Some of us are just natural helpers. If you're ready to channel your compassion for others into a career, our M.S.Ed. in counseling can prepare you to empower diverse individuals, couples, families and groups to accomplish their mental health, wellness, educational and professional goals. Our program equips you with a variety of skills and strategies that will make a difference in schools, hospitals, communities and the private sector. Areas of study include clinical mental health counseling or school counseling. Graduate certificates are available in trauma-informed counseling. We are approved by the State Department of Public Instruction to endorse school counselors for professional educator licensing in Illinois. We are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.
Program admissions is for the fall semester only. You must apply for our program through the NIU Graduate School, and if invited, attend the Pre-Admissions Workshop. For admission to graduate school, you'll need to identify your intended degree specialization and submit your application with two letters of recommendation, completion of the M.S.Ed. applicant essay, transcripts and résumé. A test of English proficiency will also be requested if you are an international applicant. The deadline for fall is Jan. 8.
As you have carefully considered your interests, determination, and capacities to pursue admissions consideration, respond to the following essay prompts using the writing guidelines.
The Counseling Faculty are committed to preparing multiculturally competent counseling professionals for school, community, and higher education settings who can facilitate positive change in the development and interactions of diverse individuals throughout their lifespans. The Faculty are also committed to the generation and application of knowledge about counseling and related issues and techniques.
Objective one – common core courses: Students will demonstrate mastery of a common core of knowledge and skills in counseling. this common core involves coursework in such areas as (a) human growth and development, (b) social and cultural foundations, (c) groups, (d) career and lifestyle development, (e) research and program evaluation, (f) professional orientation and (g) appraisal.
Objective two - experiential courses: Students will be able to demonstrate effective use of counseling skills for a selected setting. Specific courses that address this objective are: Supervised Experiences (9 credit hours required)*
Objective three - specialization courses: Students will demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills in a selected area of professional preparation (12 hours in clinical mental health counseling or school counseling coursework and electives).
We take pride in helping you move in a timely manner through our program regardless of full- or part-time status. During your program of study, you will:
All M.S.Ed. Counseling students learn the core knowledge complete coursework for professional counseling licensure eligibility in the state of Illinois.
We promote best practices in the preparation of educators, advocates and leaders. Our alumni are committed to what graduate preparation should encompass: understanding the past, advancing the present, and modeling for the future. In Clinical Mental Health Counseling, you'll learn to assist clients in resolving psychological disorders and/or developmental issues through crisis intervention, remediation and/or primary prevention interventions.
In School Counseling, you'll become eligible to sit for the Professional Educator License with an Endorsement in School Counseling that allows working in the areas of social/emotional development, academic success and career readiness as a K-12 school counselor in Illinois.
Both the Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling degree specialization programs are 60 credit hour CACREP accredited programs under the 2016 standards. Program courses are offered on a standard curriculum course rotation.
The Illinois State Board of Education requires additional preparation for school counselor candidates in classroom-based intervention. Program faculty will advise you on integrating this content with core counseling coursework.
Course # | Course Title | Fall | Spring | Summer |
---|---|---|---|---|
500 | Professional Identity and Ethics in Counseling | Combined | N/A | N/A |
501 | Diagnosis of Mental Health Issues in Counseling | Combined | N/A | N/A |
510 | Counseling Skills Across the Lifespan | Combined | N/A | N/A |
511 | Career Counseling | N/A | N/A | Combined |
513 | Postsecondary and College Counseling for School Counselors | Combined | N/A | N/A |
521 | Counseling Children | Combined | N/A | N/A |
523 | School Counseling: Programs, Issues and Practices | N/A | Combined | N/A |
524 | CMHC: Programs, Issues, and Practices | N/A | Combined | N/A |
525 | Counseling Skills and Strategies | N/A | Combined | N/A |
530 | Counseling Theories | Combined | N/A | N/A |
532 | Evidence Informed Practice in Counseling | N/A | N/A | Combined |
533X | Standardized Testing | N/A | N/A | Combined |
540 | Group Counseling Theories and Procedures | N/A | Combined | N/A |
550 | Practicum in Counseling (time intensive course) | CMHC specialty section | SC specialty section | N/A |
565 | Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling | N/A | Combined | N/A |
567 | Substance Use and Addictions in Counseling | N/A | Combined | N/A |
570 | Consult. & Man. in Dev. School Counseling Programs | Combined | N/A | N/A |
586 | Internship in Counseling (6 credit hours over two semesters) | Combined | Combined | Combined |
593 | Crisis Intervention (8 week online course) | N/A | N/A | Combined |
784X | Theoretical Foundations of Family Therapy | N/A | Combined | N/A |
On an annual basis, 70-100 eligible applicants apply for admissions to the master's level counseling degree programs. The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program averages 50 to 60 degree program enrolled students. The School Counseling program averages 40-50 degree program enrolled students.
Counseling faculty work to recruit and admit diverse student populations. Note: NIU collects race/sex demographic information based on students' legal classifications. However, in alliance with NIU's stated commitment to diversity and inclusion, we recognize that our students, faculty and staff may identify beyond the demographics listed.
Self-reported counseling student race and sex last year included:
Race/Ethnicity | Women | Men |
---|---|---|
African-American or Black | 11% | 2% |
Asian-American | 2% | 3% |
Caucasian or White | 48% | 25% |
Hispanic, Latino or Spanish-American | 6% | 1% |
The NIU Counselor Educator team includes seven full-time faculty and two instructors of counseling. Professors of counseling represent not only diversity of multicultural intersectionality, but also diversity of counseling approaches and research interests.
Counselor education program faculty review various program and student outcome data points each year to determine the continuation of our changes in program delivery design. This annual review report (DOCX) includes:
Our program is designed to meet the needs of a diverse body of degree-seeking students. We offer the majority of our classes on late afternoons and evenings to serve the working population of our students. Most classes are offered at our main campus in DeKalb, but some classes may be offered at our satellite sites in Rockford and Naperville. We take pride in helping you move swiftly through this program. Faculty and staff are available to assist with coursework, internships, practicums and assistantships. We believe a collaborative student-faculty relationship enhances your experience in our master's degree program.
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program graduated 13 students last year with a 92% completion rate. And 100% of our clinical mental health students passed their licensure examination and 100% found job placement after graduation.
The School Counseling program graduated four students last year with a 100% completion rate. Approximately 98% of our school counseling students passed their licensure examination and 100% found job placement after graduation.