Counselor Education Program

The NC State University Counselor Education Program is a multicultural and diverse learning community. Our program integrates and operates from our values of diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, advocacy, collaboration, leadership, technology and community engagement in our teaching, research, scholarship and service. We have a long, rich history as leaders in counseling and counselor education, responsive to the counseling needs of North Carolina, the United States and the world.

Established in 1946, with a foundation rooted in developmental theory, school counseling and career development, our program has evolved and emerged as an innovator of multicultural and social justice counseling. A prominent example of our innovation is the Community Counseling, Education, and Research Center (CCERC) of the NC State Counselor Education Program, with the vision of a national model for world class, multicultural and social justice — counseling, supervision, education, training, research and advocacy.

We offer the following programs:

Master’s Programs (offered online and on-campus)

Doctoral Programs

Counseling and Counselor Education

Mission and Values

Our mission and values are demonstrated in every area of our counselor education program:

We develop multicultural and social justice counseling competent counselors, counselor educators and clinical supervisors.
We collaborate with school, college and community partners to support the holistic wellness of children, adolescents, adults, students and families.
We advocate for healthier, safer and anti-racist communities committed to social justice and the elimination of oppression.
We value our faculty and students and the diversity they bring to our counseling community with respect to racial, ethnic, national, gender, generational, age and sexual identities, and the intersection of these identities. Further, we engage in inclusive teaching, research and service opportunities that seek to serve the interests of all within our state, national and global communities. We seek to build community and facilitate collegial collaboration between students and faculty.
We recruit master’s and doctoral students who share our mission and values and whose experiences and expertise allow for meaningful contributions to enhance our community, our services and our program, as well as the greater good.
We enhance the experiences of students, strengthen relationships between faculty and students, improve our program and impact local and professional communities through our active student organizations: Nu Sigma Chi chapter of Chi Sigma Iota Counseling, Academic, and Professional Honor Society International, and Doctoral Student Advisory Board.
We follow a multicultural, strengths-based, wellness-focused, developmental, trauma-informed, social justice, prevention and early intervention framework to create an optimal learning environment for all students.
We utilize an ongoing, comprehensive and systematic assessment plan to ensure equity and transparency, as well as to continually improve our program and address areas for growth. Our assessment plan follows the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) program evaluation standards.
We prepare students across specializations for their professional careers. From 2013-2020, 93% of students passed the National Counselor Examination on their first attempt.

MASTER OF EDUCATION

Counselor Education — Male High School Tutor With Two Students At Desk In Seminar

The Program offers the three master’s degrees in college, clinical mental health, and school counseling are offered as on-campus and online deliveries. Students may choose one of these two delivery options. Both the on-campus and online platforms require the completion of identical 60 credits curricular requirements.

If you want a flexible learning experience, the online delivery may be right for you. Our innovative online delivery requires the students to study from Moodle, an online learning platform as well as to meet weekly in a live web conference session for a variety of learning activities including counseling practice, role-plays, and presentations. If accepted into the online counseling graduate program, you must complete the program, including a practicum and internship in North Carolina. You must be physically present in North Carolina for the period of the program, including a practicum and internship. Additionally, license requirements are different in each state and therefore we can only admit students who intend to work in North Carolina.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Adopting the School-College-Community Collaboration Model, we prepare students who can work with professionals in different fields to promote wellness and benefits of the clients. In addition to the traditional core on developmental theory and the design and implementation of preventive interventions based on this theory, the program focuses on clinical counseling theory and practice. Another major focus is the commitment to multicultural diversity, which is reflected in the required coursework and in the faculty-student community

College Counseling and Student Development

This program prepares persons for counseling and advising positions in student service agencies in colleges and universities such as counseling center, advising office, career services, and diversity office. The faculty and students of the program enjoy an excellent relationship with professionals in the University Counseling Center, and the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, and many opportunities for relevant experience are provided through internships in the various agencies.

School Counseling

Adopting the School-College-Community Collaboration Model, we prepare students to work as school counselors will demonstrate the professional knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of all K–12 students. In addition to the traditional core on developmental theory and the design and implementation of preventive interventions based on this theory.

DOCTORAL

Counseling and Counselor Education

The doctoral CACREP-accredited program in Counseling and Counselor Education [Ph.D.] is designed to prepare dedicated, knowledgeable, skillful, ethically responsible, and socially and culturally aware professionals for the 21st century. We seek talented and engaged students, with diverse counseling and counseling-related professional experiences, who are committed to teaching, research, scholarship, technology, leadership, collaboration, advocacy, multiculturalism and social justice in counseling and counselor education. Our graduates will become scholars, administrators and leaders who will design, implement and evaluate innovative counseling and educational projects or services focused on the empowerment of marginalized populations and the promotion of equity and fairness worldwide.

Graduate Certificate