Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE)

The Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) is an important and far-reaching wholly controlled affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). One of its successes lies in the development and administration of the CPCE which is used by over 320 universities and colleges. That impacts thousands of graduate students each year.

The CPCE may be used for a number of purposes by graduate programs from an objective view of the counseling knowledge level of students, to program self-evaluation, to comparison of the programs’ students’ level of counseling knowledge to other programs around the country. Many graduate programs use completion of the CPCE as a requirement for graduation although some programs allow for alternative exit exam possibilities if the CPCE cutoff score is not met. Each university sets its own passing cutoff score; there is no national cutoff score as there is for the National Counselor Examination.

Students’ questions about the CPCE should be directed to their graduate program which has a formal contract with CCE. Graduate programs may administer the CPCE three times each year, fall, spring and summer. Students should be within two terms of graduation before they can take the exam and applications to take the CPCE must be made with the graduate program several months before the exam is administered. If your graduate program requires the CPCE, check with your department far in advance of the exam administration.

CCE is also involved with other exam development and administration. It has developed a number of certifications programs in counseling-related fields. In addition, CCE provides credential review for some state licensing boards. This credential review determines if licensure applicants are eligible to sit for the National Counselor Exam. Currently, CCE does this credential review for the states of Iowa, South Carolina, and Colorado.
For additional information about CCE, visit: www.cce-global.org. The NBCC website is at: www.nbcc.org.