Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Social Work

Earn a Social Work Degree from Loras and seek to improve the functioning and life satisfaction of people throughout the life span, primarily through individual and social advocacy. Work with individuals and groups, and focus on improving communities and the larger environments in which people perform their jobs and function.

The Loras Social Work program is certified by both academic and social work accrediting agencies. Many graduates go on to master’s programs in Social Work and related fields.

Student Experience

The Loras social work program provides a supportive learning community that graduates competent, ethical, value-based, generalist social work practitioners who critically use their liberal arts background in service to others. Working with and in partnering agencies, students, grounded in empowerment, actively learn knowledge values and skills, reflect upon those through opportunities in and outside the classroom, adopt and adhere to ethical approaches with diverse populations, and contribute responsibly to an ever-growing and changing world.

When Social Work majors complete their undergraduate education, they can be employed as a school social worker, a probation officer, a child abuse investigator, a domestic violence advocate, a hospital worker, an elder in-home worker, and others. Social Work majors will tell you they find their education meaningful and rewarding because they are able to make the world a better place for us all.

The Loras Social Work program emphasizes both classroom and experiential learning. In the classroom, professors use active learning processes to teach essential theories, principles, and skills.

Practicum placements in a wide variety of agencies and organizations such as residential treatment centers for children and adolescents, nursing homes, probation departments, domestic violence, and foster care agencies provide opportunities for students to apply those principles and practices while expanding their professional networks. The experiences students have in practicum also assist students in designing their career goals.

Students run a highly active Social Work Club, which sponsors activities designed to raise awareness about important social issues such as domestic violence and homelessness. They also effectively raise funds and create resources to aid those in need. The Social Work Club at Loras is recognized as one of the most active and successful student organizations.

About Loras

Historically rich, academically challenging, faith-centered, socially stimulating – that’s Loras College.

Relating the rich liberal arts tradition to a changing world, Loras College strives to develop active learners, reflective thinkers, ethical decision makers and responsible contributors in their diverse professional, social, and religious roles. Housed on a safe, scenic campus nestled high atop the majestic bluffs of the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa, Loras College offers a wide array of academic programs, extracurricular offerings, and opportunity for personal growth.

We would be proud to welcome you into our circle of loyal Duhawks who will forever call our Dubuque campus home. Dubuque has received many awards and has been proudly recognized locally and nationally.

Mission

Loras, as a Catholic liberal arts college, creates a community of active learners, reflective thinkers, ethical decision-makers and responsible contributors in diverse professional, social and religious roles.

Vision

Loras will excel in developing principled thinkers and caring professionals in the Catholic and liberal arts traditions.

Pro Deo et Patria!

The motto of Loras College succinctly states the purpose of the Loras College community. We strive to fulfill the will of God by helping students become contributing citizens in the world and achieve their ultimate objective of unity with God. The Loras College community embraces core values that define the way we work, behave and relate with others. Truth, Respect, Responsibility, Excellence and Service.

Summary of Goals

• Foster an active, integrated learning environment that develops a community of scholars
• Sharpen our focus as a Catholic diocesan institution
• Challenge and support students to become engaged community members and responsible campus citizens
• Persist as leaders in the integration of technology and learning
• Strengthen recruitment and improve retention
• Strengthen the financial standing and stewardship of college resources
• Enhance and expand relationships and communication with the Colleges’ constituencies
• Broaden our understanding of human dignity, particularly as related to diversity and gender

Catholic identity: our commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition

Loras College is a Catholic, diocesan college explicitly oriented to promote service of both church and world through encouraging all members of the community in development of their “diverse professional, social and religious roles.” The college strives to be a community demonstrating the highest standards of the Catholic intellectual tradition and welcoming all people into a dialogue to promote core values of truth, respect, responsibility, excellence and service.

Diversity Matters

• Diversity matters at Loras College because we are an inclusive community of people from many backgrounds and experience
• We, the Loras College community, strive to embody social, intellectual, and cultural hospitality in which multiple points of view can be expressed and explored in civil discourse.
• We proclaim this vision as an institution rooted in the Catholic tradition, which centers its moral vision of society on human dignity. All human persons have inherent dignity because all are created in the image of God; thus we act to treat all persons with respect.
• We aspire to be a society grounded in truth, justice, charity, and freedom. As neighbors in solidarity with one another, we work for fair treatment of all persons.
• We desire to live out our conviction that authentic unity is rooted in and springs forth from our diversity and therefore strive to create opportunities to embrace and build active community relationships in which all individuals may flourish.
• We intend the expression of our diversity ideals to be fluid and constantly evolving. As a result of our continued engagement with these values, our lived experience of diversity is not static, but a dynamic and living testament to human dignity.