How to Apply
Important: The button below will take you to University Admissions. Use the following advice to correctly identify your interest in this program.
- Apply for Admission to Graduate School Be certain to select the following for select your degree...:
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Send your official college transcripts
Request that all colleges and universities you have attended send transcripts electronically to: gradadm@umsl.edu.
Selected applicants will be invited to interview with Counseling Program faculty and current graduate students. Interviews typically occur between 4 to 6 weeks after the application deadline.
Full admission procedures for the Counseling MEd can be found in the program Documents section.
Thank you for choosing UMSL!
Building the Capacity of Youth to Succeed
A 60 credit hour campus-based evening program leading to Missouri certification and eligibility for Missouri Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor credentials
Our Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited School Counseling Program trains graduate students to become multiculturally-competent school counselors who are leaders and advocates in K-12 schools. Using hands-on and experiential learning, students develop school counseling skills and dispositions in regional schools. As the only public, research university in the region, UMSL students learn from scholars in the field to apply innovative counseling to help K-12 students develop in social/emotional, academic, and career domains.
The highest national counseling accreditation, CACREP, ensures that graduates from UMSL's program are eligible to become Licensed Professional Counselors in the state of Missouri in addition to being state Certified School Counselors. Additionally, CACREP accreditation ensures that a degree from this program will be recognized nationally for employment and credentialing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), there is faster than average job outlook for school and career counselors over the next few years. The program is approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Our counseling degree program graduates have outstanding records of achieving counseling credentials, including a very high pass rate on the examinations required for Missouri school counselor certification and counselor licensure. Our graduates are highly respected by regional school districts and are sought out to fill open positions. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 15 students graduated from the school counseling program. The completion rate for the program was about 89%. Most graduates (about 88%) pass the certification exam and about 92% are employed in the field.
Low tuition rates
The University of Missouri - St. Louis offers very competitive tuition rates. UMSL was rated #1 in Missouri for Affordability by Business Insider. Financial aid is available for students who are eligible. Please contact Financial Aid for details.
Flexible delivery
We offer evening, in-person courses with various course length (4 weeks, 8 weeks, 16 weeks) across all semesters - Spring, Summer, and Fall. Our evening courses allow most of our students to maintain full-time while earning their counseling degree.
Emily Brown
p: (314) 516-5792
- Deadlines to Apply:
- Fall - March 1
- Spring - October 1
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In addition to meeting the general admission requirements of the Graduate School, applicants to the M.Ed. must complete the program supplemental application, have two completed references on file, have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0, and upon admission will take CNS ED 6010, Theories of Counseling, in their first semester. Admissions will be conducted twice a year. The deadlines for application are March 1 for the fall semester and October 1 for the spring semester.
Since it is the objective of the counseling faculty to identify students with low potential for competent practice as early as possible and to initiate the necessary procedures for dealing with such students, faculty of the counseling program reserve the right to review students at any stage of their coursework. A U (Unsatisfactory) in any clinical course or any grade less than a B- in these core counseling courses will automatically trigger a review process by the Counseling Review Board.
CNS ED 6010 | Theories of Counseling | |
CNS ED 6020 | Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling | |
CNS ED 6060 | Helping-Relationship Skills | |
CNS ED 6270 | School Counseling Practicum | |
CNS ED 6280 | School Counseling Field Experience | |
CNS ED 6370 | Clinical Mental Health Counseling Practicum I | |
CNS ED 6380 | Clinical Mental Health Counseling Field Experience |
The Counseling Review Board process, however initiated, may result in the termination of the student’s degree program or other required or recommended remedies to address deficiencies judged by the Counseling Review Board as related to the skills that are essential to the development of competent and ethical practices as a professional counselor.
