---
type: "Bill"
title: "Licensed School Counselor Credit Hour Requirements"
description: "To qualify for an initial special services license as a school counselor, an applicant must hold a master's degree or higher from an accredited institution of higher education. The degree must be in school counseling and require completion of at least 48 graduate semester credit hours.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2026A"
identifier: "SB 153"
citation: "Colorado SB 153 (2026A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education & School Finance (Pre & K-12)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["C. Kolker", "C. Simpson", "J. Bacon", "M. Martinez"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 13
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-03-31"
last_action: "2026-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/27f641a5-2694-40fd-bb91-3b02274b968c"
source_url: "https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-153"
source_hash: "65e0ab340ee344208c399579325953b5d2286d3ba7dd9a08edc979bc45c797b6"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 153 (2026A) — Licensed School Counselor Credit Hour Requirements

To qualify for an initial special services license as a school counselor, an applicant must hold a master's degree or higher from an accredited institution of higher education. The degree must be in school counseling and require completion of at least 48 graduate semester credit hours.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/113909/download)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114261/download)
3. **Final Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115091/download)
4. **Reengrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114286/download)
5. **Rerevised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115016/download)
6. **Revised** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/114857/download)
7. **Signed Act** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_files/115754/download)

## Votes

- BILL — **pass** (pass) · lower
- Refer Senate Bill 26-153 to the Committee of the Whole. — **pass** (pass) · upper
- Refer Senate Bill 26-153 to the Committee of the Whole and with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. — **pass** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- C. Kolker — primary (person)
- C. Simpson — primary (person)
- J. Bacon — primary (person)
- M. Martinez — primary (person)
- C. Clifford — cosponsor (person)
- C. Kipp — cosponsor (person)
- E. Hamrick — cosponsor (person)
- G. Rydin — cosponsor (person)
- I. Jodeh — cosponsor (person)
- J. Coleman — cosponsor (person)
- J. Gonzales — cosponsor (person)
- J. Jackson — cosponsor (person)
- J. Marchman — cosponsor (person)
- J. McCluskie — cosponsor (person)
- J. Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- K. McCormick — cosponsor (person)
- K. Nguyen — cosponsor (person)
- K. Stewart — cosponsor (person)
- K. Wallace — cosponsor (person)
- L. Cutter — cosponsor (person)
- L. Frizell — cosponsor (person)
- L. García — cosponsor (person)
- L. Goldstein — cosponsor (person)
- M. Duran — cosponsor (person)
- M. Lindsay — cosponsor (person)
- R. Rodriguez — cosponsor (person)
- T. Sullivan — cosponsor (person)
- W. Lindstedt — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-05-04** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-23** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-22** Signed by the Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-22** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-21** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-20** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2026-04-17** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2026-04-15** House Committee on Education Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2026-04-09** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2026-04-09** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-08** Senate Second Reading Passed - No Amendments `reading-2`
- **2026-04-06** Senate Committee on Education Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-31** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/27f641a5-2694-40fd-bb91-3b02274b968c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).