Silver School of Social Work

Founded in 1960 as the NYU School of Social Work, the school was renamed the Silver School of Social Work in honor of NYU Alumni Constance and Martin Silver who pledged $50 million to the School of Social Work in 2007. At the time, it was the largest known donation to a school of social work in the history of the United States.[1]

The school offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Social Work, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctorate in Clinical Social Work degree programs. In addition, the school offers four dual master's degree options:[2] MSW/MA in Child Development with Sarah Lawrence College; MSW/JD with the NYU School of Law; MSW/Executive MPA with the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; and MSW/MPH with the NYU College of Global Public Health. In 2024 the school's MSW program was ranked 12th nationally by U.S. News and World Report.[3] The school also serves as a postgraduate training center for practicing social workers through its continuing education certificate programs and events.[4]

The school has educational partnerships with approximately 600 public and non-profit agencies throughout the New York metropolitan region, and offers students an array of global learning opportunities in such locations as Shanghai, Buenos Aires, London, and Glasgow.[5] Students at the School of Social Work collectively provide more than one half-million hours of service each year through their field placements and volunteer work.[6]

NYU Silver's Dean is Dr. Michael A. Lindsey, a leading scholar of poverty, inequality, and child and adolescent mental health.[7] He is also the Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work at NYU and an Aspen Health Innovators Fellow.[8] Dr. Lindsey led the working group of experts supporting the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health, which created the report Ring the Alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America.[9] Prior to being named NYU Silver’s Dean, Dr. Lindsey was the school's Constance and Martin Silver Professor of Poverty Studies and Executive Director of the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research.[10]