Illinois Social Work License Renewal: CE, Fees, and Deadlines

Illinois social work license renewal happens every two years through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Most LSW and LCSW licenses expire on November 30 of odd-numbered years. To renew, you need 30 hours of approved continuing education and a $60 fee, submitted through the IDFPR online portal. The renewal window opens 60 days before your expiration date.

When Your License Expires

The Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act gives you a 60-day window before expiration to renew.¹ For most social workers, that window opens October 1 of odd-numbered years and closes November 30. If your license was issued at an unusual point in the cycle, your specific expiration date is on your license record in the IDFPR portal.

IDFPR sends email reminders to the address on file, but the responsibility to renew on time is yours. If your contact information is outdated, you will not get the reminder, and that is not a valid excuse for a lapsed license.

Continuing Education You Need

Each renewal cycle requires 30 hours of continuing education from IDFPR-approved sponsors. There is one exception: if you are renewing for the first time after receiving your initial license, no CE hours are required for that first cycle.² After that, the 30-hour rule applies to every renewal.

Within the 30 hours, IDFPR requires specific topics:²

3 hours of social work ethics
3 hours of cultural competency
1 hour of sexual harassment prevention
1 hour of implicit bias awareness

The remaining 22 hours can cover any subject relevant to social work or clinical social work practice. All hours must come from approved sponsors.³ The approved list is broad. It includes the National Association of Social Workers and its affiliates, the Association of Social Work Boards, accredited colleges and universities, Illinois-licensed hospitals, and sponsors already approved for related professions like professional counseling or clinical psychology. Other organizations can apply to IDFPR for approval.

Online and Self-Study Courses

Illinois allows CE credit for self-study, book-based, and online programs if the provider is an approved sponsor and the course includes an examination.³ The administrative code does not cap how many of your 30 hours can come from asynchronous formats. One limit worth knowing: CE completed remotely is not eligible for out-of-state CE credit under Illinois rules, so if you hold licenses in multiple states, plan around that.

Keep Your Certificates

Hold onto your CE certificates for at least five years after each renewal. IDFPR runs random audits, and if you are selected, you have to produce the approved sponsor name, completion date, and hours for every course you reported. Missing documentation during an audit is treated the same as not completing the education at all.

How to Renew Online

IDFPR processes renewals through its online portal. You will need your Social Security number and Illinois license number to log in. In October 2024, IDFPR launched a new system called CORE for managing professional licenses, so the login process may look different from previous cycles. The portal walks you through confirming your contact information, attesting that you completed all required CE hours, and answering disclosure questions about any criminal convictions or disciplinary actions since your last renewal.

Answer the disclosure questions carefully. Providing false information on a renewal attestation can result in discipline, up to and including license revocation.⁴

What It Costs

The renewal fee is $30 per year, which comes out to $60 for the two-year cycle.⁵ The fee is the same for LSWs and LCSWs. Pay by credit or debit card through the state’s online payment processor. After payment, you will see a confirmation page and get an automated email receipt. Save both. If a billing dispute comes up later, that confirmation is the fastest way to resolve it.

After You Submit

Allow two to four business days for the system to update your license status after you submit the renewal.⁶ You can check status through the IDFPR License Lookup tool, which updates daily for individual license searches.⁷ Employers and credentialing bodies verify there as well.

Illinois no longer mails paper licenses. Since IDFPR moved to a paperless system, you download and print your updated license directly from the portal once your status shows as active.⁸

If You Miss the Deadline

Once your license lapses, you are legally considered to be practicing without a license if you continue seeing clients.¹ What it takes to get back to active status depends on how long you have been expired.

Expired Five Years or Less

If your license has been expired for five years or less, you can restore it by filing a restoration application, paying a $50 reinstatement fee plus all lapsed renewal fees, and showing proof of 30 CE hours completed within the two years before your restoration application.⁹ If your license lapsed for two renewal cycles (four years), you would owe the $50 reinstatement fee plus $120 in lapsed renewal fees.

LCSWs get one notable break. If you have no disciplinary history in any jurisdiction during your entire period of licensure and your license has been expired or inactive for five years or less, the statute waives the reinstatement fee and proof-of-fitness requirements. You can only use that provision once.¹

Expired More Than Five Years

After five years, restoration gets harder. You need 30 CE hours from the preceding two years, a $200 restoration fee, and additional proof of fitness. IDFPR may require evidence of active practice in another state, proof of military service, or for LCSWs, passage of the licensing exam within the preceding twelve months.⁹ At that point the process looks more like re-licensing than renewal.

Inactive Status Is Cheaper Than Lapsing

If you know you will not be practicing for a stretch, place your license on inactive status before it expires. You notify IDFPR in writing, and your renewal fees are typically waived while the license is inactive.¹ You cannot practice while inactive, but restoring from inactive status within five years requires only the current renewal fee and 30 hours of CE, with no reinstatement surcharge.⁹ Compared with letting a license expire and running up lapsed fees, going inactive is almost always the cheaper path.

Penalties for Practicing on a Lapsed License

IDFPR treats practicing without a valid license as grounds for discipline. The department can refuse to issue or renew a license, suspend or revoke it, impose probation, or levy fines up to $10,000 per violation.⁴ The same disciplinary framework covers failing to complete CE, providing false information on a renewal application, and practicing beyond your scope. The cost of a few hours of CE and a $60 fee is small compared with what a disciplinary file can cost later.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 20 – Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act
2
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Continuing Education Fact Sheet – Licensed Social Workers
3
Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 68, 1470.95 – Continuing Education
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 20 – Clinical Social Work and Social Work Practice Act – Section 19
5
Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 68, 1470.55 – Fees
6
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Online License Renewal
7
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Check License
8
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Paperless Licensing Frequently Asked Questions
9
Legal Information Institute. Illinois Administrative Code tit. 68, 1470.80 – Restoration