Colorado licenses Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC). Graduates register as a Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate (LPCC) so their supervised hours count. 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.
Colorado at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
LPCC (Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate)
Jurisprudence
A qualifying counseling master's (CACREP or equivalent).
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
NCE + jurisprudence
At least 2,000 hours of post-degree supervised experience.
Colorado, step by step
Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners (Division of Professions and Occupations, DORA)
Degree: a master's in counseling from a CACREP-accredited program or an equivalent program the board recognizes; non-CACREP graduates have their coursework reviewed.
Jurisprudence exam: the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination, open book and online; upload your passing report.
Candidate registration: supervised hours count only while you hold the LPCC candidate registration (or another candidate or Unlicensed Psychotherapist registration).
Experience and exam: for licensure by examination, provide your passing NCE score and the Post-Degree Experience and Supervision Form(s) showing at least 2,000 hours of supervised experience.
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.