Masters in Human Services

This graduate level academic discipline is in many universities an assemblage of social services disciplines that are offered as areas of concentration. The Master of Human Services is one of those degrees that has been created in response to the evolution of employment opportunities and job titles in recent years. Among the academic focal points in this degree are non-profit management, grant writing, personnel and fiscal administration, community outreach, and legislative advocacy. Some schools model the degree on the MSW concept, but usually reach beyond traditional social work roles into a wider scope of human services administrative and policy functions.

Some schools will offer the Master of Human Services with specialization in clinical counseling or in program administration, in much the same fashion that many MSW programs are subdivided. The difference is that you can complete a Human Services degree and gain the training from a social services curriculum, but not be required to obtain a state license in order to apply for employment. Some agencies and organizations may insist on a licensed social worker for some positions, but there are many that welcome unlicensed workers with graduate level training in related fields. The only area where state licensure is crucial is in counseling; if you are considering enrolling in a Master of Human Services program and your goal is a counseling career you should check on licensing and academic requirements with your state.

You will find an impressive number of career options within a Master of Human Services program. There is a lot of variety from university to university for this degree because the concept is relatively recent; some schools include marriage and family therapy as an option, some include gerontology, some treat these academic options as separate topics entirely. Human services does align with social work in one critical area however: jobs in the field are expected to grow faster than average when compared to job growth overall. The basic curriculum is for a broad, administrative degree in the social services sector.