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Online Bilingual MSW Program Recognized by Excelencia in Education

Excelencia in Education recognized Loyola's Online Bilingual MSW program on its annual list of "Programs to Watch." The OBMSW was one of 12 programs in the country to receive the designation.

Since 2017, Excelencia has identified innovative programs that are making a positive impact on the success of their Latine students as "Programs to Watch." More than 100 programs applied for this year's honors.

"It means the world to us to earn this recognition," said OMBSW Program Director Maribel Lopez, Ed.D. "We have been working arduously to ensure we not only train bilingual (English/Spanish) social workers for the field, but address the unmet service needs of immigrant and refugee communities that are so desperately needed."

The Online Bilingual Master of Social Work Program is an extended, accessible option from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work that prepares students for leadership and service to others as professional and actively engaged social workers. Courses are taught in a Spanish/English bilingual format by bilingual and bicultural Latine instructors and include relevant linguistic, cultural, and migration-focused knowledge and skills. Since inception, the program has served 189 students and of those, 159 have been Hispanic.

"Noticing that Latine children were going through a period of accelerated growth into 'adulthood' by being the main translators and interpreters for their family to access services due to the lacunae of bilingual social workers, it was time for us to change this status quo," said Goutham Menon, Ph.D., whose was dean when the program was created.

Excelencia highlighted the OMBSW's accessibility and focus on relevant "linguistic, cultural, and migration-focused knowledge and skills" as reasons it was chosen for this year's list.