Michigan Social Work Licensing for Out-of-State Clinicians

The first thing to know about Michigan is the vocabulary. Michigan does not issue an LCSW. Under the Public Health Code and the Board of Social Work's general rules (Mich. Admin. Code R 338.2921 and following), clinical social workers hold a licensed master's social worker (LMSW) license with a clinical practice designation. There is also a macro designation for non-clinical practice, and a licensee can hold both. Bachelor's-level social workers are licensed as LBSWs, and Michigan also registers social service technicians.

So when a New York LCSW applies to Michigan, the target is "LMSW, clinical." Our post on Michigan's clinical and macro designations covers the split in more depth.

Which exams does Michigan use?

Rule 338.2925 adopts three ASWB exams: Bachelors, Advanced Generalist and Clinical. The clinical designation requires the Clinical exam; the macro designation uses the Advanced Generalist. The ASWB Masters exam is not on the list.

Endorsement: the ten-year presumption

Rule 338.2957 creates two routes for someone licensed in another state or a Canadian province.

Ten or more years of master's-level practice

If you hold an active master's social work license or registration in good standing and have practiced at the master's level for at least 10 years before applying, Michigan presumes you meet its requirements under section 16186 of the Public Health Code. You choose the clinical or macro designation and attest that you practiced at that level. You can add the second designation if you already hold both where you are licensed, or by meeting the second-designation rule.

Fewer than ten years

You must pass the Clinical (or Advanced Generalist) exam and document at least 4,000 hours of supervised work experience, work experience, or both, at the clinical (or macro) level. For most clinicians, the original licensing file from their home state is the starting point. If your state required 3,000 hours, you will need records of further clinical work to reach 4,000.

Both routes require disclosure of every health profession license you have held anywhere and verification from each issuing body that no discipline is pending and no sanctions are in force.

The 4,000-hour rule for people training in Michigan

If you move to Michigan before you are fully licensed, the in-state rules are strict. Rule 338.2949 requires 4,000 hours of post-degree supervised experience over at least two years, and the hours may only be earned while holding a Michigan limited master's social worker license. Supervision runs at least 4 hours a month, 2 of them individual, in person or by live video. You may not log more than 2,080 hours in any 12 months, and you must average 16 to 40 hours a week. Hours earned in another state before you arrived follow the endorsement rule instead, so get them verified before you move.

The limited license lasts one year and can be renewed no more than six times.

Are the rules about to change?

Bills to overhaul Michigan's social work licensing law have been introduced in the Legislature. We could not confirm their current status from a primary source as of October 2026, and nothing in this post assumes they pass. If they are enacted, the titles and hour counts above may change; check the Michigan page for updates.

Michigan is not in the Social Work Licensure Compact. The Commission's map shows no active legislation there.

Renewal

Michigan's social work licenses run on a three-year cycle. Renewal requires 45 CE contact hours, including 5 in ethics, 2 in pain and symptom management and 2 in human trafficking, plus the state's implicit bias training rules. Keep your documentation for five years.

A Michigan endorsement is a License by Endorsement engagement. If you are short of 10 years, we start by reconstructing your hours, because the 4,000-hour total is where these files stall.