Alaska licenses Associate Counselors and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC). The associate license comes first, and supervised hours in Alaska only count once it is issued. Everything below comes from the board's own pages and rules, checked October 18, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the linked pages before you pay.
Check with your board. Counselor Ticket is a study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE), the American Counseling Association (ACA), CACREP or any state counseling board; NCE and NCMHCE are NBCC's marks, used here only to name the exams. Laws on confidentiality, duty to warn, reporting and licensing differ by state; follow your state's law, your agency and your supervisor.
Alaska at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
Associate Counselor
None
A counseling master's with 60 graduate semester hours and a supervision plan with a board-approved supervisor. $200 + $150.
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
NCE or NCMHCE
3,000 supervised hours over at least two years: 1,000 direct counseling, 100 hours of direct supervision. $200 + $270.
Alaska, step by step
Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing)
Degree (AS 08.29.110; 12 AAC 62.120): a doctorate in counseling or a related field, or a master's with at least 60 graduate semester hours in counseling covering at least eight of the listed subject areas.
Associate license (12 AAC 62.145): apply with transcripts and a supervision plan with a board-approved counselor supervisor. You may not start supervised experience in Alaska until the associate license is active.
Hours: at least 3,000 hours of supervised counseling over at least two years, with at least 1,000 hours of direct counseling and at least 100 hours of direct supervision.
The exam (12 AAC 62.110): the NCE or the NCMHCE; Alaska accepts either one.
Fees (12 AAC 02.325): application $200; license $270 for the LPC and $150 for the associate, the same to renew every two years. The division proposed fee changes in October 2026, so check the current amount when you apply.
The steps that hold nearly everywhere: a counseling master's degree (usually 60 semester hours, often CACREP-accredited), your board's approval, an NBCC exam, about two years of supervised experience, then the full license. The NCE has 200 questions (160 scored) in 3 hours 45 minutes; the NCMHCE is 11 clinical case studies in the same time; either can be retaken after 30 days (NBCC/CCE candidate handbooks). The full walk-through: How to get your counseling license.