Source: http://mn.gov/health-licensing-boards/behavioral-health/lpcandlpcc/lpclpccce.jsp
Timestamp: 2014-10-20 08:08:54
Document Index: 549889801

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 2150', 'art 2150', 'art 2150', 'art 2150', 'arts 1', 'arts 2150', 'art 2150']

Resources LPC & LPCC Continuing Education Continuing Education Forms
All professional counselor licensees are responsible for obtaining continuing education pursuant to the requirements described in Minnesota Statutes section 148B.54, subd. 2, and Minnesota Rules Parts 2150.2500 to 2150.2660. All LPCs are responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with and complete their continuing education requirements. I. Minnesota Statutes section 148B.54, subdivision 2:
Minnesota Statutes, section 148B.54, subdivision 2 states, "At the completion of the first four years of licensure, a licensee must provide evidence satisfactory to the board of completion of 12 additional postgraduate semester credit hours or its equivalent in counseling as determined by the board, except that no licensee shall be required to show evidence of greater than 60 semester hours or its equivalent. In addition to completing the requisite graduate coursework, each licensee shall also complete in the first four years of licensure a minimum of 40 hours of continuing education activities approved by the board under Minnesota Rules, part 2150.2540. Graduate credit hours successfully completed in the first four years of licensure may be applied to both the graduate credit requirement and to the requirement for 40 hours of continuing education activities. A licensee may receive 15 continuing education hours per semester credit hour or ten continuing education hours per quarter credit hour. Thereafter, at the time of renewal, each licensee shall provide evidence satisfactory to the board that the licensee has completed during each two-year period at least the equivalent of 40 clock hours of professional postdegree continuing education in programs approved by the board and continues to be qualified to practice under sections 148B.50 to 148B.593. II. Minnesota Rules part 2150.2500 to 2150.2660:
The first CE cycle runs four years, ending on the last day of the fourth year of licensure (on the date that the fourth renewal application is due). Thereafter, CE cycles run every two years. In every CE cycle, licensees are responsible for completing 40 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). A maximum of 10 CEUs can carryover from one cycle into the next. CE activity content and conduct must meet the rule requirements. At the end of each continuing education cycle licensees must complete and submit with the renewal application the “Affidavit of Continuing Education Compliance” showing that the licensee has completed a minimum of 40 approved continuing education hours since the last CE cycle. Failure to submit the affidavit makes the renewal incomplete and void. All licensees shall retain original documentation of completion of continuing education hours for a period of five years. (A receipt for payment of the fee for the course is not sufficient documentation.) However, licensees who hold inactive licenses should retain course completion documentation for as long the license is inactive plus five years. The Board may randomly (as an audit) or purposely (when specific CE is in question) request copies or originals of such documentation from licensees.
Some licensees are responsible for completing graduate-level coursework in their first four-year continuing education cycle. All licensees are subject to the graduate-level CE requirement, regardless of the route by which they obtained licensure. Please read Minn. Rules part 2150.2520 to determine if graduate-level coursework applies to you. If you are required to complete additional graduate-level credits, the rules will also help you determine what courses are acceptable. (Whenever semester credits are referred to in this section, the quarter credit conversion is equivalent. The chart on the left, titled "Graduate-level CE Conversion Chart" may be helpful.)
Your “degree” program is the counseling program upon which your license is based. Credits that were utilized for licensure purposes are credits from your degree program, credits that transferred into your degree program, and credits that you completed post-degree to meet the minimum licensure requirement of 48 semester credits. If the total number of credits from these three sources equals 48 semester credits or less, you are required to successfully complete an additional 12 semester credits in your first four years of licensure. (For example, if you had 45 semester credits, on your fourth renewal you will need to document an additional 12 semester credits.) If the total number of credits from these three sources equals 49 semester credits or more, you are required to document additional credits that will bring your graduate career coursework in counseling up to 60 semester credits. (For example, if you had 55 semester credits, on your fourth renewal you should document 5 additional semester credits.) If the total number of credits from these three sources equals 60 semester credits or more, you are not required to complete any additional graduate coursework.
At the end of the first four-year cycle all licensees who are required to complete additional graduate credits must list on the “Affidavit of Continuing Education Compliance” included with their license renewal application the courses they completed and have their official graduate transcript(s) listing the additional course(s) mailed directly to the Board office from their school.
The requirement that Licensed Professional Counselors obtain additional graduate credits is not a new requirement. The original statute, as adopted by the Minnesota State Legislature in 2003, required that all Licensed Professional Counselors obtain an additional 12 graduate credits within the first two years of licensure. The rationale for this requirement is that the national trend for master’s programs in counseling is towards 60 semester credits. Legislative changes sponsored by the Board in 2004 modified this requirement so that no licensee would have to show more than 60 semester credits between their degree program and the additional credit requirement, reducing the number of credits required for licensees whose degree programs had in excess of 48 semester credits. Legislative changes sponsored by the Board in 2005 expanded the time period for completion from two years to four years.
Effective September 12, 2006, the Board’s Continuing Education rules as modified allow licensees to apply any graduate credits towards satisfaction of this requirement, so long as the credits otherwise satisfy Minnesota Rule 2150.2520, subparts 1.A., 1.B., 1.C. and 1.D. The expedited rules may reduce the number of graduate credits some licensees are required to obtain. The adopted rules are published in the State Register and are available for viewing and printing from this website. Please check the LPC Rules Webpage for the new rule language.
Do LPCs need to do continuing education whereas LPCCs do not?
LPCs and LPCCs are both required to meet continuing education requirements found in Minnesota Rules parts 2150.2500 to 2150.2660. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 148B.5301, subdivision 6, LPCCs and LPCs are subject to the continuing education rules that define all continuing education requirements.
Specifically, both LPCs and LPCCs are required to meet the graduate-level CE requirements as well as the traditional CE requirements.
Will CE activities that I complete before I am licensed count towards the 40 clock hours of required CE activity? No. Your first continuing education cycle will begin on the date that you are first license. Traditional CE activities must be taken on or after your initial licensure date to be counted.
I am currently a LPC and am completing the graduate credits required for graduate-level continuing education. Do I have to finish the additional graduate coursework before I can apply for the LPCC license?
No, if you believe that you meet the licensure requirements for the LPCC, you can apply at any time. You do not need to wait to complete the credits.
Am I required to submit CE course descriptions tot he board, so that they can be pre-approved, for tall the CE courses that I wish to attend
No! If the course you plan to attend clearly relates to the 10 core counseling subjects or the 6 clinical LPCC subjects, please do not submit the course description for pre-approval, as staff time is very valuable. Only when the subject matter is questionably related to counseling should you submit the information to the board for evaluation.
Are any courses or activities automatically approved for BE by the board?
Yes. Any continuing education activity that is approved by the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP), the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB), or the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) is automatically approved for CE with the BBHT (Minn. Rules part 2150.2570).
I'm confused about the CE cycle. Can you explain?
The CE cycle system is the same for LPCs and LPCCs.
The first CE cycle begins on the date that you are licensed (be it LPC or LPCC) and ends on the last day of your fourth year of licensure.
Thereafter, subsequent CE cycles run every two years, beginning on your licensure anniversary date and ending on the last day of your 6th, 8th, 10th, etc. year of licensure. For example, John was licensed on 5/1/2008:
1st cycle: 5/1/2008 to 4/30/2012 (4 years)
2nd cycle: 5/1/2012 to 4/30/2014 (2 years)
3rd cycle: 5/1/2014 to 4/30/2016 (2 years)