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School social workers serve as an intersection of counseling and advocacy for school children. These professionals identify struggling students, advocate for them, and help them better adjust to academic or social life.
This guide explains how to become a school social worker, including what a school social worker does, required education, certification options and salary prospects for this role.
School social workers are licensed mental health professionals who support students’ academic, emotional and social welfare. Most school social workers practice in K-12 schools, while others assist children in residential care settings. They either represent the government or private welfare agencies.
School social workers identify students’ challenges through one-on-one or group counseling sessions and collaborate with teachers and school administration to help students overcome academic struggles.
School social workers are also responsible for following up with the appropriate authorities, depending on the students’ needs. In cases of emotional and domestic distress, these professionals relay incidents to students’ families, school-appointed therapists or Child Protective Services, depending on the situation.
Given the delicate nature of their job, school social workers need high levels of patience, empathy, verbal and non-verbal communication skills, critical thinking and emotional intelligence.
School social workers partner with school districts to develop alternative educational programs for gifted children and those with special needs. They also help administrators in the district develop policies that protect students living with disabilities.
Part of a social worker’s job is counseling parents on creating balanced family routines that Strengthen their children’s academic and social well-being. They help parents access professional help and other resources for children experiencing emotional distress.
Using strong communication and collaboration skills, school social workers encourage communal support between schools and communities through donations, volunteering and mentorship to help students succeed.
School social workers’ responsibilities include educating and training teachers and non-teaching staff to help them understand the likely causes of students’ poor academic performance or attention-seeking behavior.
Promoting student welfare is the primary role of school social workers. They help students develop proper social skills, manage their emotions and build habits that enable academic success. During counseling sessions, school social workers look for signs of child abuse or neglect and report any concerns to the authorities.
Becoming a licensed school social worker requires years of education and supervised experience before passing a state-specific licensing exam.
Before enrolling in any social work degree program, you should verify its accreditation status with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). CSWE accreditation, which is usually required for social work licensure, indicates that a degree program meets industry standards.
A bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) is the minimum academic requirement to become a school social worker; however, a BSW only qualifies graduates for entry-level, non-clinical positions.
BSW course requirements differ by college, but social work undergraduate curricula typically include courses in child development, psychology, behavioral science, human rights policies and social work ethics.
Obtaining a BSW requires 120 credits and takes about four years of full-time study.
Bachelor’s degree holders with degrees in related majors including psychology, public policy, social science and political science can also become school social workers. However, they must earn master of social work (MSW) degrees to practice.
MSW programs build on graduates’ foundational knowledge of the field while offering opportunities for specialized education. Earning an MSW is a prerequisite for becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) as this degree equips students with diagnostic and psychotherapy skills.
Earning an MSW takes about two years and 60 credits, after which graduates must undergo supervised clinical training before applying for licensure.
To become a social worker, all states require hands-on experience in supervised clinical settings before applying for licensure. While exact requirements and training duration vary by state, be prepared to invest about 2,000 to 3,000 hours.
Becoming licensed as a school social worker qualifies you to provide clinical services independently. After meeting the education and experience requirements for licensure, you must pass a clinical exam administered by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). Then, apply to your state licensing board.
Exact licensing requirements vary by state, but you can stay updated with your state’s prerequisites through ASWB’s website.
Obtaining licensure also involves completing continuing education credits and renewing your social work license. Like most licensing requirements, continuing education requirements also vary by state. To learn more, see our guide on how to become an LCSW.
Social workers in the private and public sector earn certifications to enhance their credentials, gain specialized knowledge and prove they’re qualified for certain positions. Certification validates your expertise, boosts your résumé and may lead to job opportunities or increased pay.
Certifications are optional, but school social workers can consider earning the Certified School Social Work Specialist (C-SSWS) designation granted by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
The C-SSWS credential is designed for professionals who provide students and their families with consultation, crisis intervention and advocacy. Whether they work in public or private schools, the C-SSWS designation equips school social workers to support students dealing with academic and personal challenges.
Qualification requirements for this certification include:
In May 2022, the median annual income for child, family and school social workers was $50,820, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
School social work compensation varies based on job location, industry, qualifications and experience. The lowest 10% of earners made a median income of $36,380 annually, whereas the top 90% of earners made $81,920, according to the BLS.
The BLS projects the social work industry to see a 9% employment growth from 2021 to 2031, resulting in an average of 74,700 annual job openings over the decade.
