Getting licensed as a social worker in Colorado
Checked against the Colorado State Board of Social Work Examiners on .
Get your Colorado licensing checklist
Your board, the portal you apply in, the fees, the supervised hours, and the order to do them in.
Your first license
Licensed Social Worker
LSWWhen the exam comes depends on your situation
Colorado: SB24-115 removed the ASWB Masters requirement and the board's own examination for the LSW, but the Colorado jurisprudence examination still comes before the license.
Known fees
| Known total | Not checked yet |
|---|
What else it takes
- Supervised hours
- 3,360 hours, 1,680 client contact, 96 supervision, for the LCSW
- ASWB exam level
- None for this credential
- Licensure compact
- Member jurisdictionMultistate licenses are not yet being issued. Last checked against the compact's own site.
- Last checked
Next step
Obtain a CSWE-accredited master's or doctoral degree in social work. Submit application, transcripts, and fee to the Board.
The ladder
Colorado has 3 rungs. 1 needs an ASWB exam.
masters
LSW
No ASWB exam
Licensed Social Worker.
supervisee
Clinical Social Worker Candidate
No ASWB exam
Registered candidate accruing LCSW hours. Practice is supervised at this rung.
clinical
LCSW
ASWB Clinical
Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Requirements change
Nothing on our law calendar changes Colorado's exam requirement today. The change that does touch you is national: ASWB launched the 2026 exams on August 3, 2026 with three content areas and 122 items, and held fees at $230 Masters and $260 Clinical. ASWB's announcement.
Law calendar read . If Colorado moves, this page moves with it.
Already passed? Track your supervised hours toward your clinical license.
Colorado asks for 3,360 hours of supervised experience and 96 hours of supervision.
Checked against the published rule. Last checked September 19, 2026.
Join the Hours waitlistPrograms in Colorado
How first-timers from each accredited program here did on the ASWB exam. A rate built on fewer than 10 first-time exams is one or two people, so those programs show how close they are to that floor instead of a percent. Source: ASWB, 2025 report.
Colorado Mesa University
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
Too few first-time Clinical exams in 2025 to rate so far.
Colorado State University
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- 86.3% of 51national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 100% of 14national 73.9%
86.3% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Colorado State University - Pueblo
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- 38.5% of 13national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 73.9%
38.5% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- 79.8% of 104national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 86.7% of 15national 73.9%
79.8% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- 62.5% of 16national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 73.9%
62.5% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
University of Denver
Colorado
- Clinical first-time
- 86.2% of 319national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 83% of 135national 73.9%
86.2% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Sources
We read the board's own pages. Nothing here is a guess.
- Colorado State Board of Social Work Examiners · LSW applicant resourcesdpo.colorado.gov · Last checked
- 4 CCR 726-1 Social Work Examiners Rules and Regulationswww.sos.state.co.us · Last checked
- Senate Bill 24-115 (signed, as enacted)leg.colorado.gov · Last checked
- ASWB · exam registration and feesleg.colorado.gov · Last checked
- Social Work Licensure Compact · member jurisdictionsswcompact.org · Last checked
SWTPA is not affiliated with any state board or with ASWB. Requirements change; the board's page is the source of record. This record is also available as JSON.
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