Social Work License from Michigan to Missouri: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Missouri accept a Michigan social work license?
A social work license transfers from Michigan to Missouri by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration), verify your Michigan license, and meet Missouri's endorsement requirements. No exam is retaken and the reciprocity application does not list an ASWB score report among its required items (completed application, fee, license verifications, suicide-prevention training attestation, fingerprint results). No Missouri 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. Missouri has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact and Michigan has not, but nothing is being issued in either, so the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration)'s endorsement process below is the whole route.
What's different between Michigan and Missouri
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Missouri. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Michigan to Missouri (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Missouri 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 Missouri.
The others get: compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement (32).
- SW Compact membership
Missouri has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact; Michigan has not.
- Application fee
Missouri lists $75 for an out-of-state applicant and Michigan lists $99 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
Missouri and Michigan carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Missouri (this move): No exam is retaken and the reciprocity application does not list an ASWB score report among its required items (completed application, fee, license verifications, suicide-prevention training attestation, fingerprint results). No Missouri 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 → Missouri
| Michigan (current) | Missouri (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.) | $75 (Reciprocity application fee $75 (form MO 375-0901, rev. 8-2025), nonrefundable, payable by cashier's check, money order, personal check or bank draft. Fingerprinting is paid separately to IdentoGO/MACHS (amount not stated on the Committee's pages).) |
| 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 | No processing time is published; fingerprint results are valid for one year. A temporary permit request form exists for reciprocity applicants |
| Licensing authority | Michigan Board of Social Work (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing) | Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Missouri sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Missouri's current requirements on the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an active license in another state for one year or longer (if under one year, contact the Committee).
- Submit the Application for Licensure by Reciprocity (MO 375-0901) with the fee, checking Clinical Social Worker.
- Have every state where you hold or held a license send verification directly to the Committee.
- Complete 2 hours of suicide assessment, treatment and management training within the last 2 years.
- Complete IdentoGO fingerprinting (service code 5416; out-of-state applicants request an FD-258 card).
- 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. Missouri has enacted it and Michigan has not, and the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. Endorsement through the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) is the route.
Will Missouri 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. Missouri's rule, where the Missouri State Committee for Social Workers (Division of Professional Registration) 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.
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Reciprocity page ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Application for Licensure by Reciprocity (MO 375-0901, 8-2025) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Frequently Asked Questions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Social Workers — Criminal Background Checks / Fingerprinting instructions ↗ (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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