Grad Cert: School Counseling - Post-Master's

This graduate certificate is designed for students who want to become professional school counselors and have already earned a Master’s degree in another counseling specialty. The goals of the Post-Graduate Certificate in School Counseling are: (a) to provide an academic program to help counselors increase their competency to design, implement, and assess comprehensive school counseling programs in K-12 settings and (b) to provide an academic pathway for counselors to pursue state school counseling certification.

The school counseling degree coordinator will act as the program director for this graduate certificate. 

Admission Requirements

Requirements for admission to the Post-Graduate School Counseling Certificate program include:

1. Cumulative GPA (undergraduate and graduate) of 2.75 or better on 4.0 scale and graduate GPA of 3.0 or better;
2. Successful completion of a master’s degree in Counseling (e.g., Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Community Counseling; Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling; Career Counseling) from an accredited university with a minimum of 48 semester credit hours completed;
3. Two letters of recommendation with at least one from a current or former college-level instructor or counseling supervisor who has observed their clinical work;
4. Supplemental application with coursework review;
5. Two-page personal statement explaining the applicant's personal and professional goals.
6. Video role play of counseling skills with mock-client.

Certificate Requirements

Certificate students should have completed the following courses or their equivalencies from their previous counseling graduate program:

• Theories of Counseling
• Helping Relationship Skills
• Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling
• Foundations for Multicultural Counseling
• Group Procedures in Counseling
• Career Information and Development
• Assessment and Testing
• Psychopathology or Diagnosis
• Lifespan Development
• Education Research Methods

If any of these courses were not completed, the required course will need to be completed as part of the post-graduate certificate plan of study. The prerequisite courses do not have to be completed at UMSL.

Fifteen semester credit hours of graduate course work are required for the graduate certificate. Twelve of these semester credit hours must consist of the core courses. A minimum of three additional hours are to be chosen from the list of electives. All 15 credits must be completed at UMSL.

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A 300 hour internship must be accomplished in K-12 school sites. Course-embedded Department of Elementary and Secondary Education performance assessment occurs in CNS ED 6280. Students pursuing school counseling certification in Missouri will complete field experience placements at two different school levels, with 250 hours at a major placement level and 50 hours at a minor placement level. At least 50 hours must occur in K-5 settings.

Beyond completion of graduate course requirements, students will need to pass the Missouri Content Assessment (MoCA) in School Counseling and apply to the state department of education before they can be recommended by the university for school counseling certification.