Overview
The School of Social Service Administration is part of the University of Chicago and shares the University's dedication to excellence in teaching, research, and service. The School was incorporated into the University in 1920, bringing the programs of the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy together with programs in other parts of the University. The School has its own building, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, which opened in 1964. The building is located near the Law School, the National Opinion Research Center, and the University of Chicago Hospitals. The Social Service Review, an outstanding scholarly journal in the field, has been published continuously by the School since 1927. The School also works closely with the Woodlawn Social Services Center, which houses a variety of social service agencies and is the site of some training and demonstration programs.

Each year, the School admits approximately 175 students to the master's degree program and 8 to the doctoral program. Students come to the School from a wide range of academic disciplines and with a great variety of work experiences in social work and other fields. Students vary widely in age (more than a quarter of the master's degree students are over 30 years old) and by culture, race, and ethnicity. Thirty percent of the entering 2004-05 student body are members of minority groups.

Recent SSA graduates are pursuing a variety of careers. They work as clinicians in traditional social work agencies and in such nontraditional settings as corporate headquarters, banks, and industrial plants; as policy analysts with local, state, and federal agencies, as well as with nonprofit advocacy groups; as consultants with management consulting firms; as researchers in academia and agencies; as community planners and organizers working on a wide range of problems; and in a variety of other positions in the private, public, and voluntary sectors.

The Location and Community
The University of Chicago is located in Hyde Park, a politically independent and racially integrated neighborhood 15 minutes from the Loop, the heart of downtown Chicago. Students at the School have access to Chicago's outstanding cultural, recreational, and athletic activities. The University is less than a mile from Lake Michigan, which offers picnic areas, beaches, harbors, and miles of walking and bicycle paths. An unusually wide range of cultural and recreational facilities is also available on campus.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The School of Social Service Administration offers programs of study in social work leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

The Master of Arts program, a two-year curriculum of general study and specialization, prepares students for a wide range of career opportunities in the field of social work. In the first two quarters, students take core courses on the policy and programs of social welfare, the practice of social intervention, research and evaluation, and HBSE (Human Behavior in the Social Environment). These courses stress the common themes and problems that occur in diverse social work efforts. In the remaining four quarters, students select a concentration in advanced clinical social work practice or social administration. Specialization within a concentration is also available. Classroom and field instruction are integrated throughout the course of the program.

The School also has a part-time evening program that enables students to work full-time and complete the degree requirements in three years. A part-time day program is also available.

The Doctor of Philosophy program prepares students for careers in research and teaching. Specializations are offered in social development (policy, planning, and management), social treatment, and combined social development and social treatment. Programs are tailored to the student's scholarly and research interests. A dissertation is required.

The School of Social Service Administration and the Graduate School of Business offer a joint-degree program, which leads to both the A.M. and the M.B.A. degrees in three academic years. A joint-degree program is also offered by the School of Social Service Administration and the Harris School of Public Policy leading to the A.M. and M.P.P. degrees in three years. In addition, the School also offers a joint-degree program with the Divinity School, which leads to both the A.M. and M.Div. degrees in four academic years. The School of Social Service Administration has developed dual-degree arrangements with several schools from the Chicago Cluster of Theological Schools. The concurrent dual-degree program enables students to receive both the A.M. and M.Div. degrees in one less year than it would if both degree programs were taken sequentially. Interested students must apply to both schools in each of the specific programs.

Facilities & Resources
The Joseph Regenstein Library is a graduate research library in the social sciences and humanities. It is the center of the University library's collections of approximately 3.5 million volumes and is complemented by the library of the School of Social Service Administration.

Students may participate in the work of various research projects as well as in the Chapin Hall Center for Children, the Committee on Public Policy Studies, the Center for Health Administration Studies, the Center for Urban Research and Policy Studies, and the National Opinion Research Center (NORC).

Expenses and Aid
Tuition for the full-time program was $27,500 for 2004-05. The cost of the part-time program was $19,521 per year in 2004-05.

Financial Aid:
Assistance is available through scholarships and loans drawn from federal funds and from School and University sources. A number of research and teaching assistantships are also available to doctoral students. More than ninety percent of the students receive scholarship aid from the School and from outside sources.

Housing/Living Expenses:
The cost of living for a single student for the 2004-05 academic year-including tuition, academic supplies, room, and board-was approximately $43,000; estimated expenses for married students were approximately $45,200. Housing is available in University dormitories and apartments and in private lodgings off campus.

How to Apply / Application
Students enter the A.M. and Ph.D. programs in the autumn quarter only. The application deadlines for the master's program are December 1, January 15, and April 1; for the Ph.D. program, the deadline is January 1. Interviews are normally not required, but prospective students are encouraged to visit the School. Applicants for financial assistance must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is available online at http://www.fafsa.gov.

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