School Counseling Program

The Master of Arts degree with a concentration in school counseling is a professional degree designed to meet the educational requirements for licensure as a school counselor.

"The school counselor is a certified professional educator who assists students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Three generally recognized helping processes used by the counselor are counseling, consulting, and coordinating:

1. Counseling is a complex helping process in which the counselor establishes a trusting and confidential working relationship. The focus is on problem-solving, decision-making, and discovering personal meaning related to learning and development;
2. Consultation is a cooperative process in which the counselor-consultant assists others to think through problems and to develop skills that make them more effective in working with students;
3. Coordination is a leadership process in which the counselor helps organize and manage a school's counseling program and related services.

School counselors are employed in elementary, middle/junior high, senior high and post secondary schools. Their work is differentiated by attention to age-specific developmental stages of growth and related interests, tasks, and challenges. School counselors are human behavior and relationship specialists who organize their work around fundamental interventions."

* This information is taken from The Practice of Guidance and Counseling by School Counselors: ASCA Role Statement. Copyright 1990 American School Counselor Association.

Course Offerings

The Master of Arts in School Counseling program offerings are divided into four groupings that will lead the student through a general sequence of academic experiences.

Introductory courses are presented in Group I, with intermediate offerings available in Group II. Students should complete most of each group before proceeding to the next group. Groups III and IV requirements should be attempted only after Group I courses are completed.

Group I

17 credit hours

• COUN 501 Lifespan Development
• COUN 533 Counseling Theories and Techniques
• COUN 536 Group Process
• COUN 537 Intro to School Counseling
• COUN 579 Psychological and Achievement Testing
• COUN 636 Career Counseling

Group II

14 credit hours

• COUN 538 Advanced School Counseling
• COUN 631 Counseling Issues and Ethics
• COUN 638 Cross-Cultural Counseling
• COUN 640 Family Relations
• COUN 639 Substance Use and Prevention
• COUN 669 Pre-Practicum/Counseling Lab

Group III

12 credit hours

• EDAD 565 School Law I
• COUN 502 Intro to College Counseling
• COUN 503 Crisis Intervention in Schools
• COUN 773 Counseling Practicum
• COUN 540 School Culture and Climate

Group IV

17 credit hours

• EDSP 500 Special Education: Identification and Issues
• COUN 509 Counseling Research Methods
• COUN 539 Child Psychopathology
• COUN 670 Counseling Internship
• 5 elective hours

Total

60 credit hours

NOTE: Due to CACREP accreditation, School Counseling Master's programs will require 60 hours beginning in 2020.