Requirements last verified August 16, 2026 against the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board.
CSWCertified Social Worker
Requires the ASWB Bachelors exam.
The rule names “the Association of Social Work Board (‘ASWB’) Bachelor level examination”.
CMSWCertified Master Social Worker
Requires the ASWB Masters exam.
The ASWB Master level examination — or, unusually, the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) examination, which North Carolina still accepts in its place.
CSWMCertified Social Work Manager
Requires the ASWB Advanced Generalist exam.
The macro credential, and the only one on this site whose exam depends on your degree: “the ASWB Advanced Generalist level examination if the applicant holds a Master’s degree, or the ASWB Bachelor level examination if the applicant holds a Bachelor’s degree.” Eligibility to sit Advanced Generalist needs two years of experience in an administrative social work setting.
LCSWALicensed Clinical Social Worker Associate
The board lists this level but does not state its ASWB exam on the pages we checked — confirm with them directly.
The associate license you hold while completing supervised clinical practice, under an LCSW who has at least two further years of experience since their own licensure.
LCSWLicensed Clinical Social Worker
Requires the ASWB Clinical exam.
The ASWB Clinical level examination, and you are not eligible to sit it until two years of clinical experience are documented with the Board. Those two years mean 3,000 paid clock hours accumulated over no fewer than two and no more than six consecutive years, with practicum and internship hours from your degree excluded.
North Carolina gates the exam behind the experience, not the other way round: you cannot sit Clinical until two years of clinical practice are on file with the Board, and you cannot sit Advanced Generalist until two years in an administrative setting are. The Certified Social Work Manager is the oddity worth reading twice — it is the same credential whether you hold a bachelor’s or a master’s, but the exam changes with the degree, Advanced Generalist for a master’s and Bachelors for a bachelor’s. The 3,000 LCSW hours also have an outer limit of six consecutive years, so a long, interrupted run of part-time supervision can age out of range.
Whatever North Carolina calls its license levels, the exam behind them is one of five.
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