Professional Careers

The School of Social Service Administration graduates take jobs that reflect the breadth of the education the School offers. Those who concentrate in clinical practice use their training in such settings as health and mental health agencies, child and family services, school social work, geriatric services, and employee assistance programs in business and industry, as well as private practice. Because the School attracts outstanding graduate students, and because it offers students the opportunity to complement their clinical training with courses in research and management, many graduates of SSA's clinical practice program move into supervisory, administrative, and leadership positions in their chosen agencies within a few years of graduation.

Social administration students find program planning and management positions both in public and private agencies and in federal, state, and municipal government. Others conduct research and evaluation of social welfare programs in public and private nonprofit and for-profit organizations and in universities. Still others use their skills in political action, in community organizing and advocacy, and in electoral politics. Again, the expectation is that students will rapidly move into leadership roles in whatever careers they adopt.

Alumni of the School are found in diverse leadership roles in social welfare and hold senior positions in federal, state, or local government agencies including such prominent positions as the director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. Alumni also hold leadership positions in the private sector, with hundreds of graduates maintaining clinical or consulting practices.

SSA does not merely train students to fill current openings in social work. Because of its position as a leading institution, SSA continues to help shape the field and identify new patterns of need and response. The School's educational program, which encourages broad understanding of social problems and multiple techniques for dealing with them, should enable graduates to be effective leaders throughout their careers in social work and social welfare.