Despite being known for agriculture and rural areas, Nebraska has many urban and suburban areas that expose you to different cultures and settings. Some of the largest cities in Nebraska include Oklahoma, Lincoln, and Bellevue. The diversity of cities and smaller communities in Nebraska allows you the freedom to practice in a variety of areas.
The cost of living in Nebraska is very low, at about 11% lower than the national average. The cost of living is even lower in rural areas. Living in an area with a low cost of living can make homeownership a more viable dream, especially since the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the average housing costs in Nebraska is almost $55,000 lower than the national average.
While earning your MSW Nebraska, you can plan on living in or very close to one of the large cities in Nebraska, as that is where all four MSW schools are located. The average cost of tuition in Nebraska is $11,127, and many schools offer teaching or research assistantship options that can help you pay for your tuition.
There are some schools in Nebraska that give you options beyond the traditional MSW. For example, the University of Nebraska Omaha has several different double degree options, including the MSW/MPA degree, the MSW/Criminal Justice degree, and the clinical MSW program.
If you attend school full-time, you can generally expect to earn a Master’s degree in social work in two years. During your first year, you learn the basics of social work. In addition to learning about the ethics and laws that affect social work, you learn how to provide evidence-based care, treatment protocols for different groups of people, and how to analyze social work research.
In your second year, you build on what you know by digging into a specific social work concentration. Schools often offer concentrations in child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, or policy and analysis. Your elective courses in your second year will be built around what your concentration is.
In addition to your traditional courses, you can expect to complete between 900 and 1000 clinical hours during your program. This works out to about 250 clinical hours per semester.
One of the best parts of being a social worker is that you can work in almost any field that interests you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics gives a long list of potential social worker employers, including nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, and college campuses. Overall, the biggest employers are healthcare organizations and government agencies.
In Nebraska, some of the largest social work employers are TFI Family Services, Telligen, and the Crohn’s Foundation. There are also numerous opportunities for you if you decide to pursue LCSW licensure. You may choose to open a private practice in an underserved community to offer mental health services.
Before you can begin your career as a social worker, you have to get licensed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The process is fairly straightforward. Send in an application, your transcript, and your diploma, and you get your license. There are no licensing exams in Nebraska.
In order to become a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, you have to complete 3000 hours of supervised work experience, 1500 of which must be with patients with major mental health issues.
In Nebraska, social worker salaries vary widely based on experience, type of social work practiced, and level of licensure. One of the biggest factors is what type of social worker you are. Healthcare social workers earn, on average, $40,500 per year (O*Net, 2012). Mental health social workers are close behind with an average salary of $36,900 per year. Finally, family social workers can earn an average salary of $35,600 per year (O*Net, 2012).
Overall, the demand for social workers is on the rise. This is because Master’s-level social workers can often provide clinical mental health services. The fastest growing field in Nebraska is mental health social work, a field that expects to see an 18% increase in job openings (O*Net, 2012). The job outlook is similar for healthcare social workers, for whom job openings are expected to increase by 17% (O*Net, 2012). Family social workers should anticipate a 13% increase in job openings (O*Net, 2012).
Schools in Nebraska Offering Masters in Social Work Programs
Bellevue University
(Bellevue, NE)
- Masters in Social Work (MSW)
- $6,000 Tuition Cost
- $1,680 Scholarship and Financial Aid Awards
- Suburban Campus Setting
Concordia University-Seward
(Seward, NE)
- Masters in Social and Family Systems
- $23,550 Tuition Cost
- $12,482 Scholarship and Financial Aid Awards
- Suburban Campus Setting
University of Nebraska at Omaha
(Omaha, NE)
- Masters in Social Work (MSW)
- $5,240 Tuition Cost
- $3,867 Scholarship and Financial Aid Awards
- Urban Campus Setting
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
(Lincoln, NE)
- Masters in Human Development and Family Studies
- $6,480 Tuition Cost
- $5,010 Scholarship and Financial Aid Awards
- Urban Campus Setting