Counselor Education, MS

Dr. Audrey Church, Chair
Department of Education and Counseling
434.395.2682, churchap@longwood.edu

Dr. Marsha Rutledge, Program Director
434.395.4915, rutledgeml@longwood.edu

The Counselor Education program offers two (2) tracks for college graduates interested in preparing for counseling roles in a wide variety of settings including K-12 schools, colleges/universities, and mental health centers. Students will receive solid grounding in the theoretical frameworks of counseling and how they translate into individual and group interventions tailored to diverse client needs. Graduates will assist clients in self-discovery, personal growth, and in making healthy lifestyle choices. All tracks culminate in a supervised internship.

Admission

Prior to starting their graduate program, students must hold a conferred bachelor’s degree or international equivalent from a college or university accredited by the appropriate institutional (formerly regional) accreditation agency. 

In addition, applicants must have: 

• a 2.75 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale)
• provide a minimum of two recommendations
• a 500-word personal essay,
• a résumé
• a criminal background check will be required after admission is offered to accept a space in the program
• official transcripts of the bachelor’s degree and any course work completed after that degree
• an interview. 

Applications are processed for admission to summer and fall semesters. Application deadlines: December 1st for Early Bird applications, January 15^th for early application and February 15^th for standard application.  These are suggested application submission dates.  We will continue to accept applications until June 1st or when the program is full. Upon successful completion of this 60 hour program, a Master of Science in Counselor Education will be earned. 

Practicum / Internship

The completion of a practicum and an internship is mandatory in the Counselor Education program.  The practicum is a 3 credit hour course requiring 100 field clock hours taken mid-way in the program.  The internship is 6 credit hours requiring 100 field clock hours per credit hour taken at the end of the program.  The credit and clock hours in the internship may be spread over multiple semesters, but students must enroll in a minimum of one (1) credit hour per semester until completion. Grading is pass (P) / satisfactory progress (SP) / not pass (NP).  Only the grade of ‘P’ will meet degree requirements; 3 hours of ‘P’ in practicum and 6 hours of ‘P’ in internship. Please see individual course descriptions for details.

The Counselor Education program requires a comprehensive examination as the culmination of their program.  Students take the comprehensive examination normally in the last semester of study. Students must have completed COUN 503 , COUN 505 , COUN 507 , COUN 510 , COUN 545 , COUN 555 , COUN 601 , COUN 605 , COUN 610 , and COUN 651 , must be enrolled to allow for completion of 40 semester hours of course work, must have a B average (3.0 GPA) in all courses completed, and must have already filed the Application for Graduate Degree to be eligible to enroll in the comprehensive examination.

Students must register for the comprehensive examination (COUN 699 ) no later than the last day to add a course in the semester in which they wish to take the examination. Registration must be done by submission of the Graduate Course Enrollment Request form to the Registrar’s Office when all of the above criteria have been met. The course does not carry any credit hours.

The grading system for the evaluation of the examination will be pass (P)/not pass (NP). Students who do not pass the examination shall be allowed one re-examination. The re-examination will be administered at a time set by the Director of the Counselor Education Graduate Program within the same semester. The re-examination will test the same material as the original sections of the comprehensive examination, and will be designed and graded by the Counselor Education faculty.  Students will only be required to retake the section(s) they did not pass.  Failure of the examination for a second time will be final, and students will be dismissed from the graduate program.

Program Outcomes