Minnesota licenses Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) and, for clinical practice, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC), through the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy. 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.
Two NBCC exams in Minnesota. The LPC uses the NCE, the exam Counselor Ticket is written to. The clinical LPCC requires the NCMHCE, a case-study exam our guide does not cover.
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.
Minnesota at a glance
License
Exam
What it takes
LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor)
NCE
A counseling master's of at least 48 semester hours with a 700-hour supervised field experience; a supervision plan for the first 2,000 hours of practice.
LPCC (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor)
NCMHCE
4,000 hours of supervised post-master's clinical practice, 2 hours of supervision per 40 hours, 24 clinical credits.
Minnesota, step by step
Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy
Degree: a master's or doctorate in counseling or a related field with at least 48 semester hours (72 quarter) and a supervised counseling field experience of at least 700 hours, from a CACREP program or a regionally accredited school, with coursework in the ten areas the statute lists.
LPC: pass the NCE (plus any ethical, oral or situational exams the board prescribes) and submit a plan for supervision during your first 2,000 hours of professional practice.
LPCC coursework: graduate credits in clinical content: 6 in diagnostic assessment and psychopathology, 3 in treatment planning, 6 in clinical interventions, 3 in evaluation, 3 in clinical ethics and 3 in cultural diversity.
LPCC experience:4,000 hours of supervised post-master's clinical practice diagnosing and treating mental illness in children and adults, under a contract with a qualified supervisor, at 2 hours of supervision per 40 hours of practice, at least 75 percent in person or by live video.
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.