Master's Degree in School Counseling

The Department of Counseling at the University of Akron offers a Master's Degree in School Counseling. This course of study is based upon Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Professions (CACREP) and the Ohio Department of Education's standards. It is designed to prepare students to become effective leaders in the process of transforming school counseling under the ASCA's National Model for School Counseling Programs.

The academic foundation is built upon the eight core areas of the CACREP* Standards:

• Professional identity
• Social and cultural diversity
• Human growth and development
• Career development
• Helping relationships
• Group work
• Assessment
• Research/program evaluation

Additional coursework specific to school counseling includes foundations and contextual dimensions of school counseling, and consultation. A unique focus of the program is training future school counselors in advocacy skills to assist students and families in overcoming barriers or impediments to success in learning and development.

The clinical instruction component includes a Practicum of 100 hours of training in the Clinic for Individual and Family Counseling and an Internship of 600 hours conducted in a school setting. The clinical experience utilizes live observation, videotape and audiotape of student counseling.

The program consists of a minimum of 50 semester credit hours for those with a teaching license and two years teaching experience. Applicants without such credentials are required to take an additional 10 semester hours of coursework in an effort to prepare them for the demands of school counselor's role.

Accreditation

This Master's Degree in School Counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Placement Objectives for Graduates

Graduates who pass the NTE Praxis test and BCI/FBI check must submit the appropriate application to the Ohio Department of Education which issues the school counseling license. School counseling licensees then become eligible to be hired as school counselors in K-12 schools in the State of Ohio. Because the program is both CACREP and NCATE accredited, graduates find that school counseling license portability from Ohio to other states is possible.

Addressing the Needs of the State and the Region

Student enrollment has remained relatively steady over the past few years, reflecting the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, report projecting faster than average growth in counseling positions at both the master's and doctoral levels through 2012 (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2004-05 Edition). Growth in Ohio is expected to parallel the national picture as reflected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

The School Counseling master's program addresses this need by offering a high quality nationally accredited program for training counselors to work in Ohio and across the nation.