Counseling License from California to Colorado: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from California to Colorado by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your California license, and meet Colorado's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken or score-verified: an endorsement applicant attests to having passed an examination that tested competence to practice professional counseling, including psychotherapy (Rule 1.12). The NCE is the named exam only for Colorado's by-examination route. Every applicant must also pass the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination (online via Prometric), and results are valid for only one year before application..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Neither state gives you a working compact route here: a state that has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational behaves like a non-member. The route is endorsement through the Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): your California license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Colorado's own exam rule, and Colorado applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Colorado tier corresponds to your California license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, California → Colorado
| California (current) | Colorado (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $125 (LPCC License Application fee under the Board's temporary 50% fee reduction for payments made 2026-07-01 through 2030-06-30 (statutory base in BPC 4999.120 is $250; applications paid before 2026-07-01 paid $250). Separate: initial license issuance fee $100 (reduced from $200), California Law and Ethics Exam fee $75 (reduced from $150), fingerprint (Live Scan / DOJ-FBI) fees not reduced and paid separately. California has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege route exists.) | the DPO does not publish the LPC endorsement application fee on its public pages; fees are shown only at checkout in DPO Online Services. Jurisprudence exam fee is paid to Prometric; fingerprinting fee (if required) is paid to the IdentoGO / American BioIdentity vendor. |
| Processing time | the Board's Path A guide gives no timeframe for the licensure application itself; it states only 'allow up to 30 days' for processing the Request for Initial License Issuance after the exam is passed. Board processing-time pages could not be read (bbs.ca.gov refused connections on 2026-09-27). | the DPO states applications are reviewed 'on a case by case basis' and publishes no timeframe; status is tracked in DPO Online Services |
| Licensing authority | California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) | Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Colorado sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Colorado's current requirements on the Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current, unrestricted license in good standing to practice professional counseling in another U.S. state or territory.
- Either show a master's or doctoral degree in professional counseling (or equivalent) plus a passed competency exam and 2 years post-master's supervised practice or 2 years active practice, OR show at least 1 year of licensure in a jurisdiction with a substantially similar scope of practice.
- Pass the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination within 12 months before applying.
- Submit license verification from every jurisdiction ever licensed, showing original issue date, expiration and disciplinary history.
- Be at least 21 years old and disclose any discipline, malpractice claims, injunctions and convictions.
- Pay the fees (the DPO does not publish the LPC endorsement application fee on its public pages; fees are shown only at checkout in DPO Online Services. Jurisprudence exam fee is paid to Prometric; fingerprinting fee (if required) is paid to the IdentoGO / American BioIdentity vendor.) and allow the DPO states applications are reviewed 'on a case by case basis' and publishes no timeframe; status is tracked in DPO Online Services.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Colorado accept a California counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from California to Colorado by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Colorado State Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners, Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your California license, and meet Colorado's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken or score-verified: an endorsement applicant attests to having passed an examination that tested competence to practice professional counseling, including psychotherapy (Rule 1.12). The NCE is the named exam only for Colorado's by-examination route. Every applicant must also pass the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination (online via Prometric), and results are valid for only one year before application..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from California to Colorado?
National exam is not retaken or score-verified: an endorsement applicant attests to having passed an examination that tested competence to practice professional counseling, including psychotherapy (Rule 1.12). The NCE is the named exam only for Colorado's by-examination route. Every applicant must also pass the Colorado Mental Health Professions Jurisprudence Examination (online via Prometric), and results are valid for only one year before application.
What does the move cost?
the DPO does not publish the LPC endorsement application fee on its public pages; fees are shown only at checkout in DPO Online Services. Jurisprudence exam fee is paid to Prometric; fingerprinting fee (if required) is paid to the IdentoGO / American BioIdentity vendor.
How long will it take?
the DPO states applications are reviewed 'on a case by case basis' and publishes no timeframe; status is tracked in DPO Online Services.
Colorado joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Colorado had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Colorado takes Colorado's own authorization, normally a Colorado license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Colorado DPO: Professional Counselor Applications and Forms (LPC by Examination, Endorsement or Telehealth) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Colorado DPO: LPC Initial Application Preview (endorsement questions) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 4 CCR 737-1, Board of Licensed Professional Counselor Examiners Rules, Rule 1.12 Occupational Credential Portability Program (version eff. 2025-09-14) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Colorado DPO: Mental Health FAQ (no reciprocity; endorsement; processing) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Colorado DPO: Professional Counselor homepage (Counseling Compact notice) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.60 (LPCC licensure for out-of-state licensees, Path A) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.61 (out-of-state education and experience, Path B; clinical exam waiver) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- California BPC 4999.120 (LPCC statutory fees) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Guide to Licensure Requirements, LPCC Out-of-State and Out-of-Country Applicants, rev. 10/2024 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-04-15) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS Temporary Fee Reduction FAQ, effective 2026-07-01 (Internet Archive copy of official BBS PDF, captured 2026-05-20) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- BBS LPCC applicant page (Internet Archive copy, captured 2026-09-03) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]