Online Social Work and Human Services Doctoral Programs

The amount of time it takes to complete your Doctor of Social Work degree program will depend on your previous educational experience and how long you work on your doctoral study. DSW candidates complete a minimum of 78 quarter credits. The minimum time to degree completion is 2.5 years.

An Enrollment Specialist can go over the options with you and discuss your individual time commitment.

A PhD in Social Work is a highly respected credential that can help you shine in the job market and rise to the top of your field. It can open high-level professional opportunities in social work administration, policymaking, and agency leadership. Some social work PhD degree holders become researchers at a university or research think tank. And many social work PhD degree holders go on to successful careers in higher education as college professors.

The amount of time it takes to complete your PhD in Social Work will depend on your previous educational experience and how long you work on your dissertation. PhD in Social Work candidates complete a minimum of 83 quarter credits. The minimum time to degree completion is 2.75 years.

An Enrollment Specialist can go over the options with you and discuss your individual time commitment.

While both degree paths can help prepare you for a career devoted to making a difference in people’s lives, it’s helpful to look closer to determine which program better aligns with your interests and goals. If you’re looking to pursue a career in academia, a PhD in Social Work program allows you to focus on advancing your skills as a researcher and educator. If you would like to focus more on how research can be applied to social work programs and policies, as well as gain key leadership and management skills needed to improve your practice, a DSW program is the better choice. Put simply, a PhD can better prepare you to teach, whereas a DSW can prepare you for a professional career in the field.

Both online degree programs empower practitioners to promote positive social change. The key difference, according to Dr. Kristin Faix Wilkinson, program director for Walden’s human services master’s and doctoral degree programs, is that “in the DHS program, we’re preparing our students to be practitioner-scholars, where the PhD in Human Services program’s focus is on preparing them to be scholar-practitioners.”

The DHS program focuses on applied research and the application of evidence-based practices in the field, while the PhD in Human Services program focuses on making a difference through effective policy, practice, teaching, and research.

Earning your doctorate in human services is one of the greatest things you can do to fully realize your potential in the field of human services. With a Doctor of Human Services, you can tap into more employment opportunities, position yourself to make greater contributions to your field, equip yourself with the most up-to-date skills, and make a lasting impact by educating the next generation of human services professionals.