Social Work License from Michigan to Alaska: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Alaska accept a Michigan social work license?
A social work license transfers from Michigan to Alaska by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), verify your Michigan license, and meet Alaska's endorsement requirements. The ASWB exam is not retaken. The credentials application asks whether you passed the ASWB Clinical-level exam. To meet the continuing-competency rule (12 AAC 18.112) you either passed the Clinical exam within the two years before applying (request an ASWB score transfer to Alaska) or document 1,500 hours of social work in the past five years plus 45 CE hours. No Alaska jurisprudence exam is required.
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
The compact question does not arise here. Alaska has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact and Michigan has not, but nothing is being issued in either, so the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing)'s endorsement process below is the whole route.
What's different between Michigan and Alaska
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Alaska. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Michigan to Alaska (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Alaska to Michigan (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Michigan matter?
Coming from Michigan matters here: only 18 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Alaska.
The others get: compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement (32).
- SW Compact membership
Alaska has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact; Michigan has not.
- Application fee
Alaska lists $425 for an out-of-state applicant and Michigan lists $99 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
Alaska and Michigan carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Alaska (this move): The ASWB exam is not retaken. The credentials application asks whether you passed the ASWB Clinical-level exam. To meet the continuing-competency rule (12 AAC 18.112) you either passed the Clinical exam within the two years before applying (request an ASWB score transfer to Alaska) or document 1,500 hours of social work in the past five years plus 45 CE hours. No Alaska jurisprudence exam is required.
- Michigan (the reverse move): The ASWB exam is not retaken; have ASWB send official score reports directly to LARA. For the master's social work license (LMSW) Michigan accepts the ASWB Advanced Generalist or Clinical exam, and the exam passed goes with the designation you apply for. No Michigan jurisprudence exam is listed; one-time human-trafficking training and 2 hours of implicit-bias training are required instead.
What changes, Michigan → Alaska
| Michigan (current) | Alaska (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| SW Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | SW Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $99 (Application fee plus 3-year license fee for a Master's Social Work License by Exam or Endorsement: $99.00 (Master's Social Work Licensing Guide rev. 10/7/2024). Adding a second designation (specialty) is $16.50. Fingerprint/background-check vendor fee not stated in the guide.) | $425 (Paid together with the application: $100 non-refundable application fee + $325 initial license fee (form 08-4871, rev. 04/21/2026). Alaska offers no temporary clinical license. Licenses expire June 30 of even-numbered years.) |
| Processing time | No processing time is published. All requirements must be completed within 2 years of LARA's receipt of the application (MCL 333.16307(3)), or the application is void | The Division says only that average processing time varies by program; once the file is complete and fees are paid, it goes to the Board for approval. Applications are reviewed in the order received |
| Licensing authority | Michigan Board of Social Work (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing) | Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Alaska sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Alaska's current requirements on the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold a current clinical social work license from a jurisdiction whose requirements, when your license was first issued, were equal to or stricter than Alaska's (AS 08.95.120).
- Have every jurisdiction where you have ever held a social work license send verification, including any discipline, directly to the Division.
- Submit three professional references on form 08-4871c, including one from a current or previous employer supervisor.
- Show continuing competency by passing the ASWB Clinical exam within the past two years, or by documenting 1,500 hours of social work practice in the past five years (form 08-4871d).
- If you qualify by practice hours, also document 45 CE hours from the past five years, including 6 in substance abuse, 3 in ethics, 3 in teletherapy and 3 in suicide education.
- Register with the Telemedicine Business Registry if you will practise teletherapy.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does the Social Work Licensure Compact help with this move?
No. Alaska has enacted it and Michigan has not, and the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. Endorsement through the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing) is the route.
Will Alaska accept the supervised hours I completed in Michigan?
Most boards credit supervised experience completed under another state's rules, but some compare it with their own requirement. Alaska's rule, where the Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing) publishes one, is in the requirements on this page; confirm with the board if your hours were logged under a different structure.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners — Clinical Social Worker License by Credentials application and instructions (form 08-4871, rev. 04/21/2026) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Alaska Board of Social Work Examiners — Applications & Forms ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- ASWB — Look up a license (board license-search directory) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Social Work Licensure Compact — compact jurisdictions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA — Master's Social Work Licensing Guide rev. 10/7/2024 (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-04-22; michigan.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA — Social Work FAQs rev. 9/19/2024 (accepted ASWB exams) (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-01-09) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA — Social Worker profession page (Internet Archive copy captured 2026-06-11) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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