Public Health Addiction and Pre-professional Mental Health Option
Educational Requirements for Licensure or Certification in Alcohol and Other Drug Counseling
The following information is for enrolled and prospective students and pertains to Keene State College’s Public Health Addiction and Pre-professional Mental Health option curriculum regarding State educational requirements for licensure or certification in alcohol and other drug counseling.
For each state, there are educational requirements for licensure or certification. Keene State College’s Public Health Addiction and Pre-professional Mental Health option has contacted each state and shared information about its curriculum. Those states who have returned information are listed below. For those states that we are awaiting information, a determination cannot be made at this time.
Students are encouraged to contact the alcohol and other drug counseling licensure or certification board for the state in which they reside and/or desire to work.
Information below pertains to July 1, 2020 statements from the licensing boards or their regulations regarding Bachelor’s level addiction counseling educational requirements but you may need to fulfill additional coursework or training requirements prior to applying for your certification or licensure, and additional requirements including but not limited to: obtaining a fingerprint clearance card, passing licensure or certification exams, completing supervised work experience in the practice of substance abuse counseling, and/or a supervised practicum.
States not listed below are in progress and a determination cannot be made at this time. Students should contact those states that are not listed here for further information.
It is also recommended that students contact the states listed here to check for changes in their licensing requirements since this document was completed in early July of 2020.
- Alaska - degree meets the educational requirements according to Alaska’s board
- Connecticut - requires a master’s degree
- Colorado - may partially meet the educational requirements for licensure
- Idaho - reports KSC’s program does not meet all educational requirements (e.g. missing blood borne pathogens and diversity (resubmitting information regarding meeting the diversity requirement)
- Montana - degree meets the educational requirements according to Montana’s board regulations
- New Mexico - degree meets the educational requirements according to New Mexico’s board regulations
- New York - in progress (submitting standardized curriculum certification application)
- North Carolina - meets the educational requirements for CERTIFIED Alcohol and Drug Counselor
- **North Dakota-does not meet the educational requirements. Requires 3 credit hour courses on specific topics (e.g. group counseling, pharmacology, ethics)
- Oregon - partially meets the educational requirements according to regulations
- Pennsylvania - cannot be determined based on response from board
- Texas-cannot be determined based on response of board
- Utah - partially meets educational requirements (KSC students would need more internship hours)
- Vermont - meets educational requirements for the Apprentice Addiction Professional (AAP) Certification according to regulations
- Virginia - partially meets the educational requirements
- West Virgina - requires a master’s degree for certification
- Wyoming- partially meets the educational requirements for ADDICTIONS PRACTITIONER ASSISTANT based on regulations (requires 270 hours of addiction specific coursework)
