MSW Enrollment Guide

Tuition, Billing & Financial Aid

The next step in your GSSW educational journey is to accept the offer of admission and submit your tuition deposit, if you haven’t already.

• Tuition Deposit Instructions

  For the incoming summer and fall 2024 classes, submit your $300 deposit within 2 weeks of receiving your decision letter to hold your spot in the Denver Campus MSW Program.

  The deposit is non-refundable, but the full amount will be credited to your first tuition payment. 

  1. Accept Offer of Admission: To accept our offer of admission, visit your application status page. There, scroll to the “Forms” section and click the “Reply to Admission Offer” link to select “I ACCEPT your admission offer.”
  2. Submit Your Tuition Deposit: Once you have accepted your offer, you will have the opportunity to pay your tuition deposit by clicking the “Enrollment Deposit—Submit Payment” link that appears on your application status page. This link will take you to a webpage where you can pay your deposit with a credit card.
• Tuition & Billing

  The cost of attendence for our Denver Campus MSW Program is listed on our Master of Social Work Financial Aid page. Tuition for each quarter is due the first day of that quarter.

  Visit the Graduate financial aid website for resources that are helpful for your financial planning:

  • Graduate Program Tuition Calculator
  • Estimated Billing Worksheets
  • Information about Direct vs. Indirect Costs
     
• Scholarships & Loans

  Merit Scholarships

  Merit scholarships range from $8,000 - $23,000 each year; the amount received is determined by the merit and strength of your application. GSSW does offer merit scholarship appeals to newly admitted and incoming GSSW students. To be considered for a merit appeal, please email gsswadmission@du.edu.

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  Work-Study

  Work-study is a need-based financial aid award that allows students to work on campus. Graduate students can be awarded up to $5,000 per year. You must fill out FAFSA to be eligible. If work-study was not included in your financial aid offer, you can email workdstudy@du.edu to be put on the waitlist. Students are not placed in work-study jobs. You must search and apply for the positions you’re interested in on campus. Pay rate is tied directly to the job and depends on experience and skills required of the position. Students are paid every two weeks for hours worked in the form of a paycheck. Work-study earnings are not applied directly to the tuition bill. You can have only one work-study position at a time.

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  Loans

  Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan

  To apply for state or federal financial assistance, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form as soon as possible. This application is required to determine eligibility for grants, loans and student employment.

  The University of Denver school code is 001371. You can expect to receive your financial aid package by end of April 2024. After April, you can expect to receive your package within 4-6 weeks once you’ve completed the FAFSA application. You are eligible to receive up to *$20,500 each year you are in the program. You must be registered for at least 4 or more credits each quarter for the funds to disburse at the beginning of each quarter. Your loan will evenly disburse based upon the number of quarters outlined in your curriculum plan for the academic year.

  • Summer start Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW students will need to submit a 23-24 and 24-25 FAFSA to receive aid for Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring quarters.
  • Fall start Denver-Campus Advanced-Standing MSW students will need to submit a 24-25 FAFSA to receive aid for Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer quarters.
  • Fall start Denver Campus MSW students will need to submit a 24-25 FAFSA for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters and will need to reapply each academic year.

  The interest rate for 2023-2024 is 7.05%. This interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan and you do not need to start paying off the loan until 6 months after you graduate.

  Tuition bills are generated by the Bursar's Office a month before each quarter. About 2 weeks before the start of the quarter, your financial aid will disburse to your student account. Your merit scholarship and federal loan will automatically pay towards your tuition bill. For example, if you are registered for 15 credits for Fall 2024, 15 credits x $1,310 per credit is $19,650. In addition, you have to pay a mandatory $4 technology fee for each registered credit. The total of these two direct fees will be your estimated Fall tuition bill. Once your merit scholarship and Federal loan pay out, if you have a remaining balance, that is where the Grad PLUS loan can come into play.

  Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan

  The Grad PLUS loan is an additional loan offered to students to pay for their education up to the total cost of attendance (COA), which includes direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are tuition, fees and health insurance (if enrolled in the DU plan). Indirect costs are books, housing, meals and transportation costs. The COA takes into account all of the expenses a student might have for that year including basic living costs. The average COA for a Denver Campus MSW student is about $78,369. To apply, visit StudentAid.gov

