AmeriCorps as a Path to Social Work

by Mandy Gawf, MSW

     Like many, after I graduated with my BSW, I was hesitant to pile on more debt by jumping into an MSW program, and I was eager to gain more work experience. I knew I wanted to gain my MSW but wondered if there would be a path for me, financially, to achieve this goal.

    After much research, I decided to try the AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, which has been operating since 1965. AmeriCorps is similar to the Peace Corps program, but you stay in the U.S. The motto of AmeriCorps is “go where you are needed.” There are few requirements to complete an AmeriCorps application, mainly being 18 years of age or older.

    However, each placement may have specific requirements, such as college degree, specific experiences, or proficiency in specific languages. Certain placements are geared toward experiences relevant to social work practice. Placements are made based on a competitive interview process with sites you are interested in, just as with any job in the employment market.

    AmeriCorps is a perfect opportunity for a new social worker in a few different ways.

• First, you choose from hundreds of opportunities to work on anti-poverty initiatives around the country. You apply and interview with these agencies as you would any job, after applying for the AmeriCorps VISTA program. These placements are a great start to building valuable social work experience in your area of interest. I chose a placement working in the homelessness field, but numerous options exist, including placements at schools, research organizations, political offices, mental health programs, and many more.
• I was able to begin using my BSW degree immediately. I worked with an agency that did incredible work to strengthen the homeless service safety net in Chicago. This opportunity allowed me to enter my MSW program with more experience and maturity, and it solidified my interest in the housing and homelessness field, an area in which I still work today.
• AmeriCorps assists with your relocation costs. I chose to move from Oregon to a placement in Chicago. This gave me a much richer training in diversity and strategically allowed me to gain in-state tuition to Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago (cutting the cost significantly) when the time came.
• AmeriCorps has placements around the country in rural, urban, suburban, and tribal settings. This variety allows you to experience a place that is outside the sphere of what you may have encountered up to this point.
• After you finish a year of service in AmeriCorps, you receive an Education Award, which you can put toward past loans or future education costs. I ended up completing one year of service, continuing with a second year while getting my master’s degree. That allowed me to obtain two Education Awards. These awards, along with the in-state tuition reduction in cost, paid for 80% of my MSW degree and allowed me to be debt-free within two years of completing my master’s program.

    Everyone’s path through school is unique, and each person has to personally weigh many factors into financial decisions. AmeriCorps can be a path that opens the door to continued social work education for those who feel they have few financial options.  

    Finally, AmeriCorps also has the potential to be a useful resource to the social work field at large as a pathway to introducing more highly trained and less debt-burdened new social workers into the workforce.

    For more information on AmeriCorps, visit: https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorpsvista

Mandy Gawf received her MSW from Jane Addams College of Social Work in Chicago. She is now growing in the social work profession, working in the housing and homelessness field in rural Oregon. She maintains a social work blog focused on connection and reflection at swcompanion.blog.