Updated for 2026

Missouri LPC Continuing Education Requirements

Missouri counselors must complete 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LPC license, including 20 hours of formal continuing education and 2 hours of suicide assessment.

40hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 40
20formal continuing education
2suicide assessment

Next deadline: June 30, 2027The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.

What the board saysMissouri board rule
A licensee shall obtain forty (40) hours1 of continuing education prior to the expiration date of a license, and such hours shall consist of at least twenty (20) hours of formal continuing education hours2 and not more than twenty (20) hours of self study3. … A licensee who teaches formal continuing education hours may receive up to a maximum of four (4) hours per biennial cycle4 of continuing education credit for teaching courses relating to core areas …
What it means
  1. 40 hours each renewal period
  2. At least 20 hours of formal CE
  3. No more than 20 hours of self-study
  4. Up to 4 hours for teaching CE courses
20 CSR 2095-1.064Last verified August 2026Ruleset 2026.6How we verify
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Requirements

Missouri LPC requirements

Total

40 hoursYou need 40 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.

Topic minimums, counted within the 40

The remaining 18 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Formal Continuing Education
20
You need 20 hours each cycle.
Suicide Assessment
2
You need 2 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Home study / self-study
max 20 hrs
Continuing education workshop instruction
max 4 hrs
Faculty teaching
max 20 hrs

Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.
Approved providers
Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, regional professional association, state professional association, accredited university, and national certifying body and recognized associations in counseling, mft, social work, psychology, addiction counseling, and medicine.
Recordkeeping
Keep CE documentation for 4 years after each renewal.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.
Late renewal
A late renewal adds a late fee.
Provisional renewal
The board allows a provisional/conditional renewal for up to 24 months before full compliance is required. Missouri does not offer a true conditional renewal for CE-deficient licensees. The licensee must either complete CE by the deadline or obtain a hardship extension/waiver in advance (request must be filed at least 30 days before expiration). If the license lapses, reinstatement is available within 24 months upon application, renewal fee, and a delinquency fee.

To keep your proof in order, see what to keep for a CE audit, which covers every state’s retention period and what the audit notice asks for.

Your hours

Check where you stand

Enter the hours you have completed this cycle to see what is left before June 30, 2027.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full LPC CE hours calculator

Also hold a Missouri LMFT or LCSW license? Each board runs its own CE cycle. See the Missouri LMFT and Missouri LCSW requirements.

Full board policy details
  • Acceptable providers include the American Medical Association (AMA) and its chapters or divisions. CE sponsored or approved by the AMA and its constituent/component bodies qualifies; accordingly, medicine is an accepted provider discipline alongside counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, psychology, and psychiatry.
  • At least 20 of the 40 hours each cycle must be formal CE (a regulatory activity category that includes academic courses, verified meetings, publications, presentations, workshops, seminars, conferences, and qualifying teaching). No more than 20 hours may be self-study (independent reading, videos, talk preparation, etc.).
  • Live-interactive online training (webinars, online courses from approved providers with documentation of completion) is treated as formal CE, there is no in-person attendance requirement. The distinction is formal-vs-self-study, not physical presence.
  • Conference/meeting attendance without broken-out verified CE sessions is capped at 3 hours of credit per full day of attendance.
  • Academic credit conversion: 1 semester credit hour from a regionally accredited college/university = 15 CE hours.
  • Publication credit: refereed journal article = 6 hours; editing a book = 10 hours; authoring a book = 15 hours. Each unique publication may be claimed only once.
  • Teaching/presentation activities: faculty teaching counseling courses may claim up to 20 hours per year; teaching CE workshops capped at 4 hours per cycle. No credit shall be granted for any subsequent presentation on the same subject matter during the same renewal period (instructor repeat restriction).
  • No double-counting of presentation preparation: time spent preparing for a presentation, workshop, or course that is claimed as formal (teaching) CE may not ALSO be counted as self-study CE. Talk preparation counts toward the self-study allowance only when the presentation itself is not credited as formal CE, a single activity cannot yield both formal and self-study hours.
  • REPEAT RESTRICTIONS: No credit is awarded for a subsequent presentation of the same subject matter during the same renewal period, and each publication may be counted only once. The current rule does not impose a blanket repeat ban on attendees.
  • FIRST-RENEWAL LIMITATION: 20 CSR 2095-1.070 ties an exemption to whether the LPC was licensed before July 1 of an even year. Because the product does not evaluate that issue-date/year-parity condition, no universal is first renewal override is encoded. The Board's older CE summary describes a separate 20-hour first-cycle case; licensees near this boundary require manual review.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES: Missouri does not have a formal inactive or retired license category. An unrenewed license simply expires; while expired the licensee cannot practice but is not accruing CE. Reinstatement is available within 2 years of expiration upon written application, renewal fee, and a delinquency fee, the committee may request documentation of CE that should have been completed during the lapsed period. After 2 years lapsed, a person must re-apply for licensure as a new applicant. Hardship extensions or waivers (illness, military service, other circumstances beyond control) may be requested at least 30 days before expiration; the committee has sole discretion.

Missouri LPC CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Missouri LPC licensees need?

Missouri requires 40 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LPC license. The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.

How often do Missouri LPC licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial, and CE is due by June 30 of odd years.

Are there subject-specific CE requirements for Missouri LPC licensees?

Yes. Missouri requires 20 hours of formal continuing education, 2 hours of suicide assessment.

Can Missouri LPC licensees complete CE online or by home study?

Up to 20 hours may be completed through home study / self-study.

Sources and verification

State source
Missouri board rule
Profession source
NBCC continuing education guidance
Last verified
August 2026
Ruleset version
2026.6

We reviewed this page against the Missouri board source, and we refresh it from the compiled ruleset above. Methodology and disclaimer. Compliance data is for guidance only, not legal or board advice. Always confirm requirements with your licensing board before renewing. See something wrong? Report it

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Missouri guides & data

What to keep for a CE audit →Learn what boards ask for in a CE audit, how long each state says to keep certificates, and what the notice looks like, then use the printable checklist.Missouri mental health workforce data →21,153 active providers, or 337.3 per 100,000 residents, ranked 38 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Missouri CE requirement pages

Missouri LMFTMissouri LCSWMissouri PsychologistMissouri PMHNP

LPC CE requirements in other states