The School of Social Work was established in 1965 by an act of the Alabama Legislature to address the state’s critical shortage of and pressing need for professionally trained social workers.

Since our founding, we have been proud to lead the charge in training students for tomorrow’s workforce. Prior to 1965 there were fewer than 100 trained social workers in the state, accounting for about 19 percent of the persons employed in the state’s social welfare positions. Forty-eight of the state’s 67 counties had no professional social workers. Today, our program is the only one of its kind in the state that offers BSW, MSW, DSW and PhD degrees in social work. To learn more about the evolution of the social work profession in Alabama, watch the video “Ready to Help: A History of Social Work in Alabama,” featuring UA social work faculty and alumni.