LMSW in Georgia: Application, Exam and the Road to LCSW

The LMSW Is a Full License, Not an Associate One

Georgia's social work licensure runs on two tiers: the Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and, after further experience, the Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). The Board calls the first license the "Master's Social Worker" in its rules and the "Master Social Worker" in its How-To Guide; the statute uses "licensed master's social worker" (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-12(b)). All three names describe the same license.

The LMSW differs from Georgia's other pre-clinical credentials in a way worth stating plainly: it is a full license, not an associate tier. The Associate Professional Counselor and the Associate Marriage and Family Therapist licenses each carry a five-year cap (§§ 43-10A-11(c), 43-10A-13(c)). The LMSW has no such cap. What limits an LMSW is not a clock on the license itself, but what the license allows a holder to do without supervision, covered below.

The Board also licenses two other pre-clinical tracks under the same statute chapter: the Associate Professional Counselor route to the Licensed Professional Counselor, and the Associate Marriage and Family Therapist route to the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Social work is the only one of the three where the pre-clinical credential is a full license rather than an associate one.

The Exam Comes Before the Application

Georgia requires the exam first: "Applicants for licensure as a Master's Social Worker must pass the required licensure examination prior to applying for licensure." (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 135-3-.03(2)(c)1). The rules do not name the exam; this page calls it the master's social work licensing examination, the term the rules use.

A new graduate does not have to sit idle waiting on a test date. Under direction and supervision, someone who has earned a Master of Social Work degree "may practice for a period of up to one year following the granting of such degree" while preparing for it (Rule 135-5-.03(2)(b)). Within that same year, the graduate must apply to take the exam, and gets three attempts (Rule 135-5-.03(2)(c)).

Starting July 1, 2026, a new option shortens the wait. Students "may sit for the master's social work licensing examination in such applicant's final semester of the program" (O.C.G.A. § 43-10A-9(b)). Both paths are current: a student who tests before graduating and a graduate who tests during the one-year post-graduation window are each following the rule as written.

The Application: Filed in GOALS

Every LMSW application goes through GOALS, the Board's online portal; the Board is no longer accepting paper applications. An application stays active for one year before it needs refiling with a new fee (Rule 135-3-.03(1)(a)), and needs at least two personal references from supervisors, teachers, or a combination of the two, on forms the Board furnishes (Rule 135-3-.03(1)(a)2). Every applicant also goes through a fingerprint background check with the Georgia Crime Information Center and the FBI (§ 43-10A-8(5)).

Once a file is complete, "Applications are generally processed within 20 business days of receipt, excluding weekends and holidays." (MSW How-To Guide) An incomplete application can be withdrawn if the noted deficiencies are not fixed within 60 days of notice, and a complete file has to land at least 15 days before a Board meeting to reach that meeting's agenda.

Anyone licensed after April 26, 2006, on any Board track, including the LMSW, also has to have completed a graduate-level course, or its equivalent, related to diagnosing (§ 43-10A-8(4)). The application fee and the renewal fee are each $100, per the Board's fee schedule.

What an LMSW May Do, and When

A newly licensed LMSW does not start in unsupervised practice. "The first two years of practice after the issuance of the Master of Social Work license shall be under direction and supervision." (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(b); § 43-10A-12(b)). The supervisor for this stage must be "a licensed Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist or Psychiatrist" (Rule 135-5-.03(3)(d)).

After those first two years, private practice becomes available, with one condition attached: "a master's licensee whose practice includes counseling or psychotherapeutic techniques may only engage in such practice under supervision and only for such period of time as is prescribed for qualification to take the clinical social work licensing examination" (Rule 135-5-.03(1)(c)). Counseling and psychotherapy stay under supervision until the LMSW qualifies to sit for the clinical exam.

Supervision does not have to happen in person. The Board's FAQ answers whether "AMFT, MFT, or MSW" supervision may happen by phone, computer or video: "Yes, and the supervisor and supervisee should receive the CEU's training in TeleMental Health counseling."

LMSW vs LCSW: Where the Numbers Differ

Both licenses sit on the same track but ask for different things. The table lines up what each requires; the prose after it walks through how the LCSW's hours fit together.

Of the LCSW's 3,000 hours, the first 2,000 must be earned "under supervision and direction in the practice of clinical social work" (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1); they are the first two-thirds of the total, not hours added on top of it. The 120 supervision hours are acquired "during this time", the experience period, with no more than half the supervision hours in group format and at least half of it "provided by a licensed clinical social worker who meets requirements to be a duly qualified supervisor" (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(b)1).

The statute adds a recency requirement to the LCSW: "At least one year of experience shall have occurred within two years immediately preceding application for licensure as a clinical social worker or the applicant shall have met the continuing education requirement established by the board for clinical social work during the year immediately preceding application." (§ 43-10A-12(a)(2)(B)).

The exam order flips between the two licenses. An LMSW applicant passes the exam before applying (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(c)1). An LCSW applicant applies first, then, "upon approval by the Board schedule[s] themselves to take the examination directly with the testing authority" (Rule 135-3-.03(2)(d)1), and stays under supervision until passing (Rule 135-5-.04(4)). For the clinical license, "The Georgia Board currently does not offer licensure as a clinical social worker by endorsement or reciprocity." (CSW How-To Guide).

An LCSW supervisor has to be "licensed as a Clinical Social Worker, Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist and must have practiced in their specialty for at least 2000 clock hours over a minimum of 2 years following licensure" (Rule 135-5-.04(5)(e)). Individual supervision covers up to two candidates at a time, group up to six (Rule 135-5-.04(5)(d)).

A candidate with a qualifying doctorate and a supervised clinical internship can substitute a shorter path: 2,000 hours over 24 to 72 months and 80 supervision hours, with the same 50 percent group cap and a requirement that 50% come from an LCSW (Rule 135-5-.04(2)(c)1). And the Board can extend any of these timelines: "The Board, in its sole discretion, may extend the period of time in which the applicant must have acquired supervision and/or experience with adequate showing of hardship or good cause." (Rule 135-5-.04(3)).

Renewal: Every Two Years, No Five-Year Limit

"All licenses shall expire on September 30th of even numbered years." (Rule 135-6-.03(1)). That renewal date applies to the LMSW the same as it does to every license the Board issues.

Each two-year cycle asks for "Thirty-five (35) hours of continuing education" to renew, the same figure required for "each license, including associate level licenses" (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(a)). At least 5 of those hours must be ethics, "obtained through synchronous activities only" (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(b)).

Of the 35 hours, the rule splits the remaining 30: at least 15 must be core and no more than 15 related (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(c)), at most 10 may be asynchronous (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(d)), and independent study counts for at most 5 (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(g)). CE records have to be kept for four years (Rule 135-9-.01(4)(a)).

One exception is worth flagging for anyone moving from LMSW to LCSW mid-cycle. A license issued on or after October 1 of an odd year normally skips the CE requirement at its first renewal (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(a)1), but that exemption does not apply when an LMSW license is superseded by the full LCSW license (Rule 135-9-.01(2)(a)3).

Unlike the Associate Professional Counselor and Associate Marriage and Family Therapist licenses, whose five-year limit the Board's FAQ counts from the date of initial issuance, the LMSW carries no such limit. It renews on the same September 30 cycle for as long as the holder keeps it current.

Common Mistakes on the Georgia LMSW Track

Related Georgia Social Work Guides

FAQ: LMSW in Georgia