Program Structure

Our full-time, cohort style program offers a course schedule to meet the needs of working adults. Students take one course at a time, meeting one evening a week for five weeks plus one Saturday session per course.

The curriculum consists of 36 semester credits and is designed for students who document 2 years of successful licensed teaching experience (Track I). Students who do not have the required teaching experience must complete a practicum in classroom teaching and additional internship credits (Track II). Coursework topics include counseling skills, ethics and school law, interventions, appraisal, substance abuse, career development, group counseling, research, and multicultural and spiritual issues. Classes are small, discussion-oriented, and geared to practical application. All Program faculty are professional counselors or psychologists or experienced school counselors who provide diverse theoretical backgrounds and assist students in developing their own personal approach to counseling.

In the 2nd year of the Program, students apply their classroom knowledge and skills in an internship in a public school, working with a school counselor either in the early childhood/elementary or the middle/high school level. The capstone of the program is a final course in designing a successful school counseling program that promotes the welfare of children, improves academic performance, and creates safe schools.

Graduates of the program earn an M.A. in School Counseling and meet academic and field experience standards leading to an Oregon Initial School Counselor License in Oregon.