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University of Southern California School of Social Work

City Year is proud to partner with the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, offering five $15,000 annual tuition scholarships and at least five $3,750 semester tuition scholarships towards the traditional and online Master of Social Work programs.

The University of Southern California’s School of Social Work offers City Year AmeriCorps members, alums and staff

$3,750-$15,000 scholarships

City Year Scholarship: awards $15,000 per year towards tuition for two traditional Master of Social Work students and three online Master of Social Work students (one student per start date cohort).

  • The scholarship is renewable in the second year of the program, making the total minimum scholarship amount $30,000.

City Year Service Scholarship: awards up to $3,750 per semester towards tuition for five traditional Master of Social Work students.

  • Accepted City Year applicants who are not offered the $15,000 City Year Scholarship will be considered for the City Year Service Scholarship.
  • The scholarship is renewable, and the number of scholarships available for online Master of Social Work students depends upon fund availability.
  • Part-time students will receive the award starting in their third semester.

Scholarships are awarded to City Year AmeriCorps members and alums who complete at least one term of service and City Year staff employed for at least two years.

Applicants will be considered for additional merit-based aid depending on the strength of their application.

Additional benefits

  • Application fee waiver
  • Enrollment deferral: Admitted students may defer enrollment for one year if they decide to serve additional time with City Year before starting the graduate program.

Why City Year loves the University of Southern California’s School of Social Work

The University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work ranks among the top accredited social work graduate programs in the United States. A recognized leader in academic innovation, experiential learning, online education and translational research, the school prepares students for leadership roles in public and private organizations that serve individuals, families and communities in need.

The University of Southern California is dedicated to reinventing the profession, furthering knowledge and changing social institutions locally, nationally and globally. The school has made innovation a signature feature of its academic and research enterprise, leveraging technology in social work education, clinical practice, research and community development. This is demonstrated through the creation of an advanced online platform for distance learning, virtual humans for graduate-level teaching and a university-based clinic offering mental health services over the Internet.

To view upcoming events, visit the USC School of Social Work events page.

To apply

Visit the School of Social Work’s admissions website to learn more about application deadlines, requirements and how to apply.

To identify your City Year affiliation

Please self-identify your City Year affiliation on your résumé and/or essay.

To access the application fee waiver and apply for the scholarship

For applicants to the traditional program:

To get the application fee waived and be considered for the scholarship, a service verification letter must be requested by emailing alumni@cityyear.org with “USC School of Social Work (specify traditional or online)” in the subject line. Within the email, include your service site and your AmeriCorps graduation month and year. This letter will be sent electronically by City Year to the admissions office and added to your applicant file.

For applicants to the online program:

To get the application fee waived and be considered for the scholarship, a service verification letter must be requested by emailing alumni@cityyear.org with “USC School of Social Work (specify traditional or online)” in the subject line. Within the email, include your service site and your AmeriCorps graduation month and year. This letter will be electronically by City Year back to you to be sent to your admissions counselor.

To access the application fee waiver:

  1. to start your online application and select the program to which you are planning to applying:
    • Click here to apply to the traditional (on-campus) program
    • Click here to apply to the online program
  2. Under “category,” select “application fee waiver” and the sub-option for “AmeriCorps/Peace Corps/TFA participant.”
  3. Under “attach documents,” click “choose file” and upload your City Year service verification letter.
  4. Click “submit your question.”
  5. You will receive an email if and when your fee waiver is approved. You must wait to receive this confirmation in order to skip the payment page when you submit your application. No refunds will be issued post-submission.

The Office of Graduate Admission must approve your fee waiver request before you submit your application. It may take three to four business days to process the request. If your request is denied, you must pay the application fee before submission.

To contact the admissions office

To contact the School of Social Work’s admissions office for the traditional program, please email applymsw@usc.edu or call (213) 740-2013.

To contact the School of Social Work’s admissions office for the online program, please email sswvac@msw.usc.edu or call (877) 700-4679.

Please note that all admissions and scholarship decisions are made by the educational institution. AmeriCorps members, alums and staff interested in these scholarships must complete the full application process for the institution. Please pay close attention to deadlines and consider beginning work on your applications early in the year.

Become a City Year AmeriCorps member

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