  • Under the "Apply for Aid" drop-down, click "Apply for a Grad PLUS loan". The Grad PLUS loan application opens up May each year. After you apply, the Department of Education will send DU a confirmation of your loan approval and the details of the requested amount. The Central Financial Aid office will add the loan to your financial aid package and send you an updated award letter. Your Grad PLUS loan amount will evenly disburse just like the Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan timeline listed above. If you have a remaining tuition balance, your Grad PLUS will pay off the remaining amount.
  • If you accept a larger Grad PLUS loan for indirect costs, you will receive a refund to your bank account as a direct deposit. Refunds will be initiated by the Bursar's Office about a week before classes begin. After you receive a refund and realize you don't need that excess money, you can email finaid@du.edu and return a portion of it back to DU. You can also email finaid@du.edu to increase or decrease quarter amounts as the year progresses.
  • To figure out how much of a Grad PLUS loan to request for, you take the average cost of attendance for an MSW student, minus your merit scholarship, minus your Federal Loan amount, minus work-study, minus any other external scholarships you may have received. The remaining amount is what you potentially receive for that academic year. The Grad PLUS loan interest rate for 2023-2024 is 8.05%. This interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan and you do not need to start paying off the loan until 6 months after you graduate. It's better to apply for the Grad PLUS loan at the beginning of the year and utilize the loan later than to not apply and realize you need it later on.

  If you have questions regarding FAFSA, federal loans or the GradPLUS loan, please email finaid@du.edu. 

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  Additional Financial Aid Resources

  • Loan Forgiveness Programs

  • Graduation & Loan Repayment

Stipends & Research Assistantships

If you are interested in pursuing a research assistantship, view our active research project page to identify a project that fits your interest. From there, reach out to the affiliated faculty member directly for position availability. For general questions about research assistantships, please reach out to Associate Professor Ramona Beltran. 

MSW Curriculum Plans & Academic Planning

Denver Campus MSW students pursue their degree within the Advanced Social Work Practice concentration. You can select from a wide variety of courses to create a specialization that suits your personal interests and career goals. In 2023, we introduced flexible specialization “pathways” for our Denver Campus MSW program. Learn more about this curriculum update. 

MSW Degree Planning Packets

Denver Campus Summer 2024 MSW Degree Planning Packet

Denver Campus Fall 2024 MSW Degree Planning Packet

Denver Campus MSW Program

Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW Program

Register for an Academic Q&A information session.

For any questions about the registration process, course options, and your academic path prior to your arrival at orientation, you can register for an Academic Q&A Info Session. 

• Summer Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW Program
  • Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. MDT

  Denver Campus Summer 2024 AS Q&A Slide Deck

• Fall Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW Program
  • Thursday, June 13, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. MDT

  Denver Campus Fall 2024 AS Q&A Slide Deck

   

• Fall Denver Campus MSW Program
  • Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. MDT

  Denver Campus Fall 2024 Q&A Slide Deck

   

Registration

More information about course planning and registration is forthcoming. We will send you an email with instructions as registration approaches.

Registration Preparation

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  Check Your Student Profile for Registration Holds

  • Log into MyDU with your DU ID number (87#) and password
  • Select “My Student Profile” under the Academic Profile widget
  • Select the correct registration quarter from the "Term" drop-down menu above your profile photo
  • Click "Holds" on the top right
  • Direct questions or concerns to the department that placed the hold
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  Confirm Your Registration Day and Time

  • Log into MyDU with your DU ID (87#) and password
  • Select “My Student Profile” under the Academic Profile widget
  • Select the correct registration quarter from the "Term" drop-down menu above your profile photo
  • Click “Registration Notices” at top right of screen and review your registration day and time under "Time Tickets"
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  Plan Your Classes and Connect with an Advisor

  • Email GSSW.DenverCampus@du.edu if you have questions about what classes to take
  • View the online schedule of classes and field registration instructions for your program

Find your program and curriculum plan below and register for the corresponding courses.

Field Education

With field internships, you can begin practicing your social work skills right away. With more than 700+ GSSW field agencies in Denver—from hospitals and hospices to child welfare agencies, policy nonprofits and animal sanctuaries—you’ll find an internship that fits your specific needs and interests. Email gsswadmission@du.edu with any questions. 

Please review the internship search process below.

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  Attend a Mandatory Field Information Session

  Sign-up instructions will be emailed after you submit your deposit.

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  Complete the Internship Search Form

  Information about the internship search form will be sent via email after the information session.

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  Schedule an Appointment with a Field Advisor

  After you complete the internship search form, you will set up a one-on-one meeting with a field advisor, who will work with you to identify GSSW-approved field agencies for your interview and selection process. Learn more about our field advisors and some of our current field placements online.

New Student Orientation

Required for all incoming Denver Campus MSW students, orientation will introduce community resources, expectations and opportunities as you begin your journey at GSSW. (Note: The date of the first day of classes may differ from DU's academic calendar.) All dates are subject to change. 

Academic Calendars

• Academic Year Calendar 2023-2024
• Academic Year Calendar 2024-2025
• Academic Year Calendar 2025-2026

Welcome to DU Video from Chancellor Jeremy Haefner

Recent GSSW News