Apply for Provisional License
Provisional License - Alternative Pathway to Standard Licensure
The statutory change effective October 1, 2024, re-codified the Provisional License statute 148D.061 to expand eligibility criteria to all persons with CSWE accredited degree in social work. Minnesota Statutes section 148E creates an alternate pathway to licensure in Minnesota without attempting the ASWB National Exam for all license types: LSW, LGSW, LISW, LICSW.
No Exam Required.
Applicant will not receive an Exam Approval Letter with a Provisional Application.
Provisional licensees complete 37.5 hours of supervision
over the course of 2000 hours of practice.
If you work full time, 160 hours of practice is about a month, and 2000 hours of practice is about one year of full-time employment with no breaks. Working full time with no breaks in employment, obtaining supervision at a rate of 3 hours every month according to Board requirements, you would complete your provisional license supervised practice in about one year. You would then be eligible to apply for your standard license and begin the supervised practice requirement for that license.
You can apply for a provisional license if you do not have a current social work license of the equivalent type in any state or jurisdiction. Review complete requirements in Minnesota Statutes section 148E and follow the links below for detailed information about requirements for each license type:
- Provisional Licensed Social Worker (P-LSW) —Bachelor's license
- Provisional Licensed Graduate Social Worker (P-LGSW) —Master's license
- Provisional Licensed Independent Social Worker (P-LISW) —Master's license plus nonclinical supervised practice under a standard license
- Provisional Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (P-LICSW) —Master's license plus clinical supervised practice under a standard license
Provisional License Pathway to a Standard License
