California licenses one level of social worker, the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), through the Board of Behavioral Sciences. New MSW graduates register as an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW) while they collect supervised hours. Everything below comes from the board's own pages and rules, checked October 18, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the linked pages before you pay.
Check with your board. Social Work Ticket is a study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) or any state social work board; ASWB is their mark, used here only to name the exam. Laws on confidentiality, reporting and licensing differ by state; follow your state's law, your agency and your supervisor.
California at a glance
License
ASWB exam
What it takes
ASW (Associate Clinical Social Worker)
California Law and Ethics Exam
A master's in social work from an accredited school, Live Scan fingerprints, a $75 registration fee. Valid six years.
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
ASWB Clinical
3,000 supervised hours over at least 104 weeks, the Law and Ethics Exam passed, extra courses the board lists, a $125 application.
California has no Bachelors, Masters or Advanced Generalist license, so the only ASWB exam you take for a California license is the Clinical.
California, step by step
California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS)
Degree: a master's in social work from an accredited school of social work. The BBS also requires courses such as a 6-hour suicide risk assessment course and a telehealth course before licensure; California degree programs usually build them in, and the full list is in the instructions inside each application.
Register as an ASW: apply within 90 days of graduation if you want hours gained in that window to count (the board's 90-day rule); otherwise hours count only once you are registered. The ASW registration fee is $75, plus Live Scan fingerprints (a $49 processing fee for hard cards if you are fingerprinted outside California). A registration lasts six years; after that you need a subsequent registration, which carries limits such as no private practice.
California Law and Ethics Exam: you must take it each year to renew your ASW registration until you pass, and pass it before a subsequent registration can be issued. If you fail, wait at least 90 days to retake it.
Supervised experience: at least 3,000 hours over at least two years (104 weeks), all within the six years before you apply. At least 2,000 hours must be clinical psychosocial diagnosis, assessment and treatment, including at least 750 hours of individual or group psychotherapy, and no more than 1,000 hours can be nonclinical. At least 1,700 hours must be under an LCSW supervisor.
Apply for the LCSW: send the Application for LCSW Licensure with your experience verification and a $125 fee. Once the board approves every requirement, it clears you to register for the ASWB Clinical exam, whose fee you pay to ASWB.
Get the license: after you pass, request the license and pay the initial license fee within one year.
The steps that hold nearly everywhere: a CSWE-accredited degree, your board's approval (or ASWB's, in a few states), the ASWB exam at the level your license needs, then the license. Every ASWB level has 122 questions (110 scored) in 4 hours; Bachelors and Masters cost $230, Advanced Generalist and Clinical $260, and you wait at least 90 days to retake (ASWB Examination Guidebook, August 2026). A passing score counts in every state for the same exam level. The full walk-through: How to get your social work license.