The Graduate Counseling Program offers two master’s degrees: Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling. The programs are designed to prepare mental health or school counselors for licensure or certification. While the following provides general guidelines as to academic standards and policies, students should reference specific information described under the specific programs. 

Programmatic Outcomes

Students will demonstrate proficiency in: 

  1. Orientation/Ethics
  2. Social and Cultural Diversity
  3. Human Growth and Development
  4. Career Development
  5. Counseling and Helping Relationships
  6. Group Counseling
  7. Assessment and Testing
  8. Research and Program Evaluation

Admission Requirements Include

  • Completed graduate application and fees including transcripts, resume, and an essay detailing reasons for choosing a counseling. If the student is enrolled or has recently been enrolled in an academic program of study the letter should be from a faculty member or advisor familiar with the applicant’s academic performance.
  • One Letter of Recommendation from a professional in a position to judge the applicant's academic preparation for and ability to undertake graduate study. 
  • Two additional references with contact information of people who may speak to the applicant's ability to undertake graduate study.
  • Baccalaureate or advanced degree with minimum 3.0 GPA. If applicants have not earned at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in their undergraduate or graduate programs, they may be required to submit a minimum score of 402 on the Miller Analogies Test or a minimum of 300 (V+Q) on the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination. Scores below the above criteria may be considered individually.
  • Alternative to Test Score for applicants whose previous academic experience was more than five years ago and GPA was below 3.0: Applicants may provide evidence of continued success in learning through formal coursework or job training. This will be considered as an alternative to the testing requirement listed above. Any admission under this alternative will be conditional upon successful completion of the first nine credit hours with all course grades of B or better and a successful first-semester Professional Performance Review.
  • Individual and group Interviews may be required.

Status

An applicant’s admission status is one of the following:

Regular. Students whose applications are complete and who are accepted by the Graduate Admissions Committee without condition are admitted as regular graduate students.

Conditional: In reviewing a candidate’s application, the Graduate Admissions Committee may recommend that a student be accepted on a conditional basis. The letter of acceptance will contain the conditions that must be met before the student can be reclassified for regular status.

Non-degree: This status is assigned to those students who are taking Husson University graduate courses for professional development or personal enrichment, but do not plan to formally apply to a program of study.  Admission as a non-degree student does not necessarily mean that the student will be accepted as a regular student when and if application is made for such status. No more than 6 hours in non-degree status may be applied toward the master’s degree. Admission to non-degree status requires the submission of official undergraduate transcripts.

 

Academic Standards

Grades: Students must maintain a “B” average (3.0). Specified required core and skills courses and all field experiences require a B to pass (see Student Handbook). A student whose average falls below 3.0 or who earns a grade lower than a "B-" will be reviewed by the Graduate Counseling Faculty,  which may dismiss the student or determine the conditions under which the student may continue in the program. A student who has not attained a grade point average of 3.0 or better at the end of his or her program of study will not graduate.

Repeating a Course: A student who does not achieve the grade requirement for a course must repeat the course in order to graduate from the program. Students may repeat a course only one time. The newly earned grade will replace the original grade in the calculation of a student's cumulative grade-point average; however, the former grade is retained as originally recorded in the student's transcript. Students cannot repeat a course that has been removed from the curriculum unless another course has been designated as an approved alternative for the deleted course.

Transfer Credit

Nine credits of appropriate graduate-level course work, earned within five years of entry into the Husson program, may be transferred from an accredited institution, if the grades earned in such course work are “B” or better. Credits must comply with program accreditation standards as determined by program faculty. Special circumstances will be dealt with on an individual basis.