DSST Fundamentals of Counseling

It is a multiple-choice exam offered in internet-based or paper-based formats. It contains 100 questions and you are given two hours to complete it. Exams must be taken at authorized testing centers, mostly located on college campuses. Check with your chosen center about its scheduling and walk-in rules before test day.

The published minimum score is 400. Passing scores are reported to the institution whose 4-digit DSST code you provide at the time of testing. Because schools set their own credit-awarding policies, confirm with your advisor that a passing score on this exam will satisfy the requirement you are trying to fulfill.

The test fee is $100 per exam. That fee does not include any administrative costs the testing site may require, so the total you pay can be higher depending on the center. Registration and payment are completed at the testing center within the testing platform on the day of the exam.

Yes. All test takers are eligible to retest after a 30 day wait period. If you are an eligible military student, note that DANTES only funds the first attempt to pass an exam; any subsequent attempts to pass a failed exam are the test taker's responsibility, so plan your first attempt carefully.

It is a broad survey exam, so the usual failure mode is shallow coverage: memorizing theorist names without being able to distinguish the approaches, or skipping the history and role-and-function material because it feels less technical. The four published content areas are weighted equally in the outline, so spread your study time rather than over-preparing one area.

The published outline lists historical development, counselor roles and functions, the counseling relationship, and theoretical approaches to counseling; the exam description also mentions career development. A practical order is history first for context, then roles and functions, then the counseling relationship, then theory - and revisit theory last, since it draws on everything before it.

The official exam page links online test prep materials from EBSCO LearningExpress and Peterson's, and offers a downloadable fact sheet. Use those alongside a standard introductory counseling textbook. Practice recalling distinctions between theories and between counselor roles rather than rereading, and time yourself on practice sets to match the two-hour, 100-question pace.

No. Registration is completed at the testing center on your scheduled day and time, within the testing platform, and payment is handled there. Locate an authorized testing center first and contact it before traveling, since some locations do not allow walk-ins and require exams to be scheduled in advance.

Bring current, valid picture identification such as a driver's license, passport, or picture student ID; DANTES-funded eligible military test takers must provide a valid Common Access Card. For paper-based exams you may bring No. 2 pencils with an eraser and black ballpoint pens. Reference or study materials, scratch paper, and electronics such as cell phones are not allowed.

Results are available immediately after internet-based exams, and you can log in to the testing platform to review and reprint your score report. Paper-based scores are mailed. For official scores to reach your school, provide its 4-digit DSST code at the time of the exam; reports should arrive within 90 days.