Social Work License from Colorado to Utah: Does It Transfer? (2026)

What's different between Colorado and Utah

Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Utah. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.

Route, each way

Colorado to Utah (this page): Compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement.

Utah to Colorado (the reverse move): Compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement.

The route is the same in both directions.

Does coming from Colorado matter?

Colorado gets Utah's most common result: 32 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get the same one, so for most movers the origin does not change the answer.

The others get: licensure by endorsement (18).

SW Compact membership

Colorado and Utah have both enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, which is not issuing yet, so it does not cover this move today.

Application fee

Utah lists $120 for an out-of-state applicant; Colorado has no verified fee figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.

Exam rules on record

Utah and Colorado carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.

• Utah (this move): The ASWB exam is not retaken. Utah requires the ASWB Clinical exam (or the California Clinical Social Workers Exam). Applicants from 'dual scope' jurisdictions whose single license covers generalist and clinical practice must document a pass on the ASWB Clinical exam to be deemed equivalent; Advanced Generalist holders are pointed to the Utah CSW instead. Scores may be on the license verification or sent by ASWB. No Utah law exam is listed, but endorsement applicants must document 3 hours of ethics CE and 2 hours of suicide-prevention CE from the last three years.
• Colorado (the reverse move): The ASWB exam is not retaken. For LCSW by endorsement you attest that you passed an exam covering the general areas of social work knowledge, or a written exam testing competence to practise independent social work, or (if no exam was required when you were first licensed) that you practised at the independent level for at least 5 of the last 10 years. Colorado also requires every LCSW applicant to pass the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination (open-book, online); results are valid for one year.

What changes, Colorado → Utah

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Utah sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

1. Confirm Utah's current requirements on the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) — Social Work Licensing Board website (linked below) — rules change.
2. Submit the endorsement application to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL) — Social Work Licensing Board (application linked below).
3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
4. Hold an LCSW (or DOPL-designated equivalent) in good standing for at least one year in a jurisdiction DOPL deems equivalent, or document 4,000 hours of lawful practice with at least 1,000 in mental health therapy.
5. Submit official primary-source verification of each license used to qualify.
6. Submit official verification of a passing ASWB exam (Clinical for dual-scope jurisdictions).
7. Document 3 hours of professional ethics CE and 2 hours of suicide prevention CE completed within the last three years.
8. Complete the FBI and BCI fingerprint file searches billed on the fee schedule.
9. Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.

Official links

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