Post-Master's Certification in School Counseling

Chairperson
Dr. Catherine B. Roland

Graduate Program Coordinator
Dr. Catherine B. Roland

The Post-Master's Certificate in School Counseling Program is designed to fulfill state-level and national standards for School Counselors. This program meets the highest professional standards according to the Department of Education State of New Jersey, and the national accrediting body, CACREP.

Minimum Requirements: This is a post-Master's program, requiring a Master's in counseling or counselor education from an accredited U.S. college or university. This certificate is designed to supplement a Master's degree in Counseling with the school-pertinent credit hours necessary in attaining a State of New Jersey School Counselor Certification. Included in the Master's degree must be a two-semester Counseling Internship experience of 600 total hours (300 each semester) in a non-school setting. If this is not the case, those internship hours/courses will be additional to the requirements.

**NOTE: This certificate will provide the additional courses that are required, with the number and type of required credits being dependent upon the number of appropriate credits gained for the initial Master's degree, as well as the setting in which the internship hours were earned. Please refer to the attached Certificate Check Sheet, which lists all of the requirements of the MA in School Counseling Concentration from MSU, approved by the State of NJ.

Each matriculated certificate student will be advised on an individual basis in choosing the most appropriate courses for her/him. Students may be required to take additional credits to reflect current State of New Jersey and MSU requirements for the certification as a school counselor, as per the Check Sheet. Course substitutions may be approved depending on transcript review of the Master's degree, by the Post-Master's in School Counseling Program Advisor, and The Graduate Admissions & Support Services.

Core Courses

COUN 583, Counseling in Schools (Ed Guidance), 3 credits
COUN 581, Community Resources, 3 credits
Either (choose one, with advisor approval , based on state requirements)
ELRS 578, Testing and Evaluation, 3 credits
COUN 564, Counseling Children and Adolescents, 3 credits
ELRS 580, Learning Process and Measurement, 3 credits
PSYC 565, Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 3 credits

Electives (choice(s) must have approval of advisor, based on state requirements)
COUN 584, Introduction to Alcohol and Drug Counseling
COUN 540, Group Counseling: Theories and Practice
PSYC 560, Advanced Educational Psych
PSYC 561, Developmental Psychology

Internship: 6 credits

Students who have not completed a faculty-approved, 600 hour, K-12 internship, will also need to complete COUN 654 Internship I and COUN 674 Internship II, in addition to required coursework as stated above.  This requirement is a mandate from the State Board of Education in NJ.  Approval from the Advisor for the Post Master's Certificate Program must be given to apply for internship.

TOTAL Semester Hours: 12 - 24

Note: The State of NJ requires a full Master's in Counseling to become eligible for a School Counseling Certification. For students not having the clinical pre requisites required by Montclair State University's CACREP-equivalent program, additional hours might be necessary. Each fully matriculated student will receive personal advising as to the best path.

All students seeking admittance into the Post Master's certificates in Advanced Counseling and School Counseling must formally apply to the certificate programs by completing The Graduate Admissions & Support Services's admission application. Pre-admit status or non-degree status is not available for either of the two Counseling Post-Masters Certificates.

TO APPLY TO THIS PROGRAM, PLEASE VISIT http://www.montclair.edu/graduate/prospective/app.shtml