Utah CSW Requirements: Hours, Exams & Step-by-Step Guide

Utah licenses master’s‑level social workers as Certified Social Workers (CSWs) through the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) and the Social Worker Licensing Board. The CSW is the primary license you hold while you accumulate clinical hours toward eventual Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) status.

As of November 23, 2025, Utah’s law and DOPL rules make an important distinction:

• There are no post‑degree “experience hours” required to obtain the CSW license itself.
• All of the big hour requirements (thousands of clinical hours, direct supervision, etc.) apply later, when you use your CSW license to qualify for LCSW.

Below is a step‑by‑step outline of what is actually required, with the exact hour requirements where they do exist.

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1. License structure in Utah

Under Utah Code 58‑60‑204, the Division issues three social work credentials: clinical social worker, certified social worker, and social service worker.(le.utah.gov)

For the CSW:

• It is a master’s/doctoral‑level social work license.
• It allows you to practice the “practice of certified social work”; if you provide mental health therapy, you must do so under supervision by an approved mental health therapist (often an LCSW).(le.utah.gov)

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2. Initial licensure as a Certified Social Worker (Utah applicants)

2.1. Education requirement

Utah Code 58‑60‑205(2) sets the education standard. To qualify for a CSW license you must:(le.utah.gov)

• Submit an application on a DOPL form and
• Pay the required fee; and
• Provide official transcripts showing completion of either:
  • A master’s degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) or the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work, or
  • A doctoral degree that includes a clinical social work concentration and practicum, approved by the Division by rule and consistent with Utah’s general licensing standards.

DOPL’s CSW application page reflects this concisely: the sole listed qualification is a “Master’s or Doctorate degree in Social Work.”(dopl.utah.gov)

2.2. Application and fee

The current CSW application (form version v20230629) requires:(dopl.utah.gov)

• Completion of the CSW application form (identity, contact, citizenship/lawful presence).
• Payment of a $120 non‑refundable application‑processing fee.
• Completion of:
  • A general qualifying questionnaire (disciplinary and criminal history).
  • A medical/disciplinary questionnaire (malpractice, program exclusions, etc.).
• Supporting documentation for any “yes” responses (court records, police reports, board orders, etc.).

2.3. Examination requirement (or lack of one)

Historically, Utah required an ASWB exam for CSW, but this has changed.

• 2023 legislation amended Utah Code 58‑60‑205 to remove the mandatory examination requirement from the CSW subsection.(le.utah.gov)
• The statute now authorizes DOPL to create, by rule, a path to licensure “that includes an examination requirement,” but does not require it.(le.utah.gov)
• DOPL’s current Social Work Exam Information page explicitly states that:
  • There are no exam requirements for Social Service Worker or Certified Social Worker, and
  • Only the LCSW has an ASWB exam requirement.(dopl.utah.gov)

Bottom line: as of late 2025, you do not have to pass any exam to obtain a Utah CSW license (unless DOPL later creates an optional, exam‑based path by rule; there is no such requirement in place now).

2.4. Required hours for initial CSW licensure

For initial Utah applicants, DOPL and the statute do not impose any fixed number of post‑graduate “experience hours” (such as 1,500 hours of direct practice, 1,500 supervised, etc.) to receive the CSW license.

Instead:

• Your MSW or DSW program’s practicum/clinical training is part of the education requirement. Utah law refers to this as a “clinical practicum” or course sequence but does not set a specific hour count in statute for CSW licensure.(rules.utah.gov)
• The hour‑based requirements only begin once you are already licensed as a CSW and are working toward LCSW (see Section 4 below).

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3. CSW licensure by endorsement (already licensed elsewhere)

If you already hold a CSW (or equivalent) license in another U.S. jurisdiction, Utah offers endorsement pathways. The CSW application checklist lays out two options:(dopl.utah.gov)

Option 1 – One year of active licensure in an equivalent jurisdiction

• Provide official verification of an active CSW license in good standing for at least one year in a jurisdiction that Utah has deemed substantially equivalent.
• Submit transcripts and/or exam scores if requested to demonstrate equivalency.

Hours under Option 1:
The rule here is time‑based (≥1 year of active licensure), not based on a specific number of hours.

Option 2 – 3,000 hours of active CSW practice (any U.S. jurisdiction)

If you do not hold a license from a jurisdiction pre‑approved as “equivalent,” you may qualify through documented practice hours:(dopl.utah.gov)

• Obtain official license verifications from all U.S. states where you have been licensed as a CSW.
• Have each employer fill out a “Verification of Active Practice as a CSW in another state” form.
• Those forms require:
  • Total number of hours practiced as a CSW, and
  • Number of hours providing mental health therapy during that employment.
• The hours from all employers must total at least 3,000.

So, for endorsement applicants only, there is a 3,000‑hour active practice requirement, but it is framed as total practice hours as a CSW, not broken down into, for example, separate “direct client” vs. “indirect” categories in the way some states do.

