Counselor Licensure Exam

CRCC · national certification · checked Oct 30, 2026

The CRC exam, for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors

Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Examination

Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) is a national certification, not a state license, and this exam is the way in. It has 175 multiple-choice questions, split into a Rehabilitation and Disability section and a Counseling section, and you have to pass both at one sitting. The facts on this page were checked on Oct 30, 2026 against the Commission's exam overview, its certification guide and the 2022 blueprint.

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Updated Oct 30, 2026 · Not affiliated with NBCC, CCE, AMFTRB, CRCC, ACA or AAMFT.

The exam at a glance

FactDetailSourceChecked
Exam ownerCommission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC)Delivered by Pearson VUE. The CRC credential is accredited by NCCA.CRCC: CRC exam overview · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [1][2]
Leads toThe Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) national certification; some states also accept the exam for counselor licensureChecked Oct 2026: Illinois (LPC, LCPC), Pennsylvania (LPC) and North Carolina (LCMHC) accept the CRC exam for licensure.CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) · 3 more [2][3][4][5]
Questions175 multiple-choice questionsCRCC: CRC exam overview · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [1][2]
Scored questions150 scored; 25 unscored field-test questionsCRCC: CRC exam overview · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [1][2]
Question formatMultiple choice in two locked sections: Rehabilitation and Disability, and CounselingCRCC: CRC exam overview [1]
Exam time3 hours 30 minutes (210 minutes)CRCC: CRC exam overview · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [1][2]
Where you testPearson VUE test center or OnVUE online proctoringNo breaks on OnVUE.CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [2]
When you can testThree windows a year: March 8–16, July 5–13 and October 11–19, 2027Application deadlines: December 15, 2026 for March; April 30, 2027 for July; August 15, 2027 for October.CRCC: get certified (dates, eligibility, fees) · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [2][6]
Passing scoreA scaled cut for each section (modified Angoff, then equated); you must pass both sections in the same sittingCRCC publishes no fixed raw percentage.CRCC: CRC exam overview · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [1][2]
Exam fee$420 certification application, exam included$75 is refunded if you are found ineligible.CRCC: get certified (dates, eligibility, fees) · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [2][6]
RetakesOnly in the next exam window, for $275; an application covers two sittings, then a new $420 applicationCRCC: get certified (dates, eligibility, fees) · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [2][6]
Who can sitA rehabilitation counseling master's (CACREP or not) with a 600-hour internship supervised by a CRC, or a related master's with pre-review, coursework and qualifying employmentStudents may test before graduating; results are released once the degree is posted.CRCC: get certified (dates, eligibility, fees) · CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) [2][6]
Pass rateFirst-time candidates: 52% in July 2025 (57 of 110), 45% in October 2025 (79 of 176), 61% in March 2026 (154 of 251)CRCC: CRC exam overview [1]
Content outline in forceBlueprint from the 2021 job task analysis, effective March 2022 (12 domains)CRCC: CRC exam blueprint, effective March 2022 (PDF) [7]
Ethics code testedCRCC Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors, effective January 1, 2023CRCC: Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors, effective Jan 1, 2023 (PDF) [8]

Facts checked Oct 30, 2026 against the testing organizations; sources are listed under Source notes. More on each row: dates, eligibility and renewal · cost · pass rates.

Twelve domains behind two scores

The 2022 blueprint spreads the scored questions over 12 knowledge domains. Counseling theories and techniques is the largest at 11.3%; group and family counseling is the smallest at 4.7%. Small neighboring domains share a page here, and group and family work and research appear in the practice test.

Source: CRCC exam overview and the 2022 blueprint (PDF). Checked Oct 30, 2026.

A certification first, a license route in some states

The credential is awarded and renewed by the Commission, not by a state. Rehabilitation counselors hold it in state vocational rehabilitation agencies, in private disability, insurance and forensic work, and in nonprofit programs.

A few licensing boards also take the CRC exam in place of the usual licensure exam. The three below were checked against their own rules in October 2026; other states were not checked, so treat the table as a sample rather than a complete list. Where every state stands on the NCE and the NCMHCE is on license requirements by state.

StateLicense titlesLicensure examExam(s)Source (board)Checked
IllinoisLPC / LCPCLPC: NCE or CRC; LCPC: CRC, or NCE + NCMHCE
  • NCE (for LPC; for LCPC with the NCMHCE)
  • NCMHCE (for LCPC only, with the NCE)
  • CRC (for LPC or LCPC)
Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) [9]
North CarolinaLCMHCNCE, NCMHCE or CRC
  • NCE (accepted)
  • NCMHCE (accepted)
  • CRC (accepted)
  • North Carolina Jurisprudence Exam (agency's own test)
NC Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors: applying for the LCMHC [5]
PennsylvaniaLPCNCE or CRC
  • NCE (accepted)
  • CRC (accepted)
State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors [10]

Table checked Oct 30, 2026 against each state board; confirm the current rule with your board before you register. Boards that list the CRC exam for licensure, checked Oct 2026. Confirm with your board before you apply.

