2024 Commencement

Please visit our commencement page for all information regarding the 
ceremony for Class of 2024 PhD, DSW, MSW and MSN graduates. 

Apply Now for 2024

Fall 2024 On-Campus MSW Application FINAL Deadline: July 16, 2024

News Archive

Giving

  • re_cross_after_hurricane

    Kristie Holmes and Laura Cardinal recently traveled to Beaumont, Texas, to provide social work services to those affected by the storm. This is their day-by-day account of their week on the ground.

    In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the media’s attention has been focused on the devastation: the physical damage, the lives disrupted and the long road ahead to rebuild the affected areas. And indeed, firefighters, first responders and everyday heroes have played a crucial role in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

  • open_pic

    Starting a private practice is the ultimate goal for many licensed clinical social workers. These three essential steps will help successfully launch your practice.

    The prospect of opening a private practice is alluring to licensed clinical social workers (LCSW) for a number of reasons — the opportunity to set your own hours, carve out your niche within the field and opt to see the patients that you feel best equipped to treat.

  • Frances Wu

    Frances Wu, the first Chinese American to receive a Doctor of Social Work from the University of Southern California, philanthropist, and founder of Chinese American Golden Age Association, died Aug. 11 in Monterey Park, California. She was 96.

    Born in 1921 in Anhui, China, Wu was a 1948 graduate of Ginling College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and social work. Her master’s degree in social work was from McGill University.

  • group_photo_immersion_program

    Social work students had the opportunity to connect with the Lakota people through a new cultural immersion program in South Dakota.

  • David Kuroda, MSW ’72, shares a few tips about how couples with children can “uncouple” in healthy ways.

    1. Tell your children the divorce is not their fault and remind them of it as often as you need to. Reassure them that you will always love them.

    2. Even if you’re worried about money and feel uncertain, remember that as parents we have to give our children hope for the future. You might tell them that you may live in a smaller house or not take as many vacations, but that you’ll continue to love each other and be a family no matter what.

  • david_kuroda_pic

    David Kuroda, MSW ’72, has spent his career advocating for children—and healthy divorces.

    Over his decades-long career as a social worker, counselor and mediator, David Kuroda, MSW ’72, has helped some 8,000 families navigate the stress of separation and divorce.

    He has seen firsthand that dividing a family is never easy, but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of a child’s well-being. “It’s not the divorce that hurts children,” he says. “It’s the way parents get divorced, and the amount of conflict between them, that harms children.”

  • Barbara Jury

    Barbara Jury ’50 discovered her calling at an early age. When she was 7 she spent a week in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy, and she believes the experience of observing nursing in action around the clock planted the seed.

    During her teen years, her father became a hospital administrator, offering Jury more opportunity to witness not only the nursing profession but the workings of the whole hospital organization from top to bottom. By the time she graduated high school in 1945, she knew that health care would be her career.

  • old_lad_with_a_camera

    Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and the only cause in the top ten that cannot be cured or reversed. Understanding the symptoms is key to early diagnosis, which can lead to a better quality of life for the patient and family as the disease progresses.

  • bonnie johnson and ceasar mejia

    For most students, receiving a scholarship can make a critical difference to their choice of school, ability to focus exclusively on their studies, or even the chance to pursue an advanced degree at all. The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is committed to increasing its capacity to help ease the burden of debt to our students and ensuring that we continue to provide opportunities for the best and brightest to become part of the Trojan Family, regardless of financial circumstances.

  • kids_smiling

    May is National Foster Care Month. Foster care can come in many forms — do you know about these 10 types?

    To many, “foster care” denotes the concept of a caretaker taking in children in need until they can find permanent homes. However, there are many different types of foster care, from those based on medical need to those that involve family members or friends of the family looking after children due to unforeseen circumstances.