How to become an LPC in Texas: requirements, exams, supervised hours and renewal

What an LPC is, and who licenses it

An LPC is the Texas license to provide professional counseling on your own, created by Occupations Code chapter 503. The Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors writes the LPC rules (22 TAC chapter 681), and the Behavioral Health Executive Council runs the applications, fees and enforcement for it and the social work, marriage and family therapy and psychology boards.

• Three titles, one path. The LPC Associate (LPC-A) practices only under supervision; the LPC practices independently; the LPC-S is an LPC with the board's supervisor status, after at least five years of licensure.
• It isn't the LCDC. Substance use counselors licensed by HHSC follow a different path, in how to become an LCDC in Texas. Many counselors hold both licenses.
• "LPC certification" is a license. People search for certification, but the LPC is a state license; the NCE and NCMHCE are national exams from the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), and the license requires a passing score on one of them.

Texas LPC requirements at a glance

As of October 2026, in the order you meet them. Rule numbers are 22 TAC chapter 681 unless noted.

Requirement	What it takes	Source
Degree	A graduate degree in counseling or a counseling-related field: 60 semester hours if you began the program on or after August 1, 2017; 48 if before	§681.82; Occ. Code §503.302
Course content	A course in each area §681.83 lists; addictions counseling is added for programs begun on or after August 1, 2017. A counseling degree from an accredited school is presumed to meet it.	§681.83
Practicum	At least 300 clock-hours, at least 100 of them direct client counseling, shown on the graduate transcript	§681.83
National exam	Pass the NCE or the NCMHCE, through NBCC	BHEC
Jurisprudence exam	The Texas LPC jurisprudence exam, with the certificate dated within six months of the application	BHEC; §503.302
Background	Electronic fingerprints through BHEC's vendor after you apply	BHEC
Supervisor	A Supervisory Agreement Form with a BHEC-approved LPC Supervisor, filed with the application	BHEC; §681.93
Supervised experience	3,000 hours as an LPC Associate, at least 1,500 direct counseling, over no less than 18 months, with at least 4 hours of supervision a month	§681.92
Upgrade	The supervisor's Supervised Experience Documentation form, an NPDB self-query and a current jurisprudence certificate; no application fee	BHEC
Renewal	Every two years: 24 hours of CE (6 in ethics), the jurisprudence exam and a human trafficking prevention course	§681.140; BHEC

The rule text is on Cornell LII; the official copy is the Texas Secretary of State's Texas Administrative Code, and BHEC publishes the current LPC rulebook. Proposed changes appear in the Texas Register before they take effect.

Before you start: criminal history

• Ask before you enroll. Occupations Code §53.102 lets you request a criminal history evaluation letter from a licensing agency before you start training or sit for an exam. If you have a record, do this before you pay for a graduate program.
• Fingerprints come after the application. Since September 1, 2020, BHEC has required electronic fingerprinting of its applicants. You can't get printed for BHEC in advance: after you submit the online application, BHEC emails the instructions, you go to an IdenToGo location (they're nationwide) and pay its fee there. Prints are on file with BHEC as a whole, so you're printed once (BHEC fingerprint information).

Step 1: the degree and practicum

• Hours (§681.82): a graduate degree in counseling or a counseling-related field with at least 60 semester hours if you began the program on or after August 1, 2017, or 48 if you began earlier. Occupations Code §503.302 adds the basics: at least 18 years old, a master's or doctoral degree, the graduate coursework, and passing the license and jurisprudence exams.
• Course content (§681.83): a graduate degree in counseling from an accredited school is presumed to cover it. A counseling-related degree, such as some psychology or human services degrees, needs at least one course in each area the rule lists, including human growth and development and abnormal human behavior, and, for programs begun on or after August 1, 2017, addictions counseling. Read the rule's list against your transcript before you apply; a missing course means more graduate coursework.
• The practicum: at least 300 clock-hours, at least 100 of them direct client counseling, with credit for it on your official graduate transcript. BHEC asks for a practicum documentation form completed by the program or the site, or a letter from the university (BHEC, LPC Associate).
• Degrees from outside the U.S. have their own instructions on BHEC's applying with a foreign degree page.