4 questions to start with

Question 1 of 4 · Career Development and Job Placement · 9.3%

Several staff at an office spend time on copying, mail sorting, and supply restocking. A counselor proposes combining these tasks into a new position for a client with an intellectual disability. This strategy is:

  1. Job sharing splits one full-time position between two workers; it does not assemble a new job from scattered tasks.
  2. Job carving builds a new position out of tasks taken from several coworkers' jobs, matched to what the client does well, as in the copying, mail, and restocking example.
  3. Transitional duty is temporary modified work for an injured employee on the way back to the regular job, not a permanent new position for a job seeker.
  4. Job restructuring modifies the duties of an existing job, for example by swapping marginal tasks; it does not create a separate position from other employees' work.
Question 2 of 4 · Health Care and Disability Management · 7.3%

An injured worker's physician states that he has reached maximum medical improvement. This means:

  1. MMI usually changes the type of workers' compensation benefit, for example from temporary to permanent partial, under state rules; benefits do not simply stop.
  2. MMI is not a cure; many workers reach it with permanent restrictions, which is why an impairment rating often follows.
  3. Reaching MMI says nothing about whether he can do his old job; work restrictions at MMI may still rule out full duty.
  4. Maximum medical improvement means further recovery is not expected with more treatment; the condition has stabilized, possibly with lasting limitations.
Question 3 of 4 · Health Care and Disability Management · 7.3%

A client has both Medicare and Medicaid. For a service covered by both programs, which pays first?

  1. For people with both programs (dual eligibles), Medicare pays first and Medicaid pays last, picking up costs Medicare does not cover.
  2. Medicaid is the payer of last resort by law, so it pays after Medicare and other insurance, not before.
  3. Coordination of benefits follows fixed federal rules; the beneficiary does not pick which program pays first.
  4. The programs do not split costs evenly; Medicare pays its share first and Medicaid covers allowable remaining costs.
Question 4 of 4 · Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability · 9.3%

The MOST common initial course of multiple sclerosis is:

  1. MS is not described as static; this invented label confuses a stable, nonprogressive condition such as an old spinal cord injury with a disease that relapses or progresses.
  2. Secondary progressive MS is a later phase that often follows years of relapsing-remitting disease, so it cannot be the most common initial course.
  3. About 85 percent of people with MS start with relapsing-remitting disease: attacks of new or worse symptoms followed by partial or full recovery.
  4. Primary progressive MS, with steady worsening from onset and no distinct relapses, affects only about 10 to 15 percent of people with MS.

Answer every question to see your score

How a pass is decided

Each section has its own scaled cut, both have to be passed at the same sitting, and the Commission publishes no fixed raw percentage. So a strong counseling background does not carry you through on its own: the Rehabilitation and Disability score has to clear its own line. How the cut is set, and the pass rate in each recent window, is on CRC pass rate.

What these pages cover, and what they send elsewhere

The exam pages here own the material that is specific to rehabilitation counseling: disability law and the Commission's own code, medical and psychosocial aspects of disability, vocational assessment and labor-market work, supported and customized employment, Social Security work incentives, and workers' compensation and disability management.

The exam also tests ground that other counseling exams share. That material has one home page each on this site:

Pages for this exam

  • CRC practice testA mixed set over all 12 domains of the 2022 blueprint, every option explained
  • CRC exam facts2027 windows and deadlines, eligibility, test-day rules, retakes and CE renewal
  • CRC costOne application fee with the exam, the price of a retake, and five-year renewal
  • CRC pass rateFirst-time pass rates by window, and how the two section cuts are set
  • CRC study guideAn eight-week plan by domain weight and by section, with what the 2022 blueprint added

Source notes

  1. [1]CRCC: CRC exam overview crccertification.com · checked Oct 30, 2026
  2. [2]CRCC: CRC Certification Guide, updated July 1, 2026 (PDF) crccertification.com · checked Oct 30, 2026
  3. [3]Illinois IDFPR: LPC and LCPC qualifications for licensure (PDF) idfpr.illinois.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
  4. [4]49 Pa. Code § 49.11: licensure examination pacodeandbulletin.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
  5. [5]North Carolina Board of LCMHC: applying for the LCMHC ncblcmhc.org · checked Oct 30, 2026
  6. [6]CRCC: get certified (dates, eligibility, fees) crccertification.com · checked Oct 30, 2026
  7. [7]CRCC: CRC exam blueprint, effective March 2022 (PDF) crccertification.com · checked Oct 30, 2026
  8. [8]CRCC: Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors, effective Jan 1, 2023 (PDF) crccertification.com · checked Oct 30, 2026
  9. [9]Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation (IDFPR) idfpr.illinois.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026
  10. [10]State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors dos.pa.gov · checked Oct 30, 2026

Certified Rehabilitation Counselor exam, quick answers

Does passing give me a counseling license?

No. Passing earns the national certification. A license comes from a state board, and only some boards accept this exam for one; the three checked here are in the table above.

When can I test, and where?

The exam is given in 3 windows a year, at Pearson VUE test centers or online through OnVUE. Deadlines and the rules for each option are on exam dates and rules.

Can I sit before I finish my master's degree?

Yes, if you are in a rehabilitation or clinical rehabilitation counseling program. CRCC holds the result until your degree is posted. The three application categories are on who can apply.

How many people pass on the first try?

It varies by window: in the last three windows the Commission published, first-time results ranged from 45% (79 of 176) to 61% (154 of 251). The full series is on CRC pass rate.