The first step to becoming a social worker in the U.S. is earning a bachelor’s degree in social work or a related field. To pursue a clinical role, you must then earn an MSW from a CSWE-accredited program, complete supervised work experience and pass a licensing exam. Otherwise, your BSW degree qualifies you for entry-level or non-clinical social work positions.
Social workers help clients access necessary resources and support vulnerable people and communities. A school social worker works specifically within school systems and advocates for students facing academic, behavioral or domestic challenges.
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Social work licensing practices vary widely by state. Some states require entry-level and generalist social workers to pass an exam and earn licensure. In other states, you only need a license to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and provide psychotherapy services.
In many states, social work licensure at any level requires you to pass an exam administered by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). The ASWB exam is a nationally recognized assessment that evaluates your comprehension of human behavior and development.
If you’re a social work major or considering pivoting into the human services field, read on to discover how to prepare for, take and pass the ASWB licensure exam—with or without a social work degree.
ASWB is a nonprofit organization comprising all of the state social work regulatory boards in the United States and Canada. This body regulates the social work profession and administers the licensure exam that evaluates prospective social workers’ ethics and expertise. Passing the ASWB exam is the final step to earning a social work license in many states.
ASWB offers five exam categories—associate, bachelor’s, master’s, advanced generalist and clinical—each tailored to a specific education and experience level. A candidate’s exam category determines their title and scope of practice post-licensure.
Within a four-hour window, ASWB exam-takers must answer questions concerning:
All ASWB exam categories contain 170 questions on human development and behavior, but question types may vary among categories. For example, the associate and bachelor’s exams lean more heavily on recall questions than other exam categories, which feature larger proportions of reasoning questions.
Each exam category may lead to a different level of social work licensure depending on your state’s licensing processes. Not all states offer all five categories of the ASWB exam.
This category offers a licensure pathway for applicants who want to practice social work without earning a four-year degree in the field. In most cases, associate-level social workers can only practice under supervision.
A handful of states offer this licensing pathway: South Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Only South Dakota, New Hampshire and Massachusetts require associate-level social workers to pass the associate ASWB exam.
Registration for the associate ASWB exam category costs $230.
The ASWB bachelor’s exam, which also costs $230, evaluates your generalist understanding of social work practices and ethics. You must hold a bachelor’s degree in social work from an accredited college to sit for this exam category.
The bachelor’s category features the same questions as the associate category.
Passing the bachelor’s exam qualifies you to become a non-clinical baccalaureate social worker. Exact titles vary among states; in Oregon, these professionals are called registered baccalaureate social workers, while North Carolina calls them certified social workers.
In most cases, social workers at this level interview clients, manage cases, conduct research and advocate for social justice. Depending on the state, they may only be able to practice autonomously after gaining supervised work experience post-licensure.
The ASWB master’s category requires a master of social work (MSW) and usually qualifies applicants for the licensed master social worker (LMSW) credential. Again, the exact title may vary by state—Indiana calls these professionals licensed social workers, for example.
The master’s-level exam tests your foundational understanding of the social work field and evaluates your application of specialized skills gained during their MSW program. Licensees know how to apply advanced practice skills and specialized knowledge in their roles.
LMSWs can drive social change and justice for various communities. In some states, they can provide clinical therapy with oversight from an LCSW. The registration fee for this ASWB exam category is $230.
The advanced generalist category is tailored to prospective LMSWs who aspire to work in macro-level roles. This means working with large populations, such as entire states and countries. The advanced generalist ASWB exam indicates a desire to work with public policy, state or national campaigns, or other government initiatives.
To sit for the advanced generalist ASWB exam, you must hold a master’s degree in social work plus two years of nonclinical professional experience.
With a fee of $260, test takers can prove their expertise in social justice, public policy and administration, and public welfare to their state licensing boards.
The minimum requirements for this ASWB category include an MSW and two years of clinical experience. The clinical ASWB test serves prospective social workers who want to provide mental health services in clinical settings.
LCSWs (who may work under different titles, depending on where they practice) provide psychotherapy services to prevent, diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Through individual or group therapy, these professionals help people struggling with emotional distress.
Clinical social workers practice independently in various settings, including hospitals, schools, psychiatric facilities and social service agencies. Registering for the clinical ASWB exam category costs $260.
First, you must get your state board’s approval to register for the ASWB exam. Approval processes differ depending on the state where you want to practice.
