The University of New Mexico is standing up a Master of Social Work program, with an initial class of about 20 students set to begin coursework in Albuquerque in spring 2027. The new degree will be housed inside the School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
According to KRQE, students entering the program will be able to choose between two concentrations: clinical social work and medical social work. UNM says the medical social work track will mark the first of its kind offered anywhere in the state, according to UNM News. The program is being funded through a $10.5 million endowment from the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the university's health sciences news office reports.
How the Two-Year Track Will Work
UNM's program is designed primarily as a two-year degree. The inaugural cohort will spend its first semester on coursework before shifting into hands-on fieldwork during the summer and fall terms that follow, per the university's announcement. Over the course of the program, students will need to log 900 total field hours — 400 during the generalist year and 500 during the concentration year, the School of Medicine's psychiatry department notes on its program page.
For applicants who already hold a bachelor's degree in social work earned within the past five years, UNM is also building a faster one-year track that mirrors the second-year curriculum of the standard program. That accelerated option won't launch until spring 2028, the university says. A bachelor's degree in social work isn't required to apply at all; the program's health sciences news release notes that students coming from humanities or social science backgrounds may also be suitable candidates.
Conflicting Word on Application Deadlines
Exactly when prospective students need to apply is murkier than UNM's own messaging suggests. One university announcement states that applications for the fall 2027 cohort are open now through Jan. 31, 2027, while a separate release from UNM's health sciences communications office lists a narrower window, saying applications were accepted from June 15 through Aug. 31, 2026. The university has not publicly reconciled the two dates.
The program's accreditation status is also still pending. UNM's psychiatry department states the MSW program is currently in pre-candidacy for accreditation with the Council of Social Work Education's Board of Accreditation, and that the program was listed on that board's October 2026 meeting agenda.
Addressing a Statewide Shortage
UNM program director Jen Panhorst framed the new degree as a response to a gap in the state's mental health workforce. Panhorst told the university's health sciences news office, “this is an urgent need for New Mexico, to produce more clinical social workers,” pointing to a shortage of people available to provide therapy across the state.
UNM's program includes a medical social work concentration and is housed in the School of Medicine.
