The social work curriculum is organized within an interdisciplinary liberal arts framework. Its purpose is to support the program’s mission, goals, and objectives. The curriculum’s liberal arts foundation consists of the All-College General Education requirements and the School of Social Science and Human Services’ core requirements. The liberal arts foundation is carefully sequenced and integrated with the social work professional foundation curriculum, serving to provide basic and supplementary knowledge to the professional foundation’s nine areas of emphases.

Ramapo College requires that students complete 128 hours of course work to meet graduation requirements. All students must complete a minimum of 32 credits in General Education courses in the areas of science, social science, and the humanities. The General Education requirements are designed in such a way as to offer students an appreciation and understanding of the person-in-environment perspective, cultural and social diversity, the bio-psycho-social aspects of human development, values and ethics, and critical thinking.

Social work students also must complete a School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS) core curriculum of 24 credits, some of which meet the All-College General Education requirements but that relate directly to the academic mission of SSHS. The SSHS core provides a series of courses which examine the history of social thought, social problems, societal divisions based on culture, class, race, and gender, the formation of individual and group consciousness, the phenomena of ideology, and social science research methods.

Students are expected to complete their 100 level college General Education requirements and specific program prerequisites prior to entering the Social Work Program.