NCSC Information

The National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) credential ensures a national standard for school counseling. Nationally Certified School Counselors work in a variety of education settings. Most school counselors work in elementary and secondary schools. NCSC's attend to student development within the academic, career and personal/social domains. They engage in activities including individual and group counseling, classroom and other group guidance activities, consultation with teachers, other school staff, parents and the larger community, as well as prevention planning and implementation of programming.

The Purpose of the National Certified School Counselor credential is to:
  • Recognize a master school counselor practitioner who is part of a program that promotes and enhances the learning process.
  • Promote the school counselor's professional identity, visibility and accountability on a national level.
  • Identify to the counseling profession and to the public, those counselors who have met national professional school counseling standards.
  • Encourage the professional growth of school counselors.


The NCSC credential attests that school counselors have the highest standards of training and specialization in the profession. The NCSC standards require that a school counselor document the following:
  •  The candidate must hold the National Certified Counselor (NCC) credential.
  •  At least two years post-Masters supervised experience as a school counselor.
  •  All applicants must pass a simulation-examination - the National Certified School Counselor Examination.
  •  100 hours of continuing professional education every 5 years.
  •  Adherence to the Code of Ethics 

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