MSW Licensure Information and Resources

Graduating MSW students are eligible to register and take the LSW exam during their final (graduating) semester in Pennsylvania. The LSW is a national exam. If a student passes the exam in Pennsylvania, they are able to apply for reciprocity in another state.

Please note that the LCSW (clinical) exam can be taken a minimum of three years in Pennsylvania (two years in New Jersey) post-LSW exam with the approval of a clinical supervisor. The LCSW exam is an exam separate from the LSW exam.

Licensure in Pennsylvania

The application no longer requires two recommendations from professional social workers. A Criminal Background Check is now required as part of the application for PA licensure. Also, there is a new requirement indicating that each applicant must complete the Self-Query form from the National Database of Clinicians within 6 months of the application. Details are contained in the application on the website.

State Boards must have official, final transcripts on file. Even if students pass the exam before graduation, they must send their official transcript to the State Board after graduation once degrees have been conferred. SP2 does not send the transcript on students’ behalf; students are responsible for ordering transcripts from the University Registrar. To ensure that a transcript is sent properly, students should check their unofficial transcripts in Path@Penn to ensure:

  1. that the degree has been conferred; and
  2. that all information is correct

Additionally, the SP2 Registrar will reach out directly with a degree conferral confirmation. Questions about the information displayed on a transcript should be addressed to the SP2 Registrar.

Please note that criminal history checks must be no older than 90 days from the date of Application for Licensure by examination.

Licensure in Other States

Exam Preparation

The MSW Program offers a licensure information session for students in their final semester. Please find the materials from the most recent session below.

Additional Resources

News

Headshot of Kerry Doyle on blue backdrop

ALUMNI Q&A | Kerry Doyle, DSW ’22

SP2 alumna Kerry Doyle, DSW, MSSW, is an associate professor of practicum education at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker interested in trauma sensitive mindfulness interventions in the school setting, compassion fatigue among educators, and trauma responsive interventions.

News

MSW students sit at tables smiling.

SP2 expands practical experience for MSW students through simulation curriculum

With the support of SP2 Dean Sara S. Bachman, simulations were recently expanded beyond the MSW Program’s second-year clinical courses so that they are now also part of the second-year macro practice courses as well as the first-year curriculum. The exercises provide space for students to grow and gain experience outside the parameters of more traditional settings.

News

A group of people, some wearing gloves, handing out canned goods. Their faces are not visible.

Penn Today features SP2 expertise for Giving Tuesday

Katherina ‘Kat’ Rosqueta and Iris Leon of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy (CHIP) at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) speak with Penn Today about the history of Giving Tuesday. 


Contact Us

Career Services Office

Suite 20, McNeil Building

3718 Locust Walk

Philadelphia, PA 19014-6209

Office Hours
Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm

Walk-in Hours for SP2 Students
Wednesdays, 2:30pm to 3:30pm

Sharon Fleshman
Senior Associate Director

215-898-4381

215-898-2687 (fax)

fleshman@upenn.edu

Esther Ra
Career Advisor

Available by appointment on Mondays and Thursdays.

estherra@upenn.edu

Patty Greenfield
Associate Director

pgreenf@upenn.edu