School of Social Work

School of Social Work
Established	1898 (part of Columbia from 1940)
President	{{{President}}}
Dean	Melissa Begg
Degrees	MSW, PhD
Enrollment	896 students (2005)
Website	www.columbia.edu/cu/ssw/

The School of Social Work is the oldest school of its kind in the U.S. The School of Social Work has played an instrumental role in developing social welfare policies (such as the Social Security Act of 1935) and conducting research. In 1906, Dr. George Edmund Hayes (the first African American to receive a doctorate from Columbia University) uses his social work training to start the predecessor to the National Urban league. Originally founded as the New York School of Philanthropy, it changed names to the New York School of Social Work in 1917. While the school had a relationship with Columbia, it did not officially merge with Columbia until 1940.