Students admitted to the M.Ed. degree programs in counseling as “restricted graduate students” (see the “graduate study” rules in this Bulletin) must attain a 3.0 GPA in the 12 hours of course work at UMSL. Restricted students must include the following courses in the first 12 hours of coursework: CNS ED 6010: Theories of Counseling and CNS ED 6020: Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling. A student on restricted status earning any grade less than a B- in either of these courses but still maintaining a 3.0 GPA, will be allowed to repeat the course one time and must earn a grade of B- or better to be fully admitted.
The courses listed below meet the course work requirements for the M.Ed. degree, state certification, and licensing as a professional counselor:
| Counselor Education | ||
| CNS ED 6010 | Theories of Counseling | 3 |
| CNS ED 6020 | Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling | 3 |
| CNS ED 6030 | Foundations for Multicultural Counseling | 3 |
| CNS ED 6040 | Group Procedures in Counseling | 3 |
| CNS ED 6050 | Individual Inventory | 3 |
| CNS ED 6060 | Helping-Relationship Skills | 3 |
| CNS ED 6200 | Foundations of School Counseling | 3 |
| CNS ED 6270 | School Counseling Practicum | 3 |
| CNS ED 6280 | School Counseling Field Experience | 6 |
| CNS ED 6400 | Career Information and Development | 3 |
| CNS ED 6600 | Theories and Techniques of Counseling Children and Adolescents | 3 |
| or CNS ED 6610 | Introduction to Play Therapy | |
| CNS ED 6630 | Career Development in K-12 Schools | 3 |
| CNS ED 6730 | Counseling for Loss, Crisis, and Trauma | 3 |
| Psychological Foundations and Human Development | ||
| ED PSY 6226 | Mental Health and Development of Children and Youth | 3 |
| or ED PSY 6222 | Advanced Studies in Child and Adolescent Development | |
| or ED PSY 6210 | Life-Span: Individual and Family Development | |
| ED PSY 6532 | Psychoeducational Differences | 3 |
| Educational Research and Evaluation Methods | ||
| ED REM 6710 | Educational Research Methods and Design | 3 |
| Electives | ||
| Nine credit hours from CNS ED or related courses such as: | 9 | |
CNS ED 6220 | Counseling Individuals with Disabilities | |
CNS ED 6410 | Advanced Career and Leadership Development | |
CNS ED 6620 | Advanced Play Therapy | |
CNS ED 6680 | School Counseling in the Classroom | |
CNS ED 6700 | Introduction to Addictive Behaviors and Addiction Counseling | |
CNS ED 6830 | Counseling African American Clients | |
CNS ED 6840 | Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in Counseling | |
CNS ED 6850 | Social Class and Poverty Issues in Counseling | |
CNS ED 6870 | Counseling and Cultural Competence in a Global Society | |
| Comprehensive Examination (Capstone Experience) 1 | ||
| Total Hours | 60 | |
- 1
Please consult with the Department office for requirements and dates of this examination.
Emily Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Emily Brown is an Assistant Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs. She received a BA from Wake Forest University, MA from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and she worked as an elementary school counselor before obtaining her PhD in Counselor Education from University of Tennessee. ...
Mary Edwin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Mary Edwin is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education in the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs. Prior to becoming a faculty member, Dr. Edwin served as a career counselor and an elementary and middle school counselor. Her research focuses on K-12 career development, career decision-making skills of undergraduate s...
Phillip Waalkes, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Phillip Waalkes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Sciences and Professional Programs. He received his bachelor's degree in English and Psychology from Hope College and his Master's in School Counseling from Western Carolina University. After working for about 5 years as a school counselor in a rural K-12 school, he ob...
- Counseling 13
- Master's 51
- Flexible Options 22
- Education Sciences and Professional Programs (ESPP) 41
- Fieldwork Included: Internship and/or Practicum 74
- School Counselor Career Path Program 5
- School Counselor Certification 5
- DESE School Counselor (Grades K-12) Certification 1
- Missouri Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) 4
- Main Campus 133
- Counseling 10
- National Certified Counselor (NCC) Credential 4
- Certification 75
- Graduate 115
- Masters 38