CSWE Accreditation and Your Social Work License

Every social work license starts with the degree, and boards care less about where you went than about who reviewed the program. In the United States, the reviewer is the Council on Social Work Education. Its Board of Accreditation is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the accrediting agency for social work education in the United States and its territories, and it accredits baccalaureate, master's and practice doctorate programs.

For most people this never comes up: they went to an accredited program and the board checks a box. It matters in three situations, covered below: a program that was new when you enrolled, a degree from outside the United States, and a move to a state with its own education review.

Why do boards insist on accreditation?

Licensing boards do not have the staff to evaluate curricula one applicant at a time. Accreditation lets them rely on an outside review of field education hours, faculty and curriculum, and it gives every board the same reference point. That shared standard is also what makes interstate mobility possible at all.

The Social Work Licensure Compact builds it in. To join, a state must require applicants to graduate from a program accredited, "or in candidacy by an institution that subsequently becomes accredited," by an accreditor recognized by CHEA or the U.S. Department of Education. Each multistate license category repeats the same degree rule: a bachelor's degree in social work for the bachelor's category, and at least a master's degree in social work for the master's and clinical categories. No state is issuing multistate licenses yet; see our compact hub for the current status.

My program was in candidacy when I enrolled. Am I covered?

Usually, if the program went on to earn accreditation. CSWE's accreditation FAQ says: "Students who enter programs that attain Candidacy in or before the academic year in which they begin their program of study will be retroactively recognized as having graduated from a CSWE-accredited program as long as the program attains Initial Accreditation."

Two conditions are packed into that sentence:

• Timing. The program must have reached candidacy in or before the academic year you started. If you enrolled a year before it reached candidacy, the retroactive recognition does not reach you.
• Outcome. The program has to actually earn initial accreditation. A program that stalls in candidacy, or loses it, leaves its graduates without an accredited degree.

If you are in this position, get a letter from the program confirming its candidacy date and its accreditation date, and keep it with your licensing file. Boards check the CSWE program directory, which lists accredited, candidate and pre-candidate programs, but a letter answers the timing question before anyone has to ask.

Does an online MSW count?

If it is accredited, yes. CSWE says all accredited programs are held to the same standards "regardless of the curriculum delivery methods used." The format is not the issue; accreditation is. Field placement is where online students more often run into trouble, and that is a program question rather than a licensing one.

One wrinkle: a few states look at more than accreditation. New York cannot register programs offered by institutions outside New York, so every out-of-state graduate is individually evaluated by its Bureau of Comparative Education, which may ask for course syllabi and can require additional coursework or an internship. See the New York license guide.

I earned my social work degree outside the United States. What now?

CSWE runs the International Social Work Degree Recognition and Evaluation Service, known as ISWDRES. It "recognizes academic credentials in social work that are comparable to accredited undergraduate and graduate social work degrees in the United States," for purposes that include state licensing, graduate admission, NASW membership and employment.

The process, per CSWE:

1. Screening form with a screening fee. CSWE says to expect results within two weeks.
2. Recognition application with a fee that depends on the country where the degree was awarded, plus your supporting documents.
3. Determination letter, generally within 45 days of ISWDRES receiving all documentation.

CSWE publishes its fee schedule by academic year and says fees may change on July 1; check the current schedule rather than a number you saw elsewhere. CSWE also warns that international credit card payments often fail and asks applicants not to retry repeatedly.

Two caveats. First, an ISWDRES letter is evidence, not a license: the board still decides. Ask your board in writing whether it accepts ISWDRES, requires it, or uses its own review, as New York does. Second, the recognition is about the degree only. You will still need the ASWB exam, supervised experience for a clinical license, and everything else on the board's list.

What if my degree is not in social work?

A master's in counseling or psychology does not qualify you for a master's or clinical social work license in any state we have checked, and the compact's categories all require a social work degree. Those degrees lead to other licenses; our sister site White Glove Counseling compares the three routes. ASWB's Associate exam exists for the jurisdictions that license some applicants without a social work degree.

If you are licensing with an unusual educational history, whether a program that was in candidacy, a foreign degree or an out-of-state program in New York, our Full State License Application service assembles the education file the board will ask for. See pricing or contact us.