Columbia Must End Unpaid Social Work Placements

Columbia Spectator • By Payments for Placements Caucus at CSSW • February 25, 2025

“To graduate with a master’s degree in social work, most full-time graduate students at CSSW must complete 1,200 hours of internship work, along with a full-time course load. In many cases, students are expected to work 21 hours or more per week—responsibilities normally assigned to paid staff members. Any paid employment available for students must be scheduled around graduate courses and field placements, leaving students to work nights and weekends in order to cover rent and medical bills, as well as out-of-pocket food and transportation expenses.

A series of surveys conducted by Payments for Placements found that unpaid field placements cause CSSW students to experience financial, mental, and emotional stress in the struggle to balance their academic and career responsibilities. Over 60 percent of respondents stated that their academic performance was negatively impacted. Furthermore, in a survey of over 100 social work students, 72 percent of the respondents said they take on paid forms of employment in addition to a full-time graduate course load and unpaid internships.”

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