Social Sciences

Master of Social Work

The Master of Social Work is a postgraduate programme that prepares professionals for advanced practice in social work, community development, and social welfare. The programme provides specialised training in social work theory, community development, counselling, social policy, and research.

Core areas include social work theory and practice, community development, counselling psychology, social policy and welfare, research methods, and thesis. Students engage with both theoretical and practical work through coursework, fieldwork, and research.

The programme is offered by the Catholic University of Eastern Africa as a private institution and by Egerton University as a public institution. CUEA offers the programme through the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences with full-time and part-time modes over two years.

Students develop competencies in social work practice, community development, counselling, policy analysis, and research. The programme includes coursework, examinations, fieldwork, and a supervised research thesis, preparing graduates for social work and community development roles.

CUEA charges approximately KES 204,840 per year while Egerton University offers the programme with fees to be confirmed. Entry requires at least an Upper Second Class Honours degree in Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, or a related field from a recognised institution.

Graduates pursue careers as social workers, community development officers, counsellors, programme managers, policy analysts, and lecturers across NGOs, government agencies, community organisations, and universities.

Skills Required

Social Work Theory and Practice
Community Development and Mobilisation
Counselling and Psychotherapy
Social Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Programme Planning and Management
Research Methods in Social Work
Child and Family Welfare
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
Academic Writing and Thesis Research

Key Subjects

Social Work Theory and Practice
Community Development and Mobilisation
Counselling and Psychotherapy
Social Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Programme Planning and Management
Child and Family Welfare
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Research Methods in Social Work
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
Thesis Research

Certifications

IFSW Professional Membership
Kenya Counselling and Psychological Association (KCPA) Registration

Specializations

Community Development

Focuses on community development, covering community, development, mobilisation, participation, and managing community development and mobilisation.

Counselling and Psychotherapy

Examines counselling, covering counselling, psychotherapy, mental, health, and managing counselling and psychotherapy practice.

Social Policy and Welfare

Covers social policy, covering social, policy, welfare, analysis, and managing social policy and welfare analysis.

Child and Family Welfare

Focuses on child and family welfare, covering child, family, welfare, protection, and managing child and family welfare and protection.

Mental Health Social Work

Examines mental health social work, covering mental, health, social, work, and managing mental health social work practice.

Programme Management

Covers programme management, covering programme, management, planning, evaluation, and managing programme planning and management.

Duration: 2 years
Public, up to: Ksh 187,200
Job market: High

The programme

What you study, how long it takes, and how it is delivered.

Practicalities

Study mode: Full-time, Part-time
Attachment: 0 months
Average class: 20 students
Award: Masters

What you study

10 subjects

Social Work Theory and Practice
Community Development and Mobilisation
Counselling and Psychotherapy
Social Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Programme Planning and Management
Child and Family Welfare
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Research Methods in Social Work
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
Thesis Research

Modules

12 in the programme

Social Work Theory and Practice
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Examines social work theory, covering social, work, theory, practice, and managing social work theory and practice.
Community Development and Mobilisation
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Covers community development, covering community, development, mobilisation, participation, and managing community development and mobilisation.
Counselling and Psychotherapy
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Examines counselling, covering counselling, psychotherapy, mental, health, and managing counselling and psychotherapy practice.
Social Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Covers social policy, covering social, policy, welfare, analysis, and managing social policy and welfare analysis.
Programme Planning and Management
Year 1Semester 13 creditsCore
Examines programme management, covering programme, management, planning, evaluation, and managing programme planning and management.
Child and Family Welfare
Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore
Covers child and family welfare, covering child, family, welfare, protection, and managing child and family welfare and protection.
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore
Examines mental health social work, covering mental, health, social, work, and managing mental health social work practice.
Research Methods in Social Work
Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore
Covers research, methods, social, work, and conducting research in social work, preparing students for their thesis.
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
Year 1Semester 23 creditsCore
Examines monitoring and evaluation, covering monitoring, evaluation, project, social, and managing project monitoring and evaluation.
Social Work Ethics and Professional Practice
Year 2Semester 13 creditsCore
Covers social work ethics, covering ethics, professional, practice, social, and managing social work ethics and professional practice.
Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response
Year 2Semester 13 creditsCore
Examines disaster management, covering disaster, management, humanitarian, response, and managing disaster management and humanitarian response.
Research Thesis
Year 2Semester 212 creditsCore
Original supervised research thesis on a social work topic, demonstrating mastery of research methods and social work knowledge, assessed through written submission and oral defence.

