January 16, 2026

Yesterday CSWA participated in the Congressional Briefing on maintaining Professional Degrees in mental health. One of the six panelists at the event, attended by many legislators and staffers, was Jordyn Skahill, CSWA’s MSW intern from Utah State. Jordyn was the only student to participate and gave a stellar explanation of how changing the MSW in clinical social work from a Professional Degree to a Graduate Degree would have made it impossible for her to attend the MSW program at Utah State University; the change in degree would cut access to FAFSA funding by over 60 percent.

Jordyn was a presenter with several leaders in social work, including the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Work (NASW), Anthony Estreet (picture below). CSWA Deputy Director of Policy and Practice, Judy Gallant, LCSW-C, graciously offered to house Jordyn during her DC stay, and to lobby with Jordyn after the Briefing.

Many thanks to Jordyn and Judy for representing CSWA so well (full text of Jordyn’s remarks).

There are now five bills that would maintain the MSW as a Professional Degree with the current levels of loan availability. CSWA will let members know when the bill that looks promising is known so they can contact their members of Congress.

Please contact Laura Groshong, LICSW, CSWA Director of Policy and Practice with any questions at lwgroshong@clinicalsocialworkassociation.org.