Getting licensed as a social worker in Virginia
Checked against the Virginia Board of Social Work on .
Get your Virginia 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
LMSWExam required before the license
The ASWB Masters exam is required before the license.
Known fees
| LMSW application processing | $115 |
|---|---|
| ASWB Masters examination | $230 |
| Known total | $345 |
What else it takes
- Supervised hours
- 3,000 hours, 1,380 client contact, 100 supervision, for the LCSW
- ASWB exam level
- Masters
- Licensure compact
- Member jurisdictionMultistate licenses are not yet being issued. Last checked against the compact's own site.
- Last checked
Next step
Meet Virginia LMSW education requirements. Apply to the Virginia Board of Social Work.
The ladder
Virginia has 4 rungs. 3 need an ASWB exam.
bachelors
LBSW
ASWB Bachelors
Licensed Baccalaureate Social Worker.
masters
LMSW
ASWB Masters
Licensed Master's Social Worker.
supervisee
Supervisee in Social Work
No ASWB exam
Registered supervisee 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 Virginia'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 Virginia moves, this page moves with it.
Already passed? Track your supervised hours toward your clinical license.
Virginia asks for 3,000 hours of supervised experience and 100 hours of supervision.
Checked against the published rule. Last checked September 6, 2026.
Join the Hours waitlistPrograms in Virginia
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.
Christopher Newport University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
Eastern Mennonite University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
Ferrum College
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
George Mason University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- 83% of 94national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 80.6% of 36national 73.9%
83% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Hampton University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
James Madison University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
Liberty University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 63.8% of 58national 73.9%
Too few first-time Clinical exams in 2025 to rate so far.
Longwood University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
Mary Baldwin University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- No exams reportednational 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- No exams reportednational 73.9%
No Clinical first-time exams in the 2025 report for this school.
Norfolk State University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- 43.5% of 46national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 73.9%
43.5% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Radford University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- 78.3% of 46national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- Too few to rate so farnational 73.9%
78.3% of Clinical first-timers from here passed in 2025. National rate 75.7%.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia
- Clinical first-time
- 86.9% of 251national 75.7%
- Masters first-time
- 88.2% of 68national 73.9%
86.9% 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.
- Virginia Board of Social Work · LMSW applicant resourceswww.dhp.virginia.gov · Last checked
- Virginia Social Work Regulationslaw.lis.virginia.gov · Last checked
- LMSW fees · LMSW application processinglaw.lis.virginia.gov · Last checked
- LMSW fees · ASWB Masters examinationwww.aswb.org · Last checked
- Social Work Licensure Compact · member jurisdictionsswcompact.org · Last checked
- Virginia Board of Social Work · LCSW applicant resourceswww.dhp.virginia.gov · Last checked
- 18VAC140-20-50law.lis.virginia.gov · 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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