Specialisations

Community Development
Focuses on community development, covering community, development, mobilisation, participation, and managing community development and mobilisation.
Counselling and Psychotherapy
Examines counselling, covering counselling, psychotherapy, mental, health, and managing counselling and psychotherapy practice.
Social Policy and Welfare
Covers social policy, covering social, policy, welfare, analysis, and managing social policy and welfare analysis.
Child and Family Welfare
Focuses on child and family welfare, covering child, family, welfare, protection, and managing child and family welfare and protection.
Mental Health Social Work
Examines mental health social work, covering mental, health, social, work, and managing mental health social work practice.
Programme Management
Covers programme management, covering programme, management, planning, evaluation, and managing programme planning and management.

A day as a student

A typical day during the Master of Social Work programme combines lectures, fieldwork, seminars, and independent study. Sessions cover social work theory, community development, counselling, social policy, and research methods. Social work theory sessions examine social, work, theory, practice, and managing social work theory and practice. Community development sessions cover community, development, mobilisation, participation, and managing community development. Counselling sessions cover counselling, psychotherapy, mental, health, and managing counselling and psychotherapy. Social policy sessions cover social, policy, welfare, analysis, and managing social policy and welfare. Child welfare sessions cover child, family, welfare, protection, and managing child and family welfare. Mental health sessions cover mental, health, social, work, and managing mental health social work. Fieldwork provides practical experience in community engagement, counselling practice, and social work interventions. Seminars provide opportunities for presenting research findings. The programme culminates in a supervised research thesis on a social work topic.

The trade offs

In its favour

Programme addresses critical social challenges with growing demand for social work professionals in Kenya.
Both public and private universities confirmed offering this programme, providing options for students.
CUEA offers both full-time and part-time modes, providing flexibility for working professionals.
Graduates are eligible for IFSW international membership and KCPA registration.

Against it

Egerton University specific social work fees not verified from official sources.
Social work jobs may be emotionally demanding and require strong resilience.
Fieldwork may require working in challenging community environments.
Social work salaries in Kenya may be lower compared to other professional fields.

What it costs

Tuition at both ends of the market, and how to pay for it.

What it costs, and where

Against 241 social sciences courses

Public169k to 187k

169k at Egerton University187k at Moi University

Annual tuition in Kenyan shillings, rounded. The upright tick is the median for this field, so a bar sitting entirely to its right is an expensive programme by the standards of its own subject.

The fine print

Egerton ~169K/yr (egerton.ac.ke). Moi ~187K/yr (worldscholarshipforum). Private: unverified.

HELB postgraduate loans are available for Kenyan students. Universities may offer scholarships for eligible students. IFSW and IASSW may offer fellowships for social work research and education.

Funding options

HELB Postgraduate Loan
University Scholarship
IFSW Fellowship

Scholarships

3 recorded

HELB Postgraduate Loan
LoanKsh 200,000Kenyan
Kenyan students pursuing postgraduate studies at recognised universities.
University Scholarship
ScholarshipKsh 204,840Kenyan
CUEA and Egerton University may offer scholarships for eligible postgraduate social work students.
IFSW Fellowship
ScholarshipKsh 300,000
IFSW and IASSW may offer fellowships for social work research and education.

Getting in

The grades, the alternatives, and who accredits the award.

