要成为社会工作者，必须拥有社会工作教育理事会（CSWE）认可的大学或大学课程的社会工作学位。密歇根州立大学拥有这样的认可。学位课程包括课堂学习以及实践经验。社会工作学士学位（BSW）本科学位为毕业生准备入门级工作。社会工作硕士（MSW）学位使毕业生为更高级的实践做准备，并且是提供治疗所必需的。社会工作博士学位（DSW）和博士学位。学位对于进行研究和大学教学很有用。目前，MSU提供BSW学位。
Social workers are people who care about people, who want to make things better, who want to relieve suffering, and who want their work to make a difference. Social work is a profession devoted to helping people function well in their environment. This may be accomplished through provision of direct services or through direct therapy with individuals. It may also include working to improve social conditions. The phrase in their environment points to a distinguishing characteristic of social work, one that sets it apart from other helping professions. Social workers help people deal not only with how they feel about their situation, but also what they can do about it. The social work profession has its own body of knowledge, code of ethics, practice standards, credentials, state licensing, and nationwide system of accredited education programs. These equip the professional social worker to combine the desire to help others with the knowledge, skill, and ethics needed to provide that help. For sheer variety, few occupations can match social work in terms of the broad range of opportunities and settings it offers. Social workers are found in public agencies, private businesses, hospitals, clinics, schools, nursing homes, private practices, police departments, courts, and countless other interesting workplaces. Social workers serve individuals, families, and communities. They are managers, supervisors, and administrators, as well as elected political leaders.