Typical requirements vary by state and license level but may include college transcripts, a license application fee and proof of supervised experience, which you can send to the board via email or fax. Some states may also require you to provide fingerprints and undergo a background check.
Once you receive approval from your state social work board, you must register for the appropriate ASWB licensure exam, either online, via mail or by fax. Registration costs between $230 and $260, depending on your exam category.
If your registration is successful, you’ll receive an “authorization to test” email from ASWB.
Pearson VUE provides testing centers for licensure applicants nationwide. You can schedule, cancel and reschedule exam appointments with Pearson VUE through the testing authorization email.
The ASWB exam is a four-hour, computer-based test comprising 170 multiple-choice questions that test your expertise and decision-making skills as a social worker.
Exam questions cover various content areas and competencies you should have covered during your degree program. You may also find knowledge, skills and abilities statements resembling real-life situations that require critical thinking. To pass the licensure exam, you must answer about 100 out of the 150 questions correctly.
Although self-study is necessary to pass professional exams, practice exams can help you prepare better. By taking a mock test, you can identify loopholes in your study plan, learn the testing software, understand your strengths and areas for improvement, and prepare for complex questions.
After you register for your exam, ASWB offers a 30-day window to take a practice questions for an additional $85. Practice exams exist for all categories except the advanced generalist exam.
Other test prep resources offer free practice tests, but ASWB warns against those resources because their content may be misleading.
ASWB enforces several security measures on test day to ensure a reliable exam process. Prepare to present two photo IDs and sign a confidentiality agreement.
Pearson VUE test centers are fitted with surveillance tools to detect exam malpractice. Test Center personnel may also walk through the room at intervals.
You cannot enter the testing center with personal items, but you will receive erasable note boards, markers and other necessary materials from the Test Center personnel. You must return the items after the exam or risk invalidating your score.
The testing equipment should look like a typical computer setup. Test administrators may provide a short on-screen tutorial to help you navigate the software.
Upon completing the licensure exam, you’ll receive an unofficial score report at the Test Center indicating your performance. ASWB will then send the official score report to your state’s social work board two weeks after the exam.
Note that your scores cannot be altered at any point, so all you can do is wait for your state board to contact you or go ahead with other state-specific requirements. This may take anywhere from two weeks to a month.
If you fail the licensure exam, you can retake it after 90 days.
The ASWB exam stands for the Association of Social Work Boards examination. This test determines whether a candidate is fit to practice social work at their desired licensure level.
A accurate ASWB report showed that 75.8% of first-time test takers passed the clinical exam category in 2021. The master’s and bachelor’s categories had pass rates of 73% and 68.7%, respectively.
Specific passing score thresholds on the ASWB exam may vary with each passing year. ASWB recommends that testers correctly answer 90 to 107 of the graded questions to pass the licensure exam.
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A former social worker with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was arrested this week on charges he had a sexual relationship with a client.
James Daniel Burkhalter, 43, of Iowa City, is charged with six counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, a Class D felony. He had his first appearance in court Friday and was released from jail on his own recognizance.
Burkhalter is accused of having sexual contact with a patient on six occasions between October 2020 and May 2021. Four happened during scheduled clinical appointments, during which he was to provide mental health services, and two happened at the patient’s residence, according to criminal complaints.
A no-contact order has been filed on behalf of the victim.
Burkhalter lost his license as an independent social worker earlier this year in relation to another investigation into possible sexual exploitation.
An application for a search warrant to seize and search Burkhalter’s phone, filed in August 2022, states a patient of Burkhalter’s was involved in an incident that brought her to the UIHC emergency department in December 2021. While there, she told a social worker she had sexual interactions with Burkhalter while she had been his patient.
The patient mentioned in the search warrant is different from the victim listed in the no-contact order filed with the criminal charges.
The hospital conducted an internal investigation and Burkhalter denied there had been any sexual relationship. He kept his job and was told by the UIHC human resources department to cease all contact with the client, according to the warrant request filed by the UI Department of Public Safety, which had not been notified of that initial report from the client.
In May, the patient again talked during an appointment with her new therapist about her sexual relationship with Burkhalter, and said they had been in contact in April, after Burkhalter had been told to cease all contact with her. The UI public safety department was contacted after this second report and began an investigation, the warrant request states.
Burkhalter’s license to be an independent social worker was suspended indefinitely in February by the Iowa Board of Social Work in relation to the ongoing investigation.
A warrant for Burkhalter’s arrest was issued Wednesday, and he was booked Thursday in the Johnson County Jail.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
