Colorado licenses Licensed Social Workers (LSW) and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), with a Clinical Social Worker Candidate (SWC) registration while you collect clinical hours. The ASWB exam is now only required for the LCSW. 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.
Colorado at a glance
License
ASWB exam
What it takes
LSW (Licensed Social Worker)
None required (jurisprudence only)
A master's in social work, the Colorado jurisprudence exam. The ASWB Masters exam is needed only if you want a multistate license under the Social Work Licensure Compact.
SWC (Clinical Social Worker Candidate)
None (a registration)
Registration that lets your post-MSW clinical hours count. Expires December 31 every 3 years.
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)
Clinical + jurisprudence
3,000 hours of post-MSW supervised experience over at least two years, with set individual and group supervision.
Colorado dropped the ASWB exam requirement for the LSW. The board notes the Masters exam still matters for the multistate license under the Social Work Licensure Compact, which it expects to go live in late 2026.
Colorado, step by step
Colorado State Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Professions and Occupations, DORA)
Jurisprudence exam: both the LSW and the LCSW require the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination, an open-book online exam on Colorado law and rules for social work. Pass it before you apply and upload the report.
LSW: apply online through DPO with your master's education certificate and the jurisprudence report. No ASWB exam is required for the Colorado LSW.
Candidate registration: post-degree experience and supervision count toward licensure only while you are registered as a candidate (SWC or LSW), or as an Unlicensed Psychotherapist, or in an exempt setting.
LCSW experience: document 3,000 hours of post-MSW supervised social work experience over at least two years on the board's Post Degree Experience and Supervision Form, meeting the board's individual and group supervision rules.
LCSW exam: the ASWB Clinical exam. Social worker licenses expire August 31 of odd-numbered years.
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.