Counseling License from Missouri to Illinois: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Illinois accept a Missouri counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Missouri to Illinois by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), verify your Missouri license, and meet Illinois's endorsement requirements. National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required.
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Illinois has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege anchored to your Missouri license reaches it. The route is endorsement through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC): your Missouri license is verified, your NCE or NCMHCE score is credited under Illinois's own exam rule, and Illinois applies any jurisprudence and background checks it requires. Check which Illinois tier corresponds to your Missouri license before you file, because the titles do not map one to one.
What's different between Missouri and Illinois
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Illinois. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
Missouri to Illinois (this page): Licensure by endorsement.
Illinois to Missouri (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The route is the same in both directions.
- Does coming from Missouri matter?
Coming from Missouri does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Illinois.
- Counseling Compact membership
Missouri is a Counseling Compact member state; Illinois is not in the Counseling Compact.
Because they are not both active members, the Counseling Compact does not cover this move.
- Application fee
Illinois lists $150 for an out-of-state applicant and Missouri lists $100 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.
- Exam rules on record
Illinois and Missouri carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Illinois (this move): National exams are not retaken but must be complete. The Illinois LCPC requires either the CRCE (CRCC) or BOTH the NCE and the NCMHCE (NBCC). An endorsement applicant who passed only one of the NCE/NCMHCE must pass the other as part of the Illinois process. Official score reports must be sent directly to IDFPR. No state jurisprudence exam is required.
- Missouri (the reverse move): No national exam is retaken. The Committee's LPC reciprocity checklist (RSMo 324.009 path) does not require NCE/NCMHCE score submission; eligibility rests on at least 1 year of full licensure in another state. Reciprocity applicants must pass the open-book online Missouri Jurisprudence (Legal and Ethical Responsibilities) Exam.
What changes, Missouri → Illinois
| Missouri (current) | Illinois (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Licensure by endorsement · Counseling Compact privilege (not a license) | Licensure by endorsement |
| Application fee | $100 (LPC Application for Licensure by Reciprocity fee (form MO 375-1100, rev. 7-2026); waived with proof of military service; MACHS fingerprint fee paid separately to the vendor (amount not stated on the pages read). NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee: Missouri charges $100 + $30 commission fee = $130, with the Missouri jurisprudence exam.) | $150 (LCPC application fee (all methods, incl. endorsement) per 68 IAC 1375.205(a)(1) and the IDFPR LPC/LCPC instruction packet; nonrefundable. No separate license-issuance fee listed. Other-state certification fees are charged by those boards. Illinois is not a Counseling Compact state, so there is no privilege fee.) |
| Processing time | the Committee publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications | IDFPR publishes no processing timeframe. The instruction packet only says to allow 6 weeks from mailing before asking about status. Applications are valid for 3 years |
| Licensing authority | Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors (Division of Professional Registration) | Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Illinois sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Illinois's current requirements on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), Division of Professional Regulation: Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold an ACTIVE LPC/LCPC or equivalent counselor license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction.
- Have Certification of Licensure sent directly from your original licensing state and the state where you most recently practiced.
- Have official score reports for the CRCE, or for both the NCE and the NCMHCE, sent directly to IDFPR.
- Document the graduate counseling degree (ED-PC form) and 2 years of post-degree supervised experience (VE-LCPC form), unless licensed at the independent level for 5 consecutive years without discipline.
- Complete the Personal History Questions (PHQ) form.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-10-29.
- IDFPR: Professional Counselor (license types, CORE online applications) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- IDFPR: LPC/LCPC application instruction sheet (Examination, Acceptance of Examination, Endorsement; packet updated 8/1/24) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- 68 IAC 1375.160 Licensure by Endorsement as a Clinical Professional Counselor (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-30) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- 68 IAC 1375.205 Fees (ILGA JCAR; Internet Archive capture 2025-03-26) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Application Forms ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: LPC Reciprocity Qualifications checklist ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Application for Licensure by Reciprocity ($100 fee) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors: Counselor Compact Update ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Missouri Division of Professional Registration: Section 324.009 RSMo reciprocity requirements summary ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements (Missouri $130 total) ↗ (accessed 2026-10-29)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-10-29
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