What you need

KCSE mean grade: N/A (Postgraduate)
Alternative entry: CUEA and Egerton University require at least Upper Second Class Honours in a relevant degree. Lower Second Class may be considered with relevant work experience. Contact respective universities for specific admission requirements.

How you are assessed

4 components

Coursework and Continuous Assessment
Coursework30% of the mark
Continuous assessment through coursework assignments, fieldwork reports, seminar presentations, and class participation.
Written Examinations
Examination70% of the mark
Written examinations covering social work theory, community development, counselling, and social policy.
Fieldwork Assessment
Project40% of the mark
Practical assessment through fieldwork, demonstrating community engagement, counselling practice, and social work intervention skills.
Research Thesis
Research100% of the mark
Original supervised research thesis on a social work topic, demonstrating mastery of research methods and social work knowledge, assessed through written submission and oral defence.

Accreditation

The programme is accredited by the Commission for University Education (CUE). CUEA (private) offers MA in Social Work through the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Egerton University (public) offers MA in Social Work. The programme meets CUE standards for postgraduate training in social work. Graduates may interact with IFSW for international social work standards and KCPA for counselling registration. The programme aligns with CUE and IFSW global social work frameworks.

Accredited by

Commission for University Education (CUE)
Academic accreditationRequired
Programme accredited by CUE. CUEA (private) offers MA in Social Work through the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Egerton University (public) offers MA in Social Work. The programme meets CUE standards for postgraduate training in social work. Graduates may interact with IFSW for international social work standards and KCPA for counselling registration. The programme aligns with CUE and IFSW global social work frameworks.

Where it leads

The roles it opens, and what you leave with.

Where graduates go

6 roles

Social Worker
High demandKsh 80,000 to Ksh 300,000
Provides social work services, covering social, worker, services, community, and managing social work services and community support.
Community Development Officer
High demandKsh 90,000 to Ksh 320,000
Manages community development, covering community, development, officer, programmes, and managing community development programmes.
Counsellor
High demandKsh 90,000 to Ksh 350,000
Provides counselling services, covering counsellor, counselling, mental, health, and managing counselling services and mental health.
Programme Manager
High demandKsh 120,000 to Ksh 400,000
Manages social programmes, covering programme, manager, social, development, and managing programme management and social development.
Policy Analyst
Moderate demandKsh 110,000 to Ksh 380,000
Analyses social policy, covering policy, analyst, social, welfare, and managing social policy analysis and advocacy.
Social Work Lecturer
Moderate demandKsh 100,000 to Ksh 400,000
Teaches social work at university or college level, overseeing instruction, research, and academic supervision.

Graduate outcomes

Where these fields lead

8 careers

Tools you will learn

SPSS
SoftwarePrimary
SPSS for social research data analysis, covering statistics, social, data, analysis, and managing social research data analysis.
NVivo
Software
NVivo for qualitative data analysis in social research, covering qualitative, data, analysis, research, and managing qualitative data analysis.
Logical Framework Approach
Methodology
Logical Framework Approach for project planning and evaluation, covering logical, framework, planning, evaluation, and managing project planning and evaluation.
Case Management Software
Software
Case management software for social work practice, covering case, management, social, work, and managing case management and social work practice.

Industry links

Common misconceptions

Social work is just about charity and helping people.
Social work covers theory, policy, counselling, community development, and research beyond just charity work.
This programme is only for sociology graduates.
Social work is for professionals from psychology, education, health sciences, and related fields, not just sociology graduates.
Social work has limited career prospects in Kenya.
Social workers are in high demand in NGOs, government agencies, community organisations, and international organisations.
This programme is the same as counselling psychology.
Social work focuses on community development and social policy, while counselling psychology focuses on individual mental health treatment.
Social work is only for women.
Social work is for all professionals regardless of gender, with growing male participation in the field.
You need volunteering experience to study this programme.
While experience is beneficial, the programme is accessible to graduates from various fields seeking social work specialisation.