Tennessee LCSW Continuing Education Requirements
Tennessee clinical social workers must complete 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LCSW license, including 6 hours of professional ethics and 1 hour of TN law and rules.
30
total hours / 2 years
6
professional ethics hours
1
TN law and rules hours
Biennial · renewal date depends on the licensee's birth month.
Tennessee LCSW requirements
| Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|
| Total continuing education | 30 hours every 2 years. |
| Renewal | Biennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month. |
| Professional Ethics | 6 hours required each cycle. |
| TN Law and Rules | 1 hour required each cycle. |
| Recordkeeping | Keep CE documentation for 4 years after the end of each cycle. |
| Board audit | The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance. |
| Other mandates | 2 hours of suicide prevention required every 4 years. |
Limits on how the hours are earned
Board caps and floors on where the 30 hours can come from.
- academic courseworkmax 15 hrs
- first time teaching or presentationmax 75%
- publication or professional papermax 5 hrs
Keeping the proof in order: what to keep for a CE audit, with every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.
Tennessee LCSWrequired trainings & mandates
Beyond the 30-hour CE total, Tennessee requires specific trainings — some once around initial licensure, some on their own recurring schedule.
Recurring mandates outside the 2 years cycle
- 2 hours of suicide prevention required every 4 years.
Full board policy details
- No more than two-thirds of the hours attributed to a calendar year may be multimedia. Synchronous interactive online training is treated as in-person. This calendar-year percentage remains manual because the engine evaluates format caps across the full accrual window.
- The Board does not pre-approve individual CE programs; the licensee is responsible for determining whether content and presenters satisfy Rule 1365-01-.09.
- First-time teaching allows one preparation hour for each presentation hour, but all first-time teaching/presentation credit is limited to 75 percent of the two-year total.
- Preparation of a first professional paper for publication or first presentation at a qualifying professional meeting is capped at five hours.
- The rule limits repeat presenter credit but does not establish a general attendee repeat-course ban. Hours may not be duplicated between separate social-work licenses.
- An LCSW returning from retirement after more than one year must document 15 hours completed in the preceding 12 months. Different replacement-hour rules apply to a retirement of one year or less and to an expired or revoked license.
We turn every category, format limit, and one-time rule on this page into a live checklist on your Tennessee LCSW record, and reapply board changes automatically as they happen.
Track Tennessee LCSW CE free →Tennessee LCSW CE: frequently asked questions
How many CE hours do Tennessee LCSW licensees need?
Tennessee requires 30 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LCSW license. Biennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month.
How many ethics hours are required for Tennessee LCSW licensees?
Of the total, 6 hours must be in professional ethics.
How often do Tennessee LCSW licensees renew?
Biennial cycle: renews at the end of your birth month.
Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Tennessee LCSW licensees?
Yes. In addition to ethics, Tennessee requires 1 hour of TN law and rules.
Sources & verification
- State source
- Tennessee board rule
- Profession source
- ASWB ACE continuing education guidance
- Last verified
- August 2026
- Ruleset version
- 2026.2
Reviewed against the Tennessee board source and refreshed from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it →
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Create your free recordTennesseeguides & data
What to keep for a CE audit
What boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, what the notice looks like, and a printable checklist.
Tennessee mental health workforce data
19,801 active providers, or 270.7 per 100,000 residents, ranked 47 of 51. County density map and free CSV downloads.