Counseling License from Colorado to Pennsylvania: Does It Transfer? (2026)

What's different between Colorado and Pennsylvania

Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Pennsylvania. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.

Route, each way

Colorado to Pennsylvania (this page): Licensure by endorsement.

Pennsylvania to Colorado (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.

The route is the same in both directions.

Does coming from Colorado matter?

Coming from Colorado does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Pennsylvania.

Counseling Compact membership

Colorado has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not issuing under it yet; Pennsylvania has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not issuing under it yet.

Because they are not both active members, the Counseling Compact does not cover this move.

Application fee

Pennsylvania lists $100 for an out-of-state applicant; Colorado has no verified fee figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.

Exam rules on record

Pennsylvania and Colorado carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.

• Pennsylvania (this move): No exam retake on the endorsement route: 49 Pa. Code 49.18 issues the license 'without examination'. Under the separate reciprocity rule (49.16) the Board accepts exam grades from another jurisdiction (e.g., the NCE) if the exam is similar and the passing grade at least equals Pennsylvania's, but only where that state grants reciprocity to Pennsylvania licensees. No state jurisprudence exam is required.
• Colorado (the reverse move): 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 changes, Colorado → Pennsylvania

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Pennsylvania sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

1. Confirm Pennsylvania's current requirements on the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors website (linked below) — rules change.
2. Submit the endorsement application to the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors (application linked below).
3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
4. Hold a professional counselor license in good standing in another state, with a letter from that state certifying licensure and reporting any disciplinary history.
5. Meet Pennsylvania's educational requirement (63 P.S. 1907(f)(2) and 49 Pa. Code 49.13(a)(3), a 60-semester-hour counseling graduate degree).
6. Demonstrate at least 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience that conformed to the licensing state's rules.
7. Demonstrate active practice of professional counseling for 5 of the last 7 years before applying (49 Pa. Code 49.18(5)).
8. Complete 3 hours of Board-approved child abuse recognition and reporting training and submit two certificates of recommendation (49 Pa. Code 49.12).
9. Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.

Official links

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