Maryland licenses Licensed Graduate Professional Counselors (LGPC), who practice under supervision, and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC). Both use the NCE, the exam our guide is written to. 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.
Maryland at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
LGPC (Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor)
NCE
A master's of at least 60 graduate semester credits (or a doctorate) with 3 credits in each listed area. $200 + $200.
LCPC (Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor)
NCE
3 years and 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience, 2 of the years after the degree (doctorate: 2 years, 2,000 hours). $200 + $200.
Maryland, step by step
Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists
Degree: a master's in professional counseling or a related field with at least 60 graduate semester credits (90 quarter), or a doctorate of at least 90, with at least 3 graduate credits in each area the board lists (psychopathology, multicultural counseling, group work, career counseling and others) and supervised field experience.
The exam: the board lists the NCE for both the LGPC and the LCPC.
LGPC: practice under a board-approved supervisor while you complete your supervised experience.
LCPC experience:3 years with at least 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience in professional counseling under an approved supervisor; 2 of the 3 years must be post-graduate, and one may come before the master's is awarded. With a doctorate: 2 years and 2,000 hours, 1,000 of them after the doctorate.
Fees (board fee sheet): license application $200 and licensure fee $200; renewal $275 plus a $26 Maryland Health Care Commission fee. Out-of-state applications carry a $250 processing fee.
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.