Yes, in a handful of states, but only at some license levels, and almost never for the clinical license. As of October 2026, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Rhode Island and Utah each issue at least one social work license without an ASWB exam, and Minnesota has a provisional route that leads to a full license at any level without a passing score. Maryland's new provisional license, from November 1, 2026, lets you start practicing before you pass but still requires the exam for the full license.
Below is each change with its source and date, the bills that did not pass, why states are doing this, and what a license without the exam can cost you later.
The changes, state by state
| State | License | What changed | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | LSW | The masters exam is no longer required | August 7, 2024 |
| District of Columbia | LGSW | Issued without the exam; an exam pass or 1,500 supervised hours due before the first renewal | June 10, 2025 |
| Illinois | LSW | No exam required | January 1, 2022 |
| Illinois | LCSW | An alternative after at least one failed attempt: 3,000 extra supervised hours | January 1, 2024 |
| Minnesota | All four levels | A provisional license without the exam that can convert to a full license | October 1, 2024 |
| Rhode Island | LCSW (master's level) | No exam until after August 15, 2030 | June 30, 2022, extended in 2025 |
| Utah | SSW and CSW | No exam requirement, per the licensing division | Current |
| Maryland | LBSW and LMSW | A provisional license before the exam; the full license still needs a pass | November 1, 2026 |
Colorado. SB24-115, effective August 7, 2024, removed the requirement to take and pass the masters examination for the licensed social worker. The same law makes the clinical social worker candidate registration, the step before the LCSW, depend on passing the Colorado jurisprudence examination. The LCSW's exam is not part of the change.
District of Columbia. Since D.C. Law 26-7 took effect on June 10, 2025, section 3-1208.02 of the D.C. Code issues the LGSW to graduates of a CSWE-accredited MSW or doctoral program without the exam. The catch comes later: before your first renewal you must either pass a national examination or complete 1,500 hours of social work practice supervised by an LISW or LICSW. The District's associate, LISW and LICSW licenses still require their exams.
Illinois. The LSW has required no exam since January 1, 2022 (Public Act 102-0326). The LCSW is different, and widely misdescribed: Public Act 103-433, in force since January 1, 2024, is an alternative for someone who has tried the Clinical exam and not passed. It requires at least one attempt since January 1, 2019, plus 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience on top of the usual 3,000 clinical hours, supervised by an LCSW, LCPC, LMFT, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or advanced practice psychiatric nurse, and no more than ten years old. Since January 1, 2026 those extra hours must be completed while licensed as an LSW or a school social worker.
Minnesota. A 2024 law, effective October 1, 2024, opened Minnesota's provisional license to anyone who meets every requirement except the exam; before that it was limited to applicants born in another country who spoke English as a second language and had already taken the exam. The provisional licensee practices under supervision, at least 37.5 hours of it during the first 2,000 hours of practice, with evaluations every six months and a final one. Completing those requirements qualifies you for the full license without a passing score, at the LSW, LGSW, LISW or LICSW level, though the supervision done under the provisional license does not count toward the supervised practice Minnesota requires of full licensees. A provisional license expires after three years.
Rhode Island. A 2022 law suspended the exam for the LCSW, which in Rhode Island is the master's-level clinical license, until August 15, 2025, and a 2025 amendment moved the date to August 15, 2030. The independent clinical license, the LICSW, still requires the Clinical exam. The same statute directs the board to consider alternative qualifications for licensure that may not include either exam, along with accommodations for applicants whose first language is not English.
Utah. Utah's licensing division says plainly that there are no exam requirements for the Social Service Worker or the Certified Social Worker, its master's-level license. The LCSW still takes ASWB's Clinical exam.
Maryland. Chapter 226 of the 2026 session (Senate Bill 18) requires the board, beginning November 1, 2026, to issue a provisional license to bachelor's and master's applicants who have met every requirement except the exam. It allows practice under a board-approved supervisor for 12 to 24 months, cannot be renewed, and converts to a full license only when the holder achieves a satisfactory score on the exam. So Maryland moves the exam later rather than removing it.
None of this touches the credentials issued without an exam by design, such as California's ASW registration, Florida's RCSWI, Nebraska's Certified Social Worker or Louisiana's Registered Social Worker. Types of social work licenses sorts those out.
