The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis will fully fund practicum internship experiences and provide living stipends to students in its Master of Social Work (MSW) program beginning in fall 2026, announced Dorian Traube, the Neidorff Family and Centene Corporation Dean of the Brown School.
The practicum support award will be available to both new and returning MSW students. It will cover full tuition for required practicum credits and provide a living stipend distributed throughout a student’s program. There are around 200 MSW students at the Brown School.
Traube said both tuition coverage and stipend support are essential to addressing the financial strain students often face during unpaid practicum placements. Meeting the rigorous applied training requirements of the MSW can make it challenging to simultaneously maintain paid employment. Some students also incur costs such as transportation and child care associated with their time in practicum.
“By helping to remove barriers to entry, our students can focus completely on becoming the best social workers possible without worrying about missed income or added debt,” Traube said. “We are setting a new national standard for social work education and responding to the growing call to address unpaid placements across the country.”
Chancellor Andrew D. Martin said the Brown School continues to lead the way and set the standard for social work education for the 21st century.
“We at WashU have many reasons to be proud of our Brown School, and this announcement adds another. By guaranteeing that no student will pay for their required practicum experience, the Brown School is taking a significant step to remove financial barriers that have long limited access to social work education,” Martin said. “This milestone reflects WashU’s commitment to ensuring that all qualified students, regardless of financial means, can pursue meaningful careers in service to others. The Brown School continues to lead the field and help define the future of social work education.”
Practicum is a required component of social work education, but most placements nationwide are unpaid, forcing many students to choose between earning income and completing degree requirements.
MSW students complete two elements — a 360-hour field foundation practicum followed by a 600-hour field concentration practicum.
“We are addressing the systemic issue of unpaid labor, and we believe this initiative will strengthen the quality of our placements,” Traube said.
She added, “The Brown School is the first social work school to offer support for both practicum education and living expenses for all students completing practicum education. This comprehensive approach means that MSW students will not encumber additional debt because of their practicum education requirements.”
Tracy Shuoyang Cui, a first-year MSW student, said the practicum support initiative is deeply meaningful to her and other students. She recalled a moment in class when an instructor asked how many students were balancing school and work. Nearly every hand went up, except hers. As an international student, Cui said visa restrictions prevent her from taking most part-time jobs.
“As spring 2026 approaches, after paying tuition and watching my savings shrink, I often find myself calculating future expenses and wondering whether I can make it through graduation and into the workforce,” Cui said. “This has made it clear that the financial pressure of unpaid practicum placements is not abstract; it directly affects how much energy we can devote to our training, which ultimately affects our ability to enter the field as well-prepared social workers.”
She said learning about the practicum support award was encouraging.
“It’s not just financial assistance; it’s a thoughtful response to the real barriers students face,” Cui said. “As a Brown School student, I am proud to see our school taking concrete action to address this long-standing challenge in social work education.”
Mackenzie Knott, also a first-year MSW student, said the award represents the Brown School’s commitment to investing meaningfully in its students.
“Besides alleviating significant financial burdens, receiving this award would reaffirm my own confidence in my choice of study and practicum experience, helping me actualize my potential and further develop engagement with the communities I serve,” Knott said.
Traube, who became dean in August 2023, has made affordability and accessibility for MSW students key priorities. She said the practicum funding is a step toward a long-term goal of a tuition-free MSW program, a vision supported by university leadership.
“As we move toward a more affordable MSW, future cohorts will pay less than those before them,” Traube said. “There are more challenges and uncertainties than ever for people entering the field. Building the next generation of social workers will require collective investment in their education and leadership.”
She credited donor support and WashU’s With You campaign for making this initiative possible.
