Master of Education in Counseling, School

Cleveland State University's school counseling program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The program is based on the conceptual framework of the School Counselor as a Facilitator of Human Development and Professional Program Manager. This model envisions the professional school counselor as a program manager who has the skills to assess, develop, improve, manage, and evaluate a counseling program that is comprehensive and based on the development of student competencies. The foci of the comprehensive program are developmental (activities provided for all students to foster their development), preventive (activities centered on the identification of students who are highly at risk of acquiring blocks to their development and removal of those blocks), and remedial (activities to help students who are struggling with problems that are impeding their development).

The school counseling program at Cleveland State University is a forty-eight-semester-hour concentration leading to a Master of Education degree. Our accrediting body (CACREP) has required that all School Counseling programs be 60 credit hours by the year 2023. We will make this change July 1, 2023. There are two paths to licensure as a school counselor in the State of Ohio. One track is for licensed or certified teachers and the other track is for non-teachers.

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CASAL Department
Phone: 216.687.4613
casal@csuohio.edu

Admission Requirements

  • Application Form
  • Application Fee
  • Undergraduate Transcripts
  • For all programs that do not lead to a teaching license through the Ohio Department of Education, candidates must have a score at the 50th percentile on the Miller Analogies Test or on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of Graduate Record Examination. However, a student applying for any program except Counseling is exempt from this requirement if:
     
    • The baccalaureate degree is less than six years old at the time of application AND the undergraduate cumulative grade-point average is at least 2.75; OR
    • The baccalaureate degree is more than six years old at the time of application AND the undergraduate cumulative grade-point average is at least 3.0; OR
    • The student has completed twelve or more semester credits of Cleveland State graduate course work (including EDB 601  or HPR 601 ) AND received a grade of B- or better in EDB 601  or HPR 601  with a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 and grades of B or better in the other courses.
  • To be admitted to a teaching licensure program in the College of Education and Human Services as a graduate student, all candidates must satisfy the following requirements:
    • Test requirement.  Candidates must receive acceptable scores within the past six years on one of the following content knowledge tests, demonstrating performance in approximately the top 50% of the national distribution:
      • ACT: math 20, reading 20, English 20
      • SAT:  math 510, reading 500, writing 490
      • Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators (CASE):  math 150, reading 156, writing 162
      • GRE:  quantitative 152, verbal 151, writing 3.5
      • Miller Analogies Test: 50th percentile rank for total group
    • Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better. 
      • Candidates admitted as a non-degree graduate student must earn a GPA of 3.0 or above after completing 12 graduate credit hours, including EDB 601, and satisfying all other licensure program admissions to be admitted into a licensure program.
    • Proficiency in math and English at the college level.
      • Grade of B- or better in a college level math and college level English class.   (Candidates for the Chinese language teaching licensure are required to satisfy the program's TOEFL admission requirements in lieu of this requirement.)
    • Background check. 
      • All prospective licensure candidates must pay for an initial BCI/FBI check at the time of their initial visit to the Education Student Services Center (except for MUST and international students, who are required to have a BCI/FBI check prior to starting their first field experience).  Throughout their licensure program, candidates are required to pay for and complete additional BCI/FBI fingerprinting checks to ensure that a valid report is always on file with the Office of Field Services as required for field placement. Prospective candidates with criminal records indicating convicted offenses considered by the Ohio Department of Education to be "absolute bars" to licensure will be denied acceptance to the college and any registration permissions for subsequent semesters will be revoked.  Prospective candidates with criminal records indicating convicted offenses eligible for rehabilitation will be referred to the Ohio Department of Education Office of Professional Conduct to determine whether they will be able to obtain a teaching license.
    • Post-baccalaureate and graduate candidates who complete all academic content courses prior to CSU professional course work (e.g. adolescent/young adult or middle grades licensure areas) must take and pass the relevant Ohio Assessments for Educators content knowledge assessment prior to admission.  Candidates who need to take content courses at Cleveland State are allowed to take content knowledge assessments prior to student teaching.

-International students are required to have met at least one of the following English language proficiency requirements:

  • TOEFL iBT (Internet-Based): 78 (including at least 20 in reading, 21 in listening, 17 in writing, and 20 in speaking)
  • TOEFL PBT (Paper-Based): 550
  • IELTS: 6.0 and at least 5.0 in each section
  • PTE (Pearson’s Test of English): 50
  • iTEP: 5.0

Admission Deadlines

All applications must be submitted and complete on the following application deadline dates:

  • Domestic Students
    • Rolling
  • International Students
    • Fall Semester - May 15th
    • Spring Semester - October 15th
    • Summer Semester - March 15th

 

Program Requirements

  • CNS 620 - Laboratory in Counseling Techniques —first course to be taken after acceptance into the Counseling Program 
  • CNS 523 - Small Group Laboratory
  • CNS 622 - Individual Counseling: Theory & Process
  • EDB 601 - Educational Research
  • CNS 504 - Cultural & Social Foundations in Counseling
  • CNS 517 - Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling
  • CNS 578 - Foundations of School Counseling
  • CNS 679 - Program Development and Management in School Counseling
  • ALD 603 - Lifespan Development
  • CNS 622 - Individual Counseling: Theory & Process
  • CNS 670 - Counseling Children & Adolescents
  • CNS 623 - Group Process and Practice
  • Note: Active involvement in a personal growth group is usually a required part of this course. 
  • CNS 505 - Appraisal Counseling
  • CNS 706 - Psychopathology and Diagnosis for Counselors
  • CNS 524 - Career Development & Information Services
  • CNS 685 - Internship in School Counseling
  • CNS 681 - School Counseling Practicum
  • 2 elective credits
Did You Know? 

Employment of school and career counselors is projected to grow 13 percent from 2016 to 2026.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

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Career Outcomes

  • Students will be prepared to serve as professional school counselors who has the skills to assess, develop, improve, manage, and evaluate a counseling program.
  • This program helps students to develop the necessary skills to support the social and emotional well-being and the growth of children and adolescents in the school environment. Students learn therapeutic and counseling theory and techniques. Students also gain skills in problem-solving, communication, and collaboration. 
  • These are some of the local institutions that are hiring CSU grads: Wingspan Care Group, Cleveland State University, Ohio Connections Academy, ACCEL Schools, Elyria Community Elementary, and Cleveland Heights School District.