Counseling License from Michigan to Alabama: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) ↗
A counseling license transfers from Michigan to Alabama by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Michigan license, and meet Alabama's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken if already passed: the Board requires a passing NCE score sent directly by NBCC (scores cannot come from another state board). An applicant who took a different licensure exam documents that exam (date and score) for the Board's equivalency review under Ala. Admin. Code 255-X-10-.02(4), or must take and pass the NCE. No state jurisprudence exam; applicants attest they have read the Code of Alabama, ABEC rules and Code of Ethics..
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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 Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC): your Michigan license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Alabama's own exam rule, and Alabama applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Alabama tier corresponds to your Michigan license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What changes, Michigan → Alabama
| Michigan (current) | Alabama (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement | Counseling Compact enacted — not yet issuing |
| Application fee | $259.05 ('Professional Counselor By Endorsement - $259.05' per the LARA licensing guide (rev. 4/17/25). This is a combined application fee plus 3-year license fee, paid by card. Fingerprint fees are paid separately under the instructions LARA sends after the application. Michigan has not enacted the Counseling Compact.) | $200 (nonrefundable application fee payable by check or money order per the LPC Endorsement License Application (rev. May 2026) and the ABEC fee schedule; after Board approval the $300 LPC license fee is billed separately. The application lists no fingerprint or background-check fee. NBCC score-report fee is separate. Alabama has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational, so it charges no privilege fee.) |
| Processing time | the LARA licensing guide states no processing timeframe for endorsement applications | the Board states only that 'the application process could take several weeks depending on receipt and review of required documents'; no numeric timeframe is published |
| Licensing authority | Michigan Board of Counseling (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing) (Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC) | Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Alabama sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Alabama's current requirements on the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current, good-standing counseling license comparable to the Alabama LPC that you qualified for directly (not one obtained by endorsement or reciprocity).
- Document 3,000 hours of post-degree supervised experience (2,250 direct, 750 indirect) under a Supervising Counselor, excluding practicum, internship and post-licensure work.
- Meet Alabama's graduate education requirements in effect when you were first licensed, shown with official transcripts and the Worksheet for Reporting Course Work.
- Have NBCC send a passing NCE score directly to the Board, or document an equivalent licensure exam.
- Have every issuing board send written license verification, including any disciplinary action.
- Submit a notarized application affidavit and the Proof of Citizenship form.
- Pay the fees ($200 (nonrefundable application fee payable by check or money order per the LPC Endorsement License Application (rev. May 2026) and the ABEC fee schedule; after Board approval the $300 LPC license fee is billed separately. The application lists no fingerprint or background-check fee. NBCC score-report fee is separate. Alabama has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational, so it charges no privilege fee.)) and allow the Board states only that 'the application process could take several weeks depending on receipt and review of required documents'; no numeric timeframe is published.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Alabama accept a Michigan counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Michigan to Alabama by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling (ABEC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), verify your Michigan license, and meet Alabama's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken if already passed: the Board requires a passing NCE score sent directly by NBCC (scores cannot come from another state board). An applicant who took a different licensure exam documents that exam (date and score) for the Board's equivalency review under Ala. Admin. Code 255-X-10-.02(4), or must take and pass the NCE. No state jurisprudence exam; applicants attest they have read the Code of Alabama, ABEC rules and Code of Ethics..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Michigan to Alabama?
National exam is not retaken if already passed: the Board requires a passing NCE score sent directly by NBCC (scores cannot come from another state board). An applicant who took a different licensure exam documents that exam (date and score) for the Board's equivalency review under Ala. Admin. Code 255-X-10-.02(4), or must take and pass the NCE. No state jurisprudence exam; applicants attest they have read the Code of Alabama, ABEC rules and Code of Ethics.
What does the move cost?
$200 (nonrefundable application fee payable by check or money order per the LPC Endorsement License Application (rev. May 2026) and the ABEC fee schedule; after Board approval the $300 LPC license fee is billed separately. The application lists no fingerprint or background-check fee. NBCC score-report fee is separate. Alabama has enacted the Counseling Compact but is not yet operational, so it charges no privilege fee.)
How long will it take?
the Board states only that 'the application process could take several weeks depending on receipt and review of required documents'; no numeric timeframe is published.
Alabama joined the Counseling Compact. Can I use a privilege there?
Not yet. Alabama had enacted the compact but was not issuing or accepting privileges as of 2026-09-27, so counseling clients located in Alabama takes Alabama's own authorization, normally an Alabama license.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- ABEC: LPC Endorsement License Application (revised May 2026; requirements, $200 fee, NCE) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- ABEC: LPC by Endorsement and Provisional Licensure FAQ (no reciprocity; case-by-case endorsement) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- ABEC: Fees (application $200; LPC license $300) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- ABEC rules Chapter 255-X-10 (255-X-10-.02 Applicants Qualified Out-of-State; 255-X-10-.03 Provisional Licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements (Alabama not in the operational fee table) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA: Michigan Professional Counselor Licensing Guide, rev. 4/17/25 (endorsement requirements, $259.05 fee; Internet Archive capture 2026-03-29) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Michigan Admin. Code R 338.1751-R 338.1781, Counseling General Rules (R 338.1773 exams; R 338.1775 licensure by endorsement; Internet Archive capture 2026-02-11 of the official ARS compilation) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- LARA: Counseling licensing page (Internet Archive capture 2026-01-16) ↗ (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]