Professional School Counseling: Master of Arts Degree
Program Overview
Department of Human Development & Psychological Counseling
Program Director: Dr. Elizabeth Graves; graveseg@appstate.edu; 828-262-2055
Location of instruction: On campus
The master's program is designed to meet the requirements for North Carolina School Counselor Licensure (K-12) and to follow guidelines and standards of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The Professional School Counseling Program at Appalachian State University is one of six in North Carolina nationally accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Students completing this program are prepared to design and implement comprehensive, developmental school counseling programs. Additionally, graduates are prepared to carry out the functions identified by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in the job description of the school counselor. Currently, the demand for licensed school counselors is greater than the capacity of all of the counselor education programs in North Carolina combined. Surveys indicate the likelihood that this need will continue to increase.
Program Highlights
- You can expect to complete the 60 credit hours between a 2 and 3 years.
- The department has strong emphases in expressive arts, addictions, and family therapy.
- Practicum: You are required to do a 100-hour counseling practicum in the public schools. Students work with their advisors to determine a placement site and appropriate supervision. Students must complete a permission form for Practicum and advisors must approve the application prior to registration.
- Internship: You are also required to complete a 600-hour internship in the public schools.
- Professional School Counseling Add-on licensure offered Fall only.
Faculty Research Interests:
- Multi-Cultural Awareness
- School Counseling
- Career Exploration
- Learning Styles
- Experiential Teaching Strategies
- Supervision
- Substance Abuse
- Addictions
Application Essentials
Required Entrance Exam: GRE (score must be no more than 5 years old)
Required Number of References to specify in the on-line form: 3
Supplemental Information: Resume (Required upload for application submission); HPC Department Questionnaire (upload on the Additional Information page in the on-line application); interview
Deadlines for Application. A program not open for a particular term will be marked with an "x." If the program has early screening dates, those dates are listed in parentheses. Applications that are not complete by the early screening date risk denial of admission due to no seats available. Increased enrollment may lead to a term being closed for new applications.
- Spring: x
- Summer Session 1: 4/1 (3/1)
- Summer Session 2: 5/1 (3/1)
- Fall: 7/1 (3/15)
Basic Conditions for Consideration of Admission:
Meeting or exceeding the conditions below does NOT guarantee admission. All applications for a given entry term will be weighed based upon the number of seats available and the quality of the complete application packages. With special permission from the Graduate School, a program may admit a limited number of students with exceptional circumstances who do not meet the graduate school minimums.
Graduate School: 3.0 GPA in the last earned degree and official scores from the appropriate admission test(s), OR 2.5 GPA in the last earned degree and official scores at the 25th percentile level from the appropriate admission test(s).
Admission to School Counseling: Both qualitative and quantitative aspects of applications are reviewed in comparison to the current applicant pool.
