Admission requirements

Admission to the master’s degree programs in counseling is competitive because available facilities do not permit admission of all qualified applicants.

Admission to the master’s program in counseling is a three-stage process.

First, the student must be admitted to the Toulouse Graduate School. The general requirements for admission are specified in the College of Education section in this catalog. Second, applicants must submit a satisfactory GPA and scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to the Toulouse Graduate School prior to admission to the counseling program. Third, applicants must submit to the counseling program a counseling program application, three letters of recommendation (completed on special forms provided by the program), a writing sample, submission of GRE scores and any other program-specific admission materials. Contact the academic program for information concerning acceptable admission test scores.

All required admission materials must be filed in the program office by March 15 preceding the fall term/semester or October 15 preceding the spring term/semester, for which the applicant wishes to begin the program. Shortly after the application deadline, each applicant is required to participate in an orientation and interview session.

All students granted provisional admission to the master’s program are required to enroll in COUN 5710  during the first term/semester of enrollment in graduate school and must receive a grade of B or higher. Concurrent enrollment in COUN 5680  and COUN 5710  is encouraged. Students must receive a grade of B or higher in these two courses to be considered for full admission to the program.

Admission to the counseling program is provisional until the student’s progress is evaluated by the counseling faculty upon completion of COUN 5680 . The student’s progress is evaluated on the basis of the demonstration of adequate subject matter knowledge and the personal and interpersonal skills required for counseling. After the progress review, the counseling faculty either recommends that the student continue the program or reserves the right to withdraw the student from the program.

Following this initial evaluation, the student will be routinely evaluated on the criteria of knowledge, personal and interpersonal skills and counseling skills to determine if progress is adequate, if remedial work is needed or if the student should be withdrawn from the program.

Program requirements

The MEd degree requires a minimum of 48 semester hours, including successful completion of internship, COUN 5720 /COUN 5721 , and a final exit interview. All degree programs must be planned in consultation with the student’s advisor. Students are required to file a degree plan during their first term/semester of graduate study. Each master’s degree program requires an internship, COUN 5720 /COUN 5721 , in lieu of a thesis. The internship should be the last enrollment in the master’s program. Placement for the internship is selected in cooperation with the supervisor and must be approved by the program.

The college and university counseling program area (Denton campus only) and the community counseling program area (Dallas campus only) meet the educational requirements for licensure as a professional counselor in Texas. The elementary and secondary school counseling program areas meet the educational requirements for certification as a public school counselor in Texas; students who wish to pursue licensure as a professional counselor in Texas should enroll in COUN 5480  prior to graduation in addition to degree requirements. Students who wish to become licensed professional counselors or certified school counselors in Texas are required to have specified supervised experiences. Counseling program area heads should be consulted for details.