Which ASWB Exam Do You Need?

The short answer: the exam that matches the license you are applying for, in the state you are applying to. You do not pick it. Your board approves you for a specific exam (or, in Colorado, Maine, Texas and Utah, ASWB does the preapproval), and that is the exam you register for. The longer answer matters when your state uses a category in an unusual way, when you are planning a move, or when you want your score to count toward a multistate license later.

What are the five ASWB exams?

ASWB's 2026 Examination Guidebook lists them with the requirements it designs each one around:

• Associate. Jurisdiction-dependent, for places that license some people without a social work degree. It shares its questions with the Bachelors.
• Bachelors. A bachelor's degree in social work; basic generalist practice.
• Masters. A master's degree in social work; master's-level practice including specialized knowledge and advanced skills.
• Advanced Generalist. An MSW plus two years (or the jurisdiction's equivalent) of experience in nonclinical settings; advanced generalist and macro practice.
• Clinical. An MSW plus two years (or the jurisdiction's equivalent) of experience in clinical settings; clinical social work.

Since August 3, 2026 every one of them has 122 questions and a four-hour limit. The Associate, Bachelors and Masters cost US$230; the Advanced Generalist and Clinical cost US$260.

How do the exams map onto license levels?

The default pattern holds in most states:

• Bachelor's license (LBSW, or LSW in some states): Bachelors exam.
• Master's license (LMSW, LGSW, CSW, LSW depending on the state): Masters exam.
• Independent non-clinical license, where one exists (Minnesota's and D.C.'s LISW, Missouri's LAMSW, Michigan's macro designation): Advanced Generalist.
• Independent clinical license (LCSW, LICSW, LISW, LCSW-C, LISW-CP): Clinical.

Every state and the District of Columbia licenses at the clinical level, according to ASWB's 2025 tabulation, so the Clinical is the one exam every jurisdiction uses.

Which states break the pattern?

• Michigan does not use the Masters exam at all. Its LMSW carries a macro designation (Advanced Generalist) or a clinical designation (Clinical). See Michigan's LMSW.
• Massachusetts uses the Masters exam for its LCSW, which there means Licensed Certified Social Worker, the master's level. The clinical license is the LICSW. See the Massachusetts post.
• Arizona accepts any higher exam for a lower license: the Bachelors, Masters, Advanced Generalist or Clinical for the LBSW, and the Masters, Advanced Generalist or Clinical for the LMSW (Ariz. Admin. Code R4-6-402).
• Texas goes the other way. It does not accept the Advanced Generalist or the Clinical in place of the Masters for the LMSW, and does not accept the Advanced Generalist in place of the Clinical for the LCSW.
• New York does not accept the Advanced Generalist for the LMSW, and has no bachelor's license.
• Ohio required the Clinical or the Advanced Generalist for its LISW until July 10, 2026. Since then, the Clinical only.
• California issues one social work license, the LCSW, which requires the ASWB Clinical exam plus its own California Law and Ethics Exam.
• Massachusetts's LSWA uses the Associate exam.

Some states have also dropped the exam for a license level altogether, at least on some routes. See states that dropped the ASWB exam.

When do I take the Clinical?

After, or near the end of, your supervised clinical experience, depending on the state. ASWB designs the Clinical around two years of post-MSW clinical experience, and many boards will not approve you for it until you have most or all of your hours. Florida, for example, has required at least 18 months of post-master's clinical experience for exam approval since January 1, 2023. Texas has the LMSW apply for the Clinical after completing or nearly completing the supervised experience. Check your board's rule before you plan a test date. See exam approval.

How old can my score be?

ASWB itself puts no expiration on a passing score. Some boards do:

• Massachusetts requires the exam to have been passed no more than two years before the application, at every level, for applicants testing for that license.
• Idaho requires the exam for the license type to have been passed within the previous seven years.
• Minnesota treats an exam passed eight or more years before the application as not valid.
• California, on its Path B for out-of-state licensees, accepts an ASWB Clinical score of any age if you currently hold an unrestricted license elsewhere, and otherwise wants one under seven years old.

Endorsement rules often relax these age limits for people already licensed elsewhere. Read the rule for the route you are actually using.

How do the exams line up with the Social Work Compact?

The Commission adopted its rule defining the qualifying national exam for each multistate license category on September 4, 2025:

• Clinical category: ASWB Clinical.
• Master's category: ASWB Masters, or the Advanced Generalist when the home state certifies the license authorizes independent, non-clinical practice.
• Bachelor's category: ASWB Bachelors.

There is a legacy route for people licensed before their home state required an exam, with continuous licensure since. There is no route that substitutes supervised hours for the exam. And under the Commission's rules the home-state license must be independent and not provisional, temporary or limited, which matters for master's licenses that only allow supervised practice. No state is issuing multistate licenses yet; see the compact hub and the Advanced Generalist post.

What if I am moving soon?

Look up the destination's exam for your license before you test, not after. If both states use the same category, test wherever you are approved and transfer the score later for US$40. If they differ, for example a Michigan macro designation heading to Texas, or a Masters pass heading to Michigan, ask the destination board in writing which of its licenses your score supports. See sending ASWB scores to another state.

Our ASWB Exam Approval & Registration service (US$149 per exam, board and ASWB fees extra) confirms the category and gets the approval filed. See pricing.