Do you have to pass the ASWB exam before you can be licensed in Montana?

Yes. The ASWB Masters exam is required before the license. In Montana the first credential after an MSW is the LMSW, and the ASWB Masters exam is a gate you pass before it is issued.

How much does the first social work license cost in Montana?

The fees the board publishes for it add up to $430: Application fee $200, ASWB Masters examination $230. Other charges the board does not publish are not included. Not in that total because it recurs: Candidate annual registration fee $85, charged each year you are on the path.

How many supervised hours does Montana require?

1,500 hours, 75 supervision, for the LMSW. Read from the Montana board's own rules on September 27, 2026.

Getting licensed as a social worker in Montana

Checked against the Montana Board of Behavioral Health on September 27, 2026.

Get your Montana 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 Master's Social Worker, non-clinical (parallel candidacy track, not a prerequisite for LCSW)

LMSW

Exam required before the license

The ASWB Masters exam is required before the license.

Known fees

Fees the Montana Board of Behavioral Health publishes for the LMSW
Application fee	$200
ASWB Masters examination	$230
Known total	$430

What else it takes

Supervised hours: 1,500 hours, 75 supervision, for the LMSW
ASWB exam level: Masters
Licensure compact: Not a memberMultistate licenses are not yet being issued. Last checked October 18, 2026 against the compact's own site.
Last checked: September 27, 2026

Next step

Hold a master's degree in social work from a CSWE-accredited program (ARM 24.219.501). Register as a social worker licensure candidate with a training and supervision plan and complete at least 1,500 hours of supervised work experience over no less than 18 months, including 75 supervision hours (MCA 37-39-307, ARM 24.219.504).

The ladder

Montana has 3 rungs. 3 need an ASWB exam.

bachelors
LBSW
ASWB Bachelors
Licensed Basic Social Worker (parallel candidacy track, not a prerequisite for LMSW or LCSW).
masters
LMSW
ASWB Masters
Licensed Master's Social Worker, non-clinical (parallel candidacy track, not a prerequisite for LCSW).
clinical
LCSW
ASWB Clinical
Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Requirements change

Nothing on our law calendar changes Montana'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 September 6, 2026. If Montana moves, this page moves with it.

Already passed? Track your supervised hours toward your clinical license.

Montana asks for 3,000 hours of supervised experience and 100 hours of supervision.

Checked against the published rule. Last checked September 27, 2026.

Join the Hours waitlist

Programs in Montana

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.

See all 3 programs in Montana

Sources

We read the board's own pages. Nothing here is a guess.

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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