Professional Licensure & State Authorization

Last updated: May 2023

STATE AUTHORIZATION

The U.S. Department of Education oversees compliance with regulations governing the ability of institutions to offer online programs to students located outside of California. Individual states also oversee the programming CIIS offers, and some states require authorization for having online students and/or clinical placements in the state. CIIS is not required to seek authorization in all states and U.S. territories, but is required to be authorized in some.

Student Declaration of Current Physical Location

To comply with federal Title IV regulations governing distance learning, CIIS is required to verify students’ locations prior to engaging in financial transactions. Also, to comply with state authorization regulations governing distance learning and clinical placements, CIIS is required to verify students’ locations prior to each semester of registration. Students are required to confirm their location three times a calendar year (every 120 days) via Colleague Self-Service to a) confirm their official address of record, and b) indicate the state in which they will be physically located while taking their online coursework in the upcoming semester. A student is required to report to the Registrar’s Office any change in their physical location during the semester; the change needs to be reported in advance of moving. 

If a student’s current location is outside the state of California and the student is enrolled in a CIIS online program or taking an online class offered in a CIIS residential program, the student should also check the information below to verify CIIS’s authorization to offer distance education to students physically located outside the state of California. 

• Academic degree program students or prospective students applying to CIIS' academic degree programs may reach out to the Admissions Office with any questions.
• If you are applying to the Sex Therapy Certificate program and have questions about state authorizations, please contact Kyle DeMedio at kdemedio@ciis.edu.

LIST OF STATE AUTHORIZATIONS AND EXEMPTIONS, AND RELATED ADMISSION RESTRICTIONS

Online Students 

Some states require institutions to be authorized or exempt in order to enroll online students located in the state. Not all states have this requirement. Below is the list of states from which CIIS may or may not enroll online students.

CAN ENROLL ONLINE STUDENTS:

• Alaska
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Georgia*
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia**
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

*Authorized for the following online programs only:                                                                                    Anthropology and Social Change (MA Only)                                                                                      Bachelor of Science in Psychology                                                                                                      Bachelor of Art in Interdisciplinary Studies                                                                                              East-West Psychology (MA Only)                                                                                                                      Ecology, Spirituality, & Religion (PhD Only)                                                                                                  Human Sexuality                                                                                                                                    Integral and Transpersonal Psychology                                                                                              Integral and Transpersonal Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology                    Integrative Health Studies                                                                                                              Philosophy, Cosmology, & Consciousness (PhD Only)                                                          Transformative Leadership                                                                                                      Transformative Studies                                                                                                                                      Women's Spirituality                                                                                                                              

**Certified to operate by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. 8VAC40-31(A)(i)

CANNOT ENROLL ONLINE/DISTANCE STUDENTS:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Delaware
• District of Columbia (DC)
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Minnesota
• North Carolina (effective January 1, 2023 - applies to all applicants from the Spring 2023 admissions cycle and onwards)
• North Dakota
• Rhode Island
• Wisconsin

PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE

According to federal regulations, CIIS is required to disclose to any prospective or current student whether a program meets the professional licensure academic requirements in states outside California.  At this time, no determination has been made regarding any other state professional licensure academic requirements.

The CIIS Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology program (with specializations) is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) for graduates to be eligible for the MFT or LPCC California professional licenses. CIIS has not determined if the program meets professional licensure requirements in other states.

The CIIS Doctor of Psychology program (PsyD) is approved by the California Board of Psychology for graduates to be eligible for a California psychologist license.  CIIS has not determined if the program meets professional licensure requirements in other states.

MA in Counseling Psychology Programs with Restrictions

For these two residential programs, CIIS will only admit students located in California, Nevada, or Oregon:

• Master of Counseling Psychology - Community Mental Health
• Master of Counseling Psychology - Integral Counseling Psychology Weekend

For this low residency online hybrid program, CIIS will only admit students located in California:

• Master of Counseling Psychology - Expressive Arts Therapy

ACTCM State Licensure Requirement Disclosure

Graduates of the MSTCM and DACM programs at ACTCM are eligible to take both the national certification exam modules offered by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), and the California Acupuncture Licensing Exam (CALE). Graduates of the DACM Completion Program are only eligible for NCCAOM certification exams and the California Acupuncture Licensing Exam on the basis of their Master’s level degree, which is a pre-requisite for entry in to the DACMCP. The DACMCP does not confer eligibility for certification or licensure on its own.

The ability of an individual candidate to be licensed in a state is dependent on meeting the specific licensure requirements for that state. Graduation from an accredited acupuncture or Chinese medicine program does not guarantee licensure in a state. Please see specific licensure requirements for the state in which you intend to practice for more professional licensure information. State regulations for licensure are ever changing. CIIS intends to insure the accuracy of the following licensure route eligibility by reviewing it annually, but cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. Prospective students should always check with the state license granting authority to determine eligibility.

List of States (including the District of Columbia) for which CIIS has determined that the MSTCM and DACM curriculum meets the State educational requirements for licensure or certification with detailed exceptions:

AK, AZ, AR ¹, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL ^2,3, GA, HI, ID ⁴, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME ⁵, MD, MA ⁶, MI, MN, MS ³, MO, MT, NE, NH ⁴, NJ ^3,4, NM ^3,7, NY, NC, ND, OH ⁸, OR ³, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX ³, UT, VT ⁹, VA ¹⁰, WA ¹¹, WV ¹¹, WI, WY

The following states have these exceptions for the MSTCM and DACM programs that alter national or California standards :

1. AR: Requires 60 semester credits of prior college education prior to entering, but 30 of those credits must be in a relevant science: biology, chemistry, anatomy, psychology and physiology
2. FL: Requires 60 hours of education in injection therapy
3. FL, MS, NJ, NM, OR, TX: Require a state jurisprudence exam
4. ID: Requires passage of CCAOM CNT Course
5. ME, NH, NJ: Require a BS/BA degree prior to entering an acupuncture and Chinese medicine program
6. MA: Requires that a lab course of biology, anatomy or physiology be taken prior to entering. The lab may be a distance course.
7. NM: Requires approval of education from each applicant. Our programs meet their requirements, but extensive documentation must be filed by the applicant. New Mexico also requires passage of a practical and clinical exam administered by the state board.
8. OH: Requires a completion certificate for a course on FDA dispensary practices
9. VT: Requires 800 hours of internship clinic. The MSTCM has 780 hours. Graduates of the MSTCM will need to take one extra clinic shift to meet the requirement in Vermont. The DACM program meets this requirement.
10. VA: Prohibits distance or correspondence courses
11. WA, WV: Require microbiology

List of states for which CIIS has not determined that the MSTCM and DACM curriculum meets the State educational requirements for licensure or certification:

AL ¹, NV ^2,3, OK ¹, SD ¹

1. AL, OK, SD: Do not have an acupuncture practice act. In states without a licensing act, one cannot obtain a license but may be able to still practice, the practice is restricted to physicians only, or one may practice under the license of another practitioner. Students are advised to conduct more research to assess the ability to practice in these states.
2. NV: Requires 2500 hours of didactic coursework, which is significantly in excess of national standards. The MSTCM program has 2138 hours of didactic course work, and the DACM has 2468 hours of didactic course work. Up to 250 hours of the 2500 requirement for licensure may be submitted through CEU credits.
3. NV: Requires a BS/BA degree prior to entering an acupuncture and Chinese herbology program.