Step 2: the NCE or NCMHCE, and the jurisprudence exam

Texas takes either national exam, both given by NBCC: the National Counselor Examination (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE). From BHEC's licensure exam page:

• Register with NBCC directly, through NBCC's state licensure exam registration. Texas doesn't require BHEC's approval first, but NBCC applies each state's eligibility rules when it registers you.
• Still in school? Texas allows the national exam before graduation under certain conditions; NBCC confirms whether you qualify.
• No attempt limit. Texas doesn't cap how many times you take the national exam.
• Scores: taken for Texas licensure, your score goes to BHEC automatically once it's validated. Taken for another state, you have to request that it be sent to Texas.
• The jurisprudence exam covers Texas law and the board's rules, and it isn't one-and-done: the certificate must be dated within six months of your LPC Associate application, you take it again for the upgrade, and once more every renewal period.

Passing the exams doesn't let you counsel. You need the LPC Associate license in hand before you provide counseling services, even under supervision.

Step 3: the LPC Associate application

You apply online in BHEC's licensing system. The LPC Associate page lists what goes with it:

1. Official transcripts showing the degree, the coursework and the practicum.
2. The practicum documentation form (or the university's letter).
3. Your NCE or NCMHCE result, sent by NBCC, and your jurisprudence certificate, less than six months old.
4. A Supervisory Agreement Form signed by you and a BHEC-approved LPC Supervisor. Find your supervisor first: check their LPC-S status on BHEC's license search, and agree in writing on the fee, the schedule and how hours will be logged.
5. The application fee, from the Council's fee chart in 22 TAC 885.1. BHEC says an application whose fee isn't paid expires without review after 30 days.
6. Fingerprints, once BHEC emails the instructions.

BHEC's renewal guidance says the LPC Associate license runs 60 months from issue and can't be renewed (BHEC, renewing an LPC license). Your 3,000 hours and the upgrade have to fit inside that window.

Step 4: 3,000 supervised hours

The experience rule is 22 TAC 681.92, and the supervisor rules are 681.93:

• 3,000 clock-hours, at least 1,500 of them direct client counseling, completed in no less than 18 months. Only time actually spent counseling counts toward the 1,500.
• Supervision: at least 4 hours a month, individual (one or two associates) or group (three or more), with no more than half of all supervision in group. No more than two approved supervisors at a time.
• Conflicts: your supervisor can't be your employee or a close relative, so an associate can't hire their own supervisor into their own company.
• Where: an associate practices under an LPC-S in any setting, most often as an employee of a group practice, agency or program. A proposed amendment to 22 TAC 681.91 addresses associates in private practice under supervision; it isn't final, and the LPC private practice guide tracks it.
• In a substance use program, an LPC Associate isn't a qualified credentialed counselor (QCC) as 26 TAC 564.1 reads today, so a program schedules associates under a QCC. What a program has to document for its associates is in supervising LPC Associates.
• Keep your own log of hours and supervision, signed as you go, even though BHEC doesn't take the logs with the upgrade. If your supervisor leaves or retires, the log is what lets the next one pick up.

The arithmetic: 3,000 hours in the minimum 18 months (about 78 weeks) is roughly 38 to 39 hours a week, every week. Part-time associates take longer; the 60-month license is the outer limit.

Step 5: the upgrade to LPC

1. The Supervised Experience Documentation (SED) form. It's due within 30 days after supervision ends or the hours are complete. Either the supervisor or the associate can submit it, but both sign it, and a late form can lead to discipline (BHEC supervision FAQs).
2. An NPDB self-query from the National Practitioner Data Bank and a new jurisprudence certificate, both recent: BHEC's checklist says each expires after six months.
3. The upgrade application, online: from "Manage your license information," choose the upgrade to Licensed Professional Counselor. There's no fee for it, and supervision logs aren't accepted (BHEC, upgrade to full LPC; printable checklist; online upgrade guide).
4. Fingerprints only if you weren't printed at your first license.

