For over ninety years, social work education has been offered to students at Missouri's premier public institution. The school is proud of its grass roots history: an early pioneer of social work education in 1906, a founding member of the original accrediting body for social work education in 1919, an institution advancing research and scholarship throughout the 20th century, and finally, to its role as an innovator in doctoral education, with a nationally distinctive PhD program emphasizing state social policy.
The mission of the MU School of Social Work is to promote leadership for social and economic justice by preparing students for professional excellence and leadership in practice, research, and policy. Within the context of a land grant institution, the mission of the School of Social Work reflects the University of Missouri's tightly interlocked missions of teaching, research, outreach, and economic development.