School of Education and Human Development University of Colorado Denver

Do you love helping adolescents and children? Is it your goal to act as a transformational school leader who advocates for students from all backgrounds in this diverse society supporting their personal, social, educational, and vocational goals? Then, this program can position you for success. The demand for qualified school counselors is expected to grow as school enrollments increase and school counselors take on expanded roles. Our program aims to educate competent school counselors who value inclusion and prize diversity. We’re looking for students who embody integrity and culturally-sensitive ethics in professional practice and who are committed to educational reform, educational equity, life-long learning, self-care and professional development. The rewards of working with students, teachers, parents, community members, local business leaders and administrators are tremendous, so we encourage you to join the field of school counseling! This CACREP-accredited master’s specialization is a rigorous program that includes coursework with faculty with outstanding national credentials and with relevant and cutting edge research to help you develop all the skills that you need to be an excellent counselor in today’s challenging school environments and our pluralistic society. This program also offers practica and field experiences designed to prepare you for state certification and licensure as a professional counselor. The practicum experience in this program are unmatched by any other counseling program in the state. That’s because UC Denver students get real-world counseling experience in our Counseling Center, with live supervision and constant feedback from licensed clinicians. For more information on a school counseling career, we suggest you visit The Education Trust’s National Center for Transforming School Counseling and the American School Counselor Association websites.

No prerequisite courses or degrees are required for this program. We take people from all educational backgrounds. To complete this program, you’ll take the required courses, practicum and internships. You’ll also take a comprehensive exam or write a thesis. You will be required to take the PLACE exam for school counselor licensure. And, you’ll have the option of taking the National Counselor Exam for licensure.

Successful completion of the MA degree requires a minimum of 63 graduate semester hours. Link to course list Link to program handbook Link to practicum manual Link to internship manual

Link to tuition page for graduate students.

Counseling Honors Program Chi Sigma Iota chapter Beta Alpha Omega is the counseling academic professional honor society. To qualify, you must have completed two semesters or twelve credit hours with a 3.5 GPA. The purpose of this group is to promote scholarship, leadership, professionalism and excellence in counseling in the field of mental health. The group provides a forum for students in the UC Denver Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education program to network, share common concerns, and recognize outstanding academic performance. We encourage you to get involved! You can become a member by going to www.csi-net.org and clicking on membership. Student contact: Kim Chidester, k_chidester@msn.com.

Our students go on to work in: Schools as school counselors/guidance counselors Private practice Community agencies