Social Work License from Michigan to Vermont: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Vermont accept a Michigan social work license?
A social work license transfers from Michigan to Vermont by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers, verify your Michigan license, and meet Vermont's endorsement requirements. The ASWB exam is not retaken: an out-of-state LICSW from a substantially equivalent jurisdiction is licensed by endorsement without re-examination (CVR Social Work Rule 3.3). By-exam applicants need the ASWB clinical exam. Every route ALSO requires the Vermont jurisprudence examination.
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
The compact question does not arise here. Vermont has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact and Michigan has not, but nothing is being issued in either, so the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers's endorsement process below is the whole route.
What's different between Michigan and Vermont
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Vermont. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Michigan to Vermont (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Vermont 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 Vermont.
The others get: compact enacted — not yet issuing; until it issues, licensure by endorsement (32).
- SW Compact membership
Vermont has enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact; Michigan has not.
- Application fee
Vermont lists $180 for an out-of-state applicant and Michigan lists $99 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
Vermont and Michigan carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Vermont (this move): The ASWB exam is not retaken: an out-of-state LICSW from a substantially equivalent jurisdiction is licensed by endorsement without re-examination (CVR Social Work Rule 3.3). By-exam applicants need the ASWB clinical exam. Every route ALSO requires the Vermont jurisprudence examination.
- 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 → Vermont
| Michigan (current) | Vermont (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.) | $180 (Initial fee for the Clinical Social Worker license (OPR code 089) on OPR's fee chart (Internet Archive copy of 2026-04-14; outside.vermont.gov returned 403 to automated fetches). Biennial renewal is $120, due January 31 of even 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 | OPR publishes no processing time for social work applications. Under its 90-day policy, a license issued within 90 days of the renewal date runs through the next full two-year cycle |
| Licensing authority | Michigan Board of Social Work (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing) | Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Vermont sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Vermont's current requirements on the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an active independent clinical social work license (or equivalent) in a U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction whose requirements are substantially equivalent to Vermont's.
- Pass the Vermont jurisprudence examination.
- Have your other licensing jurisdiction(s) complete OPR's Verification of Licensure form.
- Apply through OPR's online licensing system.
- 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. Vermont has enacted it and Michigan has not, and the compact was not issuing multistate licenses anywhere as of 2026-09-27. Endorsement through the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers is the route.
Will Vermont 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. Vermont's rule, where the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — Social Workers 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.
- Vermont OPR — Social Worker Forms & Instructions ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Vermont OPR — Social Work Administrative Rules, eff. 2017-07-01, Part 3 LICSW routes (Internet Archive copy of 2025-05-02) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Vermont OPR — Initial licensing and renewal fees chart (Internet Archive copy of 2026-04-14) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Vermont OPR — Fast Track Endorsement (3 V.S.A. 136a) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Vermont OPR — Social Worker FAQs ↗ (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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