Certification
School Counselor Certification
Beginning February 2, 2023, individuals can apply for the new Initial and Professional School Counselor certificates. The Initial and Professional School Counselor certificates have different requirements than the previous Provisional and Permanent School Counselor certificates. Information about the different types of school counselor certificates is provided below.
Initial and Professional Certificates
The Search Certification Requirements webpage describes the pathways to Initial and Professional School Counselor certification. Click here for information on the required courses, practicum, and internship for the “Individual Evaluation” pathway. Click here for information about when applicants must pass the new School Counselor Content Specialty Test.
Provisional Renewal and Time Extensions
Individuals with an expired Provisional School Counselor certificate can extend the validity of their certificate with a time extension or Provisional Renewal, if they meet the eligibility requirements.
Provisional Certificate
The Provisional School Counselor certificate is only available for candidates who complete or completed a New York State Registered school counselor education program prior to February 2, 2024. These candidates must apply and pay the application fee and meet all requirements for the certificate prior to February 2, 2024. The application will no longer be available in the TEACH system on February 2, 2024.
The Provisional School Counselor certificate application is no longer available as of February 2, 2023 to all other individuals. These individuals who applied for the Provisional certificate prior to February 2, 2023 will have their application reviewed. If you met all requirements for the Provisional certificate prior to February 2, 2023, the certificate will be issued. If you did not meet all requirements by this date, you may wish to consider the new Initial School Counselor certificate. You can switch your Provisional application to the Initial School Counselor certificate application by sending an email to tcert@nysed.gov with the subject line “change certificate pathway”. In the email, you would: (1) request to change your application to the Initial School Counselor certificate application, (2) specify the pathway for the new application, and (3) include either your date of birth or last four digits of your social security number for identification purposes.
Permanent Certificate
Past and current applicants for the Permanent School Counselor certificate must either:
- Have met ALL requirements for the Permanent School Counselor certificate prior to February 2, 2023,
OR - Have been issued a Provisional School Counselor certificate AND have met all requirements for the Permanent certificate prior to February 2, 2023 or while holding a valid Provisional, time-extended Provisional or Provisional Renewal certificate that was in effect after that date.
Based on the above information:
- If you hold a valid Provisional School Counselor certificate, you must have completed the requirements for the Permanent certificate prior to February 2, 2023 and/or must complete the requirements while holding the valid Provisional certificate after that date. If your Provisional certificate expires, you can extend the validity period of your certificate with a time extension and/or Provisional Renewal and complete the requirements for the Permanent certificate during the validity period of the time extension or Provisional Renewal.
- If you hold an expired Provisional School Counselor certificate, you must have completed the requirements for the Permanent certificate prior to February 2, 2023 and/or need to apply for a time extension and/or Provisional Renewal and complete the requirements for the Permanent certificate during the validity period of the time extension or Provisional Renewal.
- If you never held a Provisional School Counselor certificate, you must have completed the requirements for the Permanent certificate prior to February 2, 2023. Click here for information on acceptable courses for the “Individual Evaluation” pathway.
If you are not able to meet ANY of the above requirements, you can pursue the new Initial or Professional School Counselor certificate described at the top of this webpage. You can switch your Provisional application to the Initial or Professional School Counselor certificate application by sending an email to tcert@nysed.gov with the subject line “change certificate pathway”. In the email, you would: (1) request to change your application to the Initial or Professional School Counselor certificate application, (2) specify the pathway for the new application, and (3) include either your date of birth or last four digits of your social security number for identification purposes.
Additional Information
- New York State School Counselor Education Programs. Institutions of higher education in New York State that have registered school counselor education programs are listed in the Inventory of Registered Programs. To find the programs, choose the “Search for programs leading to Teacher Certification” option and then choose “School Counselor.”
- Unacceptable Coursework. Click here to see examples of courses that would not be acceptable for School Counselor certification through the “Individual Evaluation” pathway.
- Coursework Completed Outside of New York State. If you completed coursework in an out-of-state school counselor education program that led to school counselor certification in the state in which the institution is located, the Office of Teaching Initiatives will review the coursework and determine if it is acceptable.