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4. Hours that matter once you are a CSW (path to LCSW)

Although the CSW license itself does not require post‑degree hours, it is the license under which you must accumulate the supervised clinical experience needed for Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensure.

4.1. Overall hour requirement

Utah Code 58‑60‑205(1) and DOPL’s LCSW “Utah Applicants” page together require:(le.utah.gov)

• A minimum of 3,000 hours of clinical social work training (also described by DOPL as “3,000 hours of experience”) completed while licensed as a Utah CSW.
• DOPL explicitly notes that hours obtained under a Utah CSW Intern license do not count toward this 3,000‑hour total.

These 3,000 hours must be:

• Defined by division rule as “clinical social work training.”
• Completed under supervision of an approved mental health therapist (LCSW, CMHC, psychiatrist, psychologist, PMH‑NP, or MFT) as listed in the statute.(le.utah.gov)

4.2. Breakdown of those hours: mental health therapy and direct supervision

Within the 3,000 total hours of clinical social work training, the statute specifies a sub‑requirement:(le.utah.gov)

• You must document at least 1,000 hours of supervised training in mental health therapy, obtained after completion of your qualifying degree.
• Those 1,000 hours:
  • May be included within the 3,000‑hour overall requirement (i.e., they are not necessarily in addition to 3,000; they are a subset).
  • Must include at least 100 hours obtained under “direct supervision” by your approved supervisor (as defined by DOPL rule).

Conceptually, the breakdown looks like this:

• 3,000 total hours – “clinical social work training”
  • Includes ≥1,000 hours of supervised mental health therapy (therapy hours with clients)
    • Includes ≥100 hours of direct supervision (more intensive, face‑to‑face or live review with your supervisor)

Utah’s rules (R156‑60a) distinguish between:

• General supervision – the supervisor is responsible for oversight and periodic review but is not necessarily present for every contact.
• Direct supervision – higher‑intensity oversight, such as in‑person observation, formal case review, or other live, interactive supervision, as defined in rule.

The precise definitions are in the Social Worker Licensing Act Rule, but the key point is that **only 100 of your 1,000 mental‑health‑therapy hours must meet this stricter “direct supervision” standard; the rest may be under general supervision as allowed by rule.(rules.utah.gov)

4.3. When your hours start counting

DOPL’s CSW application emphasizes that:(dopl.utah.gov)

• You and your supervisor must complete a “Supervisor Association Verification” form.
• You must have a written supervision contract that meets the requirements in Utah Administrative Code R156‑60a‑302e and R156‑60a‑305a.
• No post‑graduate supervised experience hours may be counted toward LCSW requirements until DOPL has received and approved this supervision form and notified the supervisor.

In practical terms:

• You cannot simply start counting hours the day after graduation; your hours start accruing only after:
  1. You hold your Utah CSW license, and
  2. DOPL has approved your supervision relationship.

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5. Continuing education hours to maintain a CSW license

Once you are licensed, you must meet continuing education (CE) hour requirements for renewal.

DOPL’s “Renew a Social Work License” page specifies that for Certified Social Workers and Social Service Workers, each two‑year renewal cycle requires:(dopl.utah.gov)

• 20 hours of continuing education directly related to your professional practice, including:
  • At least 6 hours in professional ethics, law, or technology, and
  • At least 2 hours in suicide prevention.
• Modality limits:
  • For CSWs, no more than 8 hours may be from online, self‑study courses.
  • The remaining 12 hours must come from in‑person courses or live, interactive webinars.

Licenses renew on September 30 of even‑numbered years, and these CE hours must be completed during the renewal cycle.(dopl.utah.gov)

So, although there are no pre‑licensure practice hours to get your CSW, you will track CE hours every two years to keep it active.

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6. Snapshot summary: Utah CSW hours and requirements

To be licensed as a Utah CSW (initial license):

• Master’s or doctoral degree in social work (CSWE or equivalent)
• DOPL application + $120 fee
• Required background/disciplinary disclosures and documents
• No exam requirement as of late 2025
• No specified number of post‑graduate practice hours required for initial CSW licensure

If you already have a CSW (or equivalent) elsewhere and seek Utah CSW by endorsement:

• Option 1 – Active CSW license in an equivalent jurisdiction for ≥1 year (no explicit hour count), or
• Option 2 – Document 3,000 hours of active practice as a CSW across one or more U.S. jurisdictions, using employer verification forms.

Once you hold a Utah CSW and want to become an LCSW:

• 3,000 hours of “clinical social work training” while licensed as a CSW, under an approved supervisor
• Within that:
  • ≥1,000 hours of supervised mental health therapy,
  • Including ≥100 hours under direct supervision
• Hours only count after:
  • Your CSW license is issued, and
  • DOPL has approved your supervision contract.

To renew and maintain your CSW:

• Every two years:
  • 20 CE hours total, including:
    • 6 in ethics/law/technology
    • 2 in suicide prevention
  • Max 8 self‑study online; at least 12 must be live or in‑person.

Those are the current, board‑defined requirements and hour structures that apply to becoming—and then practicing as—a Certified Social Worker in Utah.