Plans credential the full LPC, not the associate license, so the weeks around the upgrade are when to line up your NPI, CAQH and insurance applications. The associate-to-practice checklist puts them in order.

What the LPC costs

BHEC's fees are set in the Council's fee chart and have changed several times, so this table says where each one is set rather than repeating a number that may be stale. As of October 2026:

Item	Cost	Where it's set
Graduate degree and practicum	The school's tuition	Your university
NCE or NCMHCE	NBCC's exam fee	NBCC
LPC Associate application	The fee in the Council's chart; unpaid, the application expires in 30 days	22 TAC 885.1
Fingerprints	IdenToGo's fee, paid at the location	IdenToGo
Supervision	The supervisor's rate, unless your employer provides supervision	Your agreement
Upgrade to LPC	No application fee	BHEC
Renewal, every two years	The renewal fee in the chart	22 TAC 885.1
Late renewal	1.5 times the base renewal fee up to 90 days late; 2 times from 90 days to a year; after a year, no renewal	22 TAC 885.1

How long it takes

Stage	What sets the length
Graduate degree	The program; a 60-hour master's with its practicum
NCE or NCMHCE	NBCC registration and scheduling, and your preparation; you can sometimes test before you graduate
LPC Associate license	BHEC's review of a complete application; a missing transcript, practicum form or supervisor agreement is the usual delay
3,000 hours	At least 18 months; longer part time; inside the 60-month associate license
Upgrade	The SED form within 30 days, then BHEC's review

LPC renewal and CE requirements in Texas

Licenses renew every two years, due the last day of your birth month, so your first period may be shorter than two years. You can renew up to 60 days early, when BHEC puts your account in renewal status (BHEC, renewing a license). Each renewal needs:

• 24 hours of continuing education, at least 6 in ethics and 3 in cultural diversity or competency. Since January 1, 2024, at least half of the 24 must come from the provider types listed in §681.140(f) (22 TAC 681.140).
• The jurisprudence exam, passed again, which counts as 1 hour of ethics.
• A human trafficking prevention course approved by HHSC, required under Occupations Code chapter 116; it counts as 1 hour of CE.
• 6 more hours in supervision if you're an LPC-S.
• Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful presence, and your CE records kept for at least 3 years after the period.

Miss the date and the license is delinquent, with the late fees above; a year past it, the license expires (BHEC, renewing an LPC license). Programs check every counselor's license and CE dates; Comply's compliance calendar shows how to keep them on a schedule.

Licensed in another state

Texas doesn't offer LPC reciprocity, licensure by endorsement or a temporary license; every applicant meets every requirement (BHEC, licensed in another jurisdiction). What changes is the paperwork: a Verification of Licensure form for every counseling license you hold or have held, a jurisprudence certificate from the last six months, an NPDB self-query, transcripts sent straight to the board, and documentation of your supervised experience, however many years you've been licensed. A military spouse licensed in a state with substantially equivalent requirements can get BHEC's recognition to practice while stationed in Texas, which isn't a Texas license. Texas isn't in the Counseling Compact either; see telehealth and the Counseling Compact.

After you're licensed

• Get your NPI with the counselor taxonomy 101YP2500X (how to get an NPI number), or update the one you had as an associate, and check it in our NPI lookup.
• Get in network. Commercial plans, Medicare (since January 1, 2024) and Texas Medicaid all enroll LPCs; the order and timing are in LPC credentialing in Texas.
• Open a practice: how to start an LPC private practice in Texas covers the entity, payers, codes and opening steps.
• Work in a substance use program: an LPC with at least 1,000 documented hours treating substance-related disorders is a QCC under 26 TAC 564.1. See IOP staffing requirements in Texas.
• Supervise later: the LPC-S takes at least five years of unrestricted LPC licensure and a 40-clock-hour supervision course (BHEC, LPC Supervisor).

Already licensed and just need plans? Credentialing is $275 per plan per plan. Hiring associates for a group or program? Start with supervising associates and interns, or book a free 30-minute call.

Questions

How do I become an LPC in Texas?

