Updated for 2026

Mississippi LPC & P-LPC Continuing Education Requirements

Mississippi counselors must complete 24 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew their LPC / P-LPC license, including 6 hours of ethics or legal.

24hours every 2 years
Topic minimums, counted within the 24
6ethics or legal

The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

What the board saysMississippi board rule
All LPCs will be renewed biennially1 on or before June 30 of the renewal year. … The certificates documenting twenty-four (24) Continuing Education Hours1 (CEH which include 6 hours of ethics or legal issues in counseling2;
What it means
  1. 24 hours every two years
  2. 6 hours of ethics or legal issues in counseling
30 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 2201, Rule 6.1(B)Last verified July 2026Ruleset 2026.8How we verify
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Requirements

Mississippi LPC & P-LPC requirements

Total

24 hoursYou need 24 hours every 2 years. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Topic minimums, counted within the 24

The remaining 18 hours are not tied to a topic minimum.
Ethics or Legal
6
You need 6 hours each cycle.

Limits on how the hours are earned

Personal therapy
max 10 hrs

Cycle and record rules

Renewal
The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.
New licensees
The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.
Approved providers
Qualifying CE may be offered or sponsored by national professional association, state professional association, and accredited university.
Board audit
The board may audit licensees to verify CE compliance.

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 your renewal.

Your result appears here as you enter hours.

Open the full LPC CE hours calculator

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

Full board policy details
  • Renewal cadence: LPC licenses renew biennially on the fixed statewide schedule running July 1 through June 30 (a two-year cycle). P-LPC (provisional) licenses renew ANNUALLY on the same July 1–June 30 schedule and must complete 6 CE hours each year (see P LPC total CE hours, scope each year within cycle). Because the schema's CycleAnchor enum has no calendar-month literal, the fixed July-1 cycle is encoded as anchor: expiration date; the engine derives each license's window from its June-30 expiration date.
  • LPCs may complete 100% of the 24 required hours via online, home-study, video presentations, or approved teleconferences. No minimum live/in-person requirement.
  • Academic coursework conversion: 1 semester credit hour = 15 CE hours; 1 quarter credit hour = 10 CE hours. Transcript or instructor letter required for audit.
  • First-time (original) presentations to a professional audience earn 5 CE hours per 1 hour of presentation. Repeat or duplicate presentations of the same material do not earn additional credit. Presentations to the lay public or routine classroom teaching do not count.
  • Authored peer-reviewed publications earn 5 CE hours per published article or book chapter. Multiple publications each earn 5 CE hours and may accumulate up to the full 24-hour total, there is no separate per-cycle cap on publication hours beyond the overall total. Copy of publication and editorial/cover page required for verification.
  • Personal counseling as a client earns 1 CE hour per hour of therapy, up to 10 CE hours per cycle. Therapist must be a licensed mental health professional with qualifications equal to or exceeding an LPC. Supervision or consultation does not qualify. Letter from treating professional required.
  • Research activities in counseling earn 1 CE hour per hour of original, substantive counseling research. The current rule does not state a separate research-hour cap. Verification by the overseeing researcher or faculty member is required.
  • Professional service to the LPC Board or Board-approved counseling organizations earns 1 CE hour per hour of service, when the activity provides educational benefit. Documentation required.
  • Preferred CE providers are NBCC-approved or Board-recognized professional mental health organizations (ACA, AMHCA, MCA, MLPCA, AAMFT, etc.). CE from non-pre-approved sources is allowed but subject to post-hoc Board review at renewal; presenter must be master's-level or above and trained in the mental health field.
  • Non-qualifying content: regular work activities, staff meetings, case staffing/reporting, and training in agency-specific policies/procedures do NOT count for CE credit.
  • COURSE REPEAT RESTRICTIONS, Presentation credit is limited to original presentations to a professional audience. The current rule does not state a general repeat-course ban for attendees.
  • LICENSE STATUS RULES, LPCs may elect Non-Practicing status at renewal: no CE is required while non-practicing, but the licensee cannot practice. To return to Active status from Non-Practicing, the licensee must (1) pay full license fee for the upcoming period, (2) complete the Mississippi Jurisprudence Exam within the past 365 days, (3) show proof of 12 CE hours completed within the past 365 days, and (4) submit to a background check if requested. Licenses that are not renewed and not placed on Non-Practicing status become Lapsed; reinstatement from Lapsed status is at Board discretion. The LPC Board does not publish formal hardship CE waivers or extensions for active licensees, the alternative is Non-Practicing status.
  • No conditional active renewal is available, an LPC short on CE at the June 30 deadline must either go Non-Practicing (cannot practice) or allow the license to lapse. No exam-in-lieu-of-CE substitution is offered.
  • No first-renewal CE exemption or proration for LPCs. New LPCs must complete the full 24 hours by the end of their initial cycle even when the cycle is shorter than 24 months.
  • LPC-Supervisor (LPC-S) status renews with the LPC license and requires 1 CE hour in clinical supervision per year, with a minimum of 2 hours per biennial renewal. The current rule does not state a first-renewal exemption.
  • The Mississippi Legal and Ethical Responsibilities/Jurisprudence examination certificate is required with each LPC renewal. The exam is not assigned CE hours in the rule, so it is kept for manual renewal review rather than modeled as a lifetime or credit-bearing requirement. Reactivation also requires a recent jurisprudence examination.
  • Dual licensees holding both LPC and LMFT must satisfy each board's CE separately. A single course approved by both NBCC and the MFT Continuing Education Committee may be counted toward both licenses' hour totals (each board has its own reporting), but no reduction in either board's 24-hour total is permitted.

Mississippi LPC & P-LPC CE: frequently asked questions

How many CE hours do Mississippi LPC / P-LPC licensees need?

Mississippi requires 24 continuing education hours every 2 years to renew a LPC / P-LPC license. The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

How many ethics hours are required for Mississippi LPC / P-LPC licensees?

Of the total, 6 hours must be in ethics or legal.

How often do Mississippi LPC / P-LPC licensees renew?

The renewal cycle is biennial and is tied to your license's renewal (expiration) date.

Is the first renewal different for new Mississippi LPC / P-LPC licensees?

The first renewal is different. New licensees have adjusted first-cycle requirements, such as prorated hours or first-cycle-only rules, and we apply them automatically.

Sources and verification

State source
Mississippi board rule
Profession source
NBCC continuing education guidance
Last verified
July 2026
Ruleset version
2026.8

We reviewed this page against the Mississippi 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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Mississippi 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.Mississippi mental health workforce data →8,728 active providers, or 295.4 per 100,000 residents, ranked 42 of 51. The page includes a county density map and free CSV downloads.

Other Mississippi CE requirement pages

Mississippi LMFTMississippi LCSWMississippi PsychologistMississippi Addiction CounselorMississippi PMHNP

LPC CE requirements in other states