How to get a social work license in North Carolina

North Carolina has one license, required for clinical practice (the LCSW, with the LCSW Associate as the training stage), and three voluntary certifications for non-clinical social work. All four ASWB exam levels are used. 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.

North Carolina at a glance

LicenseASWB examWhat it takes
CSW (Certified Social Worker), voluntaryBachelorsA CSWE-accredited BSW.
CMSW (Certified Master Social Worker), voluntaryMastersA CSWE-accredited MSW, DSW or PhD in social work.
LCSWA (LCSW Associate)None to startAn MSW; report supervision and practice to the board every 6 months; renewable, up to 6 years in all.
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)Clinical3,000 hours of paid, supervised clinical work after the MSW over 2 to 6 years, 100 hours of supervision.
CSWM (Certified Social Work Manager), voluntaryAdvanced GeneralistA social work degree, 3,000 hours of paid employment over 2 to 6 years, 100 hours of supervision by a board-certified administrator.

Clinical social work requires the license (LCSW or LCSWA); the CSW, CMSW and CSWM are voluntary title certifications for non-clinical practice.

North Carolina, step by step

North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board

  1. LCSW Associate: with an MSW, DSW or PhD from a CSWE-accredited school you can get the LCSWA with no exam. While you work toward the LCSW, you and your supervisor document your supervision and practice to the board every six months, and only post-MSW paid clinical employment counts. The LCSWA renews every two years ($140 and 40 CE hours, 4 in ethics) but cannot run past six years.
  2. Supervised experience: at least 3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice over no less than two years and no more than six, with at least 100 hours of supervision from an LCSW who has two more years of post-LCSW clinical practice, at least one hour for every 30 hours of practice, and no more than 25 hours in groups.
  3. The exam: the ASWB Clinical exam, which you must pass before the LCSW is issued. Once an LCSWA has documented two years of clinical practice, the board can grant exam eligibility.
  4. Apply for the LCSW: send the LCSW Short Form application with your final six-month review form and the application fee once experience, supervision, the exam and CE are complete.
  5. Certifications: CSW (BSW + ASWB Bachelors, renewal $70), CMSW (MSW + ASWB Masters, renewal $90) and CSWM (a social work degree, 3,000 hours of paid employment over 2 to 6 years, 100 hours of supervision, and the ASWB Advanced Generalist exam). Each renews every two years with 40 CE hours.
  6. Fees: the board sets its application fees; state law caps an initial application at $200 (N.C.G.S. 90B-6.2). Check the current form on the board's Certification & Licensure Forms page.

Sources: NC board: Levels and eligibility requirements, LCSW Associate, LCSWA FAQs, N.C.G.S. 90B-6.2 (fees). Checked October 18, 2026.

Practice for the Bachelors exam, freeThe Bachelors level: generalist practice, benefits programs and task-centered work, on the 2026 Bachelors outline. Practice for the Masters exam, freeVignette questions on the 2026 Masters outline, every answer sourced. Practice for the Advanced Generalist exam, freeLeadership, personnel, program evaluation, grants and research ethics, on the 2026 Advanced Generalist outline. Practice for the Clinical exam, freeDSM-5-TR diagnosis, psychotherapy models, clinical ethics and supervision, on the 2026 Clinical outline.

The national steps, briefly

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.

Official pages