Earn a graduate degree in counseling or a counseling-related field (60 semester hours, with a 300-hour practicum), pass the NCE or NCMHCE and the Texas jurisprudence exam, get licensed as an LPC Associate with a BHEC-approved supervisor, complete 3,000 supervised hours over at least 18 months, and apply to upgrade to the LPC.

What are the LPC license requirements in Texas?

A graduate degree in counseling or a related field with 60 semester hours (48 if you began before August 1, 2017) and the course content in 22 TAC 681.83, a 300-clock-hour practicum with 100 direct hours, a passing NCE or NCMHCE score, the jurisprudence exam, fingerprints, and 3,000 hours of supervised experience as an LPC Associate, 1,500 of them direct counseling.

How many hours do you need to be an LPC in Texas?

3,000 clock-hours of supervised experience as an LPC Associate, at least 1,500 of them direct client counseling, over no less than 18 months, with at least 4 hours of supervision a month. That's on top of the 300-hour graduate practicum.

How long does it take to become an LPC in Texas?

After the graduate degree, at least 18 months of supervised experience, plus the time for the exams, BHEC's review of the associate application and the upgrade. The associate license lasts 60 months and can't be renewed, so that's the outer limit for the hours.

Does Texas use the NCE or the NCMHCE?

Either one. BHEC accepts a passing score on the National Counselor Examination or the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, both from NBCC. You register with NBCC directly, with no prior BHEC approval, and Texas doesn't limit attempts.

What is the Texas LPC jurisprudence exam?

BHEC's exam on the Texas laws and board rules for counselors. You need a certificate less than six months old with your LPC Associate application, a new one for the upgrade, and you pass it again every renewal period, where it counts as 1 hour of ethics CE.

What's the difference between an LPC Associate and an LPC?

An LPC Associate (LPC-A) has met the education and exam requirements and counsels only under a BHEC-approved LPC Supervisor while earning the 3,000 hours. An LPC has finished them and practices independently, including in their own practice and with insurance in their own name.

Can I become an LPC in Texas with a psychology or social work degree?

Possibly. A counseling-related graduate degree qualifies if your transcript shows a course in each area 22 TAC 681.83 lists and a qualifying practicum. Compare your transcript with the rule before you apply; missing courses can be made up with graduate coursework.

Does Texas have LPC reciprocity?

No. BHEC says Texas doesn't offer reciprocity, licensure by endorsement or temporary licenses. Licensed counselors from other states apply with verification of each license they've held, a jurisprudence certificate, an NPDB self-query, transcripts and documentation of supervised experience.

How much does it cost to get an LPC license in Texas?

BHEC's application and renewal fees are in the Council's fee chart (22 TAC 885.1), and the upgrade from associate to LPC has no fee. Add NBCC's exam fee, IdenToGo's fingerprint fee and, if your employer doesn't provide one, your supervisor's rate.

How many CEUs does an LPC need in Texas?

24 hours every two-year renewal period, including at least 6 in ethics and 3 in cultural diversity or competency, with at least half from the provider types in 22 TAC 681.140(f). LPC Supervisors need 6 more hours in supervision. You also pass the jurisprudence exam and take an HHSC-approved human trafficking course each renewal.

Can an LPC Associate have a private practice in Texas?

An LPC Associate practices only under the supervision of an LPC-S, and the supervisor can't be the associate's employee. A proposed 2026 amendment to 22 TAC 681.91 addresses private practice under supervision; check the adopted rule with BHEC before setting one up.

Sources

• BHEC: LPC Associate, national licensure examinations, upgrade to full LPC and its checklist, licensed in another jurisdiction, applying with a foreign degree, LPC Supervisor
• BHEC: renewing an LPC license, renewing a license, supervision FAQs, fingerprint information
• 22 TAC chapter 681 (Cornell LII): §681.82, §681.83, §681.91, §681.92, §681.93, §681.140; 22 TAC §885.1 (Council fees)
• Texas Secretary of State, Texas Register, proposed rules, August 7, 2026
• Texas Legislature, Occupations Code chapter 503; §53.102
• NBCC, state licensure exam registration
• 26 TAC §564.1 (qualified credentialed counselor)