Proposed, and not passed
- Connecticut. Connecticut's Department of Public Health requires ASWB's Masters exam for the LMSW from applicants who earned the MSW on or after January 1, 2026. A 2026 bill to waive it again until July 1, 2029 passed the state House in April and did not become law.
- Michigan. Bills in 2023 and 2024 would have removed the exam at every level. They did not become law, and Michigan's licensing guide still requires the Clinical or Advanced Generalist exam for the LMSW and does not accept the Masters exam.
- Maine. Maine heard LD 1990 in 2024, "An Act To Improve the Licensing Procedure for Certain Social Workers by Removing the Examination Requirement", and LD 1298 in 2025, on alternative pathways. Its statute still requires "the examination prescribed by the board" at every level.
- Massachusetts. The SUPER Act, Senate bill 218, would remove the exam requirement. We found no record of it becoming law.
- Washington. House Bill 2286, "Concerning alternative routes to social worker licensure", had a hearing in January 2026 and no committee vote.
Searches for a Georgia exam waiver are common, but we found no Georgia law or rule that waives the exam.
Why states are doing this
Two arguments drive the bills. The first is ASWB's own data: in 2022 ASWB published a pass-rate analysis showing large differences in outcomes by race and ethnicity, age and other characteristics, and its statement on the findings named systemic and institutional racism as core to the racial disparities. What the pass rates mean covers that analysis and the research ASWB commissioned afterwards. The second is the workforce: Maryland's new law makes its board report every year on the provisional license's impact on the health care workforce.
ASWB opposes removing the exam. Its chief executive, Dr. Stacey Hardy-Chandler, told Maine's legislators in January 2024: "We cannot support provisions that reduce professional standards through the removal of licensing examinations." In the same testimony she argued that licensing standards do not cause workforce shortages, so removing the exam would not fix them, and that the pass-rate differences describe outcomes, not their causes.
So far the clinical license is where the exam has held: every change above sits at the bachelor's or master's level, or is a route rather than a removal.
What a license without the exam can cost you later
Moving states. A license is portable only as far as the next board accepts it, and endorsement rules often ask for a national exam score. Florida's endorsement route requires a passing score on a national licensure examination, and the District of Columbia's endorsement checklist asks for an ASWB score transfer. Without a score, you may face the exam anyway when you move.
The Compact. A multistate license under the Social Work Licensure Compact requires the qualifying national exam for your category. Maryland's law says outright that its provisional license does not qualify the holder for one. The Compact in 2026 explains where it stands.
The next license up. Every no-exam route above stops short of independent clinical practice in most of the country. If you plan to become an LCSW, the Clinical exam is still ahead of you, and how to become an LCSW shows what each state asks for.
If you still need to pass it
For most candidates the question is not whether to sit the exam but how to prepare for it without losing months. Start with your outline: the August 2026 blueprint changed the content areas and weights, and what changed on August 3, 2026 lays out the old and new side by side. How hard the ASWB exam is puts the pass rates in context, and the free study plan builds a schedule from your exam date. If you have already sat the exam once, what to do after failing covers the retake rules, and in Illinois that first attempt is also the door to the LCSW alternative.
Read at source on October 22, 2026: R.I. Gen. Laws section 5-39.1-8 and the Rhode Island Department of Health's social work page; Minnesota Statutes 148E.055, 148E.0551 and 148E.116 and Laws 2024, chapter 127, article 23; D.C. Code sections 3-1208.01 to 3-1208.04 and DC Health's licensing checklists; IDFPR's LSW and LCSW qualifications sheets and its notice on Public Act 103-433; the Colorado General Assembly's page for SB24-115; Utah DOPL's social work exam page; the Maryland General Assembly's page for SB 18 (Chapter 226), the chapter text and the Department of Legislative Services' fiscal and policy note; the Connecticut Department of Public Health's LMSW requirements; Michigan LARA's Master's Social Work Licensing Guide; 32 MRSA sections 7053 and 7057 and the Maine Legislature's record for LD 1298; the Washington Legislature's page for HB 2286; and Dr. Hardy-Chandler's testimony on Maine's LD 1990, January 25, 2024. Laws change quickly here; confirm with your board before you rely on any of it. ASWB Master is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Association of Social Work Boards.