentrations/tracks. Some Universities also have MSW/MPH joint/dual programs. A student who was doing her MSW and MPH when I was a student only had to spend one extra semester to finish up with her MPH which isn't too bad in the scheme of things! Journal Article: Social Work and Public Health-Perfect Partners http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/011909p28.shtml Examples of Dual MSW/MPH programs http://sph.berkeley.edu/students/degrees/programs/msw_dual.php http://www.publichealth.med.upenn.edu/msw-mph.shtml http://www.nyu.edu/socialwork/our.programs/msw.mph.html http://socialwork.uw.edu/programs/msw/mswmph/mswmph-concurrent-degree-program My advice would be if you are wanting to work with policies and administration in Children Services and don't want to spend the extra time in college or tuition costs for a MPH, that MSW would be sufficient. A big predictor in getting positions in state government at higher levels is networking. Ultimately the degree is somewhat important, but who you know is probably more important! Seen this time and again! So once you start with children services you want to network, make positive relationships and strive for continuing education and look for job opportunities as they come up.