For students interested in becoming licensed in the State of Hawaii, you will
be required to submit your official transcript to the Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Upon graduation, degrees are conferred and posted to
student records within 10 weeks following the semester for which you applied for
graduation. This means for licensing purposes that you will need to wait up to 10 weeks
after graduation to send your official transcript.
The DCCA has allowed the Department of Social Work to provide a “degree
completed” letter allowing new graduates to move forward with the licensing process
by stipulating that the degree requirements have been fulfilled but the official degree
conferral is in process and will take up to 10 weeks. This letter is sent directly to DCCA
on the applicant’s request after grades have been posted and an internal audit by the
Student Services Office is completed. We are unable to provide this letter until grades
have been posted.
The “degree completed” letter provides DCCA with the necessary information to verify
that you have met criteria so that you may register for the licensing exam. The “degree
completed” letter does not fulfill the requirements noted on the licensing application
(http://cca.hawaii.gov/pvl/programs/socialworker/) which stipulates an official transcript
must be submitted. You will still need to request an official transcript to be sent after
your degree is officially conferred. Official transcripts come from the UH Manoa Office
of the Registrar, https://manoa.hawaii.edu/registrar/student-records/ordering-transcript/;
there should be an option to HOLD FOR DEGREE so that they will not mail it
to DCCA until after your MSW degree has posted.
Those interested in a “degree completed” letter can contact the SW Student Services Office directly at sswadmit@hawaii.edu. The Department will coordinate generating the letter and the required signatures once the program requirements are fulfilled
