Counseling License from Ohio to Alaska: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Last verified: 2026-09-27 · source: Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor ↗
A counseling license transfers from Ohio to Alaska by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor, verify your Ohio license, and meet Alaska's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. For licensure by credentials, the Board checks that the applicant's licensing state requires a nationally recognized counselor exam; the Alaska exam rule (12 AAC 62.110) accepts the NCE or NCMHCE. No NBCC score transfer is listed among the required credentials documents. No state jurisprudence exam; the applicant certifies having reviewed AS 08.29 and 12 AAC 62..
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
A counseling license moves from Ohio to Alaska by endorsement. Alaska has not enacted the Counseling Compact, so no privilege anchored to your Ohio license reaches it. You apply to the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor, which verifies your Ohio license and standing, matches it to Alaska's independent tier, and applies its own rule on crediting your national exam score, plus any Alaska jurisprudence and background requirements.
What changes, Ohio → Alaska
| Ohio (current) | Alaska (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Counseling Compact status | Counseling Compact member — compact privilege to practice | Licensure by endorsement |
| Application fee | $100 (LPCC reciprocity application fee per OAC 4757-1-05 and the Board's out-of-state page ('$100 + $3.50 processing', re-read 2026-09-27); + $3.50 eLicense processing fee; BCI/FBI fingerprinting paid separately to the vendor; NBCC score-transfer fee separate. NOT the Counseling Compact privilege fee (Ohio charges $25 + $30 commission admin fee = $55 for a privilege, per the commission's fee table).) | $200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.) |
| Processing time | the Board publishes no processing timeframe for reciprocity applications; applicants track status in eLicense (Review Status checklist) | the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published |
| Licensing authority | Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board (CSWMFT) | Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Alaska sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Alaska's current requirements on the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor (application linked below).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Hold a current professional counselor license from a jurisdiction whose requirements the Board finds substantially the same or higher (60 graduate semester hours in counseling, a national exam, and 3,000 supervised hours over at least 24 months).
- Submit a copy of the current licensing statutes and regulations of the jurisdiction where you are licensed.
- Have every jurisdiction where you have held a counseling, psychology, marital and family therapy or social work license send verification, including any disciplinary action.
- Submit a name-based Alaska criminal justice report, plus an equivalent report from your state of residence if not Alaska.
- Pay the fees ($200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.)) and allow the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Does Alaska accept an Ohio counseling license?
A counseling license transfers from Ohio to Alaska by endorsement — there is no automatic reciprocity, but you do not start over. Apply to the Alaska Board of Professional Counselors (Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing), Licensed Professional Counselor, verify your Ohio license, and meet Alaska's endorsement requirements. National exam is not retaken. For licensure by credentials, the Board checks that the applicant's licensing state requires a nationally recognized counselor exam; the Alaska exam rule (12 AAC 62.110) accepts the NCE or NCMHCE. No NBCC score transfer is listed among the required credentials documents. No state jurisprudence exam; the applicant certifies having reviewed AS 08.29 and 12 AAC 62..
Do I retake the NCE or NCMHCE moving from Ohio to Alaska?
National exam is not retaken. For licensure by credentials, the Board checks that the applicant's licensing state requires a nationally recognized counselor exam; the Alaska exam rule (12 AAC 62.110) accepts the NCE or NCMHCE. No NBCC score transfer is listed among the required credentials documents. No state jurisprudence exam; the applicant certifies having reviewed AS 08.29 and 12 AAC 62.
What does the move cost?
$200 (nonrefundable application fee per the License by Credentials instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21); the $270 initial license fee is also due with the application ($470 total). Name-based criminal-record report fees are paid to the Alaska Department of Public Safety and the home-state agency. No fingerprint check is required. Alaska is not a Counseling Compact state, so it has no privilege fee.)
How long will it take?
the Division says only that 'the average processing time varies by program' and that applications are reviewed in order of receipt; no numeric timeframe is published.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-27.
- Alaska Board of Professional Counselors: License by Credentials application and instructions (form 08-4911, rev. 2026-08-21; fees, eligibility screen, background report) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Alaska Professional Counselors Statutes and Regulations compilation, August 2026 (AS 08.29.110, 08.29.120; 12 AAC 62.110, 62.130, 62.135) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Out of State Applicants (counselor reciprocity steps and fees) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Counselors (LPC/LPCC application instructions, exam policy) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board Laws and Rules compilation (ORC 4757.18; OAC 4757-1-05, 4757-13-03, 4757-13-06) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Ohio CSWMFT Board: Counseling Compact Privileges (eligibility, $25 state fee, go-live 2026-01-05) ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
- Counseling Compact: state privilege fees and jurisprudence requirements ↗ (accessed 2026-09-27)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-09-27
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