National Certification
About National Certification
Completely Voluntary
The National Certified Counselor (NCC) credential is a voluntary credential developed within the counseling field to protect the public and advance the profession. Because of its voluntary nature, this credential will not be mandated by your state for independent practice, nor can it be required by your graduate program.
Professing a Common Standard
More than 44,000 professional counselors worldwide hold this credential. These individuals share a common standard of education, training and experience. In addition to meeting educational standards, applicants for the NCC must pass the National Counselor Exam (NCE) and fulfill supervised experience requirements.
How Students Apply
NBCC offers graduate students the opportunity to apply for their first professional credential, the NCC, and begin meeting its requirements while they are still in school. The NCC credential is the only master’s-level professional counselor certification that is available to students who are currently enrolled.
NBCC works with 250 campuses nationwide to offer this credentialing/testing opportunity. In order to participate, a school must mandate courses in all of the NBCC-required coursework areas and must require at least 48 semester or 72 quarter hours. More information is available in the links below and in the next section, which describes the national certification process in detail, including the application phase, the exam phase and the post-graduate phase.
Student NCC Application Step-by-Step
Application Phase
- Receive NCC application from your university’s campus coordinator.
- Determine eligibility (see eligibility information in the NCC application).
- Submit NCC application and fee to campus coordinator.
- Receive notice from campus coordinator or from NBCC of any problems or issues with your application.
- If you are enrolled in a CACREP-accredited track, your application will have “CACREP” printed on the front.
- If you are enrolled in a non-CACREP-accredited track, your application will have "Board-Eligible" printed on it because after graduation, you will need to complete the postgraduate steps.
Exam Phase
- Receive pre-exam e-newsletter from NBCC.
- Receive examination admission letter with NBCC ID # about 10 days before the exam.
- Take National Counselor Exam (NCE).
- Receive your score report in the U.S. mail.
- If you failed, use reregistration form included with your score report to reregister for the exam.
- If you passed, complete instructions on yellow letter provided with your score report. CACREP- and non-CACREP-accredited program applicants will have different requirements and different instructions.
- Receive post-exam e-newsletter from NBCC.
Postgraduate Phase
- Upon graduation, provide NBCC with a sealed official transcript documenting your degree conferral and completion of all NBCC-required coursework areas.
- Provide a signed Counseling Supervisor Endorsement Form, showing any number of supervision hours completed.
- (Board-Eligible applicants only) Submit documentation of completing the 24 months of postgraduate experience and supervision requirements.
- Receive full certification and NCC certificate in the U.S. mail.
- Receive NBCC Continuing Education File folder for tracking the required continuing education hours.
- Pay maintenance fee each year to maintain good standing.
- Consider the need for NBCC specialty credentials: NCSC, MAC, CCMHC.