Find out about professional licensure before beginning an academic program at University of Maryland Global Campus.
U.S. states and territories have established standards of practices for the occupations or professions that they have chosen to regulate, and they provide legal permission to practice those professions only to individuals who meet those standards. This is called professional licensure.
See below for information on University of Maryland Global Campus programs and professional licensure.
UMGC‘s accounting programs—the Bachelor of Science in accounting, Master of Science in accounting and financial management, Master of Science in cyberaccounting, Master of Science in management with an accounting concentration, undergraduate certificate in accounting foundations, graduate certificate in accounting, and graduate certificate in accounting information security—are not specifically designed to prepare students to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam and/or obtain initial licensure as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). If you’re interested in earning a CPA, you should contact the licensing board in the state or jurisdiction where you would like to be licensed or you can visit nasba.org.
In addition, UMGC’s education, nursing, and public safety programs are not designed to prepare students for professional licensure from any individual state. If you are interested in seeking professional licensure in these fields, UMGC recommends that you contact the appropriate state licensing board where you wish to seek licensure to learn about their requirements.
Please be aware that states may require you to complete a criminal background check, a licensure exam, specific educational or training requirements, hours of supervised practice or other additional steps to qualify for professional licensure for the applicable state.
Master of Science in Clinical Professional Counseling
This program is structured to prepare you for the National Counselor Examination (NCE), administered by the National Board for Certified Counselors. This exam is used by the state of Maryland and other states as a requirement for licensure as a professional mental health counselor. Each state also sets additional requirements related to post-degree supervised counseling experience as part of the licensing process.
The program is designed to prepare students (currently, residents of Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico) to meet the state/territory requirements to become licensed to practice as a professional counselor. If you are not intending to practice in one of these states, contact the licensing board where you reside for information regarding the available educational programs and the requirements for licensure.
State Licensing Board Information
The Clinical Professional Counseling program is designed to meet minimum educational and clinical practice requirements needed to apply for licensure in the state of Maryland. Applicants must submit verification of coursework and pre-graduation field experience. If you are a Maryland resident or plan to practice in Maryland, you may apply to become a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) once you have completed a minimum of 2,000 post-graduation clinical hours toward the state-required total of 3,000.
The Clinical Professional Counseling program is designed to meet minimum educational and clinical practice requirements needed to apply for licensure in the state of New Mexico. Applicants must submit verification of coursework and pre-graduation field experience. If you are a New Mexico resident or plan to practice in New Mexico, you may apply to become a Licensed Professional Clinical Mental Health Counselor once you have completed a minimum of 3,000 hours of postgraduate clinical client contact. One thousand (1,000) clinical client contact hours may be from the applicant's internship or practicum.
The Clinical Professional Counseling program is designed to meet minimum educational and clinical practice requirements needed to apply for licensure in Virginia. Graduates of non-accredited programs are required to submit verification of coursework, pre-graduation supervised field experience, and verification of professional counselor program and faculty identity. If you are a Virginia resident or plan to practice in Virginia, you may apply to become a Licensed Professional Counselor once you have completed a minimum of 3,400 hours in a supervised residency in the role of a professional counselor. A graduate-level internship of more than 600 hours may count for up to an additional 300 hours toward the 3,400 hours requirement of the residency.
The Clinical Professional Counseling program is designed to meet minimum educational and clinical practice requirements needed to apply for licensure in the District of Columbia (D.C). Graduates of non-accredited programs are required to submit verification of coursework and pre-graduation supervised field experience. If you are a D.C. resident or plan to practice in D.C., you may apply to become a Licensed Professional Counselor once you have completed 3,500 post-graduate supervised practice hours.