Veronica Johnson, Chair

The Counselor Education program educates students for employment in school (K-12 and higher education) and community mental health and human service settings.  At the doctoral level, students are trained as counselor educators in faculty positions in higher education and in leadership positions in the counseling profession.  Counselors are practitioners, consultants, and coordinators who assist in problem solving, decision-making, personal growth and development, in individual, family school, and/or career issues. Counselors receive training in the eight core areas identified by the American Counseling Association Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs:

1. Human growth and development,
2. Social and cultural foundations,
3. The helping relationship,
4. Group theories and methods,
5. Career and lifestyle development,
6. Client assessment and evaluation,
7. Research and program evaluation, and
8. Ethics and professional orientation.

At the Master’s level, we offer a School Counseling M.A. and a Clinical Mental Health Counseling M.A.  Both options requires additional specialty courses and comprehensive written and oral examinations focused on the student's career track. The more advanced graduate degrees (Ed.S., Ed.D., and Ph.D.) develop depth, supervisory, and leadership skills in these areas.

The M.A., Ed.S., Ed.D., and Ph.D. are offered in Counselor Education.  Information regarding specific requirements and program options is available from the Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences website. For more information, please refer to the University of Montana Graduate Programs and Admissions Catalog. Graduate programs are accredited by NCATE and CACREP.

Admission to Counseling

Applicants for this program should contact the Department for more specific admissions information. Requirements include official transcripts from all undergraduate and graduate institutions attended; three current letters of recommendation; and a letter of application stating academic and professional background, purpose in obtaining the degree, and thoughts about eventual employment and career direction. Applicants have the option to include GRE scores. Priority deadline for the M.A. programs is February 1^st and for December 15^th for the Ed.D. and Ph.D. programs.  Admission is competitive. 

Certification Requirements

The Counselor Education, M.A., School Counseling option, leads to licensure at the Class VI level.  The Counselor Education M.A. for Clinical Mental Health Counseling prepares graduates for licensure candidacy as Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors (LCPC) in the state of Montana.