Licensed Professional Counselor

Fully licensed professional counselors in Colorado are known as Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs). The Colorado State Board of Professional Counselor Examiners regulates LPCs in the state. LPCs generally utilize the LPCC credential while working towards their LPC post-graduation.

Applying for your LPC

The process of applying for your LPC is completed online. To begin this process once the requirements are met, or to find our more information, click here.

Post-Degree Requirements All applicants must:

Submit payment of the required application fee. All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Upload name change documentation, if applicable.
Upload transcript showing a master’s or doctorate degree from a program approved by the Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) or equivalent.
- If your education is not CACREP approved, you must also upload an education review by the
  Center for Credential Education (CCE) to show that your education is equivalent.
Upload your passing jurisprudence exam report.
Upload verification for another state’s certificate/license, if applicable.
Answer general and criminal history screening questions and upload supporting documentation.
Complete the Healthcare Professions Profile, including uploading supporting documentation.

Foreign-trained applicants must:

Upload an education review from one of the following entities:

Examination applicants must:

Provide your passing scores on the National Counselor Examination (NCE).
Upload completed Post-Degree Experience and Supervision Form(s) showing At least 1,500 hours must be direct client contact.
- View DORA's Post-Degree Supervision Hours Q&A Document.

Licensure By Examination

Generally used by LPCC's applying for their LPC after completing the post-degree requirements list above.

You may engage the online application process here.

Application Criteria

An applicant for licensure must pass the required examination no more than five (5) years prior to the date of the application for licensure. Experience and supervision requirements that predate the application by more than five (5) years will not be accepted by the Board absent a showing of good cause, as determined by the Board. However, this may not apply in those exceptions allowable under statutes concerning professional counselor candidates.
All applicants for licensure have a continuing obligation to update their application with information changes from the original application at any time prior to licensure.
The applicant must submit to the Board a completed application for licensure, all fees, official transcript(s), and all supporting documentation required by the Board in order for the Board to review the application for licensure.
Applications for licensure remain active for one (1) year. If the applicant fails to become licensed within this time period, s/he must submit a new application and fee and must meet the educational, experience, and examination requirements in effect at the time of the date of the new application. The Board, in its sole discretion, may extend an application upon written request accompanied by a showing of good cause.

Education and Training Requirements. Below is a summary of LPC Rule 1.14. To view Rule 1.14 in total, click here. To meet the statutory requirements, the master's or doctoral program must meet either (1) or (2), below:

1. *Accredited program. The applicant obtained a master's or doctoral degree from a
  program that was approved by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related
  Educational Programs (CACREP). If enrolled after August 31, 2014, the applicant must
  be enrolled in an approved program comprised of not less than 60 semester credit hours;
  or
2. *Equivalent program. Applicants who graduated from a non-CACREP approved program
  must establish educational equivalency through one of the following pathways:
  - Graduation from a program deemed by the Board, on an annual, to meet
    CACREP educational equivalency; OR
  - Candidates who graduated from a non-CACREP approved program or a program
    that has not been deemed educationally equivalent by the Board must submit
    their educational credentials to a Board approved credentialing agency for
    evaluation and determination of whether the program satisfies the requirements of this Rule.
*Additional details can be found in Rule 1.14.