Rockland County

“I chose NYU Silver for its reputation of excellence. I was thrilled to learn there was a Rockland County satellite campus. It has been a wonderful choice‒ the faculty and staff are all amazing, and being that it is a small campus, the classroom environment lends itself to spirited discussions.”

- Esther Vorchheimer, MSW ’19

NYU Silver’s campus in Rockland County is situated at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York, just 3 miles south of the Mario Cuomo Bridge and 10 miles away from Fort Lee, New Jersey. This full-service campus offers the opportunity to earn an MSW degree from NYU on the west side of the Hudson River. Students who choose Rockland as their “home” campus have the option of taking some of their classes at other NYU Silver campuses, and they have access to all of the services and study abroad opportunities that the University has to offer. 

Students at the Rockland campus are diverse in age, race, and life experiences, ranging from career changers to those only recently graduated from college. Courses are scheduled for convenience of working professionals who need evening and weekend options and field internships close to where they live.

The Two-Year, 16-Month, and Advanced Standing full-time program pathways are available at the Rockland County campus, as are the Extended and Extended One Year Residence part-time/full-time pathways.

In addition, this campus offers a unique 3-2 program. Through a special partnership with St. Thomas Aquinas College and Fairleigh Dickinson University, undergraduate psychology majors at these institutions are eligible to apply to an accelerated program in which they earn both their bachelor’s degree in psychology and MSW degree in 5 academic years. 

Rockland County Campus by the Numbers

The Student Experience

Meet Patrick Meyer, MSW ’20

“I looked at other nearby programs, but it’s NYU – that's all I need to say,” said Patrick Meyer about why he chose to pursue his MSW at our Rockland County Campus. A Rockland County resident who earned his BS in Criminal Justice, Patrick said he has always had a passion for helping people, and he realized that “with an MSW, I could change more lives.”

When Patrick enrolled in our Extended One-Year Residency pathway to the MSW in 2017, he was a case manager at Jawonio, a service provider for people with disabilities and special needs. It was through his Practice with Groups professor, Dr. Alissa Mallow, who is also the Director of Social Work Services for the Montefiore Medical Group, that he found his current full-time job as a social work assistant at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Patrick is also doing his field placement at Montefiore as a social work intern in the Emergency Department. 

While Patrick enjoys medical social work and hopes to stay at Montefiore after graduation, he said he has particularly enjoyed the elective course he took on Forensic Social Work in Problem Solving Courts, taught by NYU Silver Alum Terrence Coffie, BS ’16/MSW ’17, the founder of Educate Don't Incarcerate.  Patrick is also particularly grateful to Clinical Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Rockland County Campus Dr. Aminda Heckman, who was his Human Behavior I professor and is a constant source of support.

The Cara Haefner Student Lounge

In February 2020, our Rockland County Campus celebrated the opening of a new student lounge, dedicated to the memory of alumna Cara Dawn Haefner, MSW '14. The lounge, which contains comfortable seating, a bookshelf, a refrigerator, microwave, and hot beverage station, gives students at the Rockland campus a space near their classrooms to relax, eat, and congregate. Read our announcement to learn more about the lounge and Cara’s legacy and watch video highlights from the ceremony produced by St. Thomas Aquinas College communication arts major Mark Keegan, BS '22.