Academic Catalog
The College of Education (COE) offers a Master of Arts (M.A.) in School Counseling that is approved by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). The School Counseling program is designed to prepare graduates to implement comprehensive, research-based school counseling programs that reflect national standards; notably those of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Specialized Professional Association (SPA) under the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The program is designed for the continued professional development of persons presently serving or who have an interest in serving children and adolescents in a school setting as professional School Counselors.
Students in the School Counseling program take coursework in the areas of child development and learning, legal and ethical issues of the profession, college and career development/readiness, school counseling, appraisal methods, school counseling theories, group work, school counseling techniques, school counseling research, and program evaluation. Additional specialized courses focusing on school counseling are offered in areas such as internship, special populations, consultation, leadership, accountability, supervision, and professional development. Students are engaged in field-based activities during almost every term of enrollment. Students make progress through the program as a cohort and may complete this program in two years.
The program begins in the fall term for students who are fully teacher certified at the time of graduation. Students who do not have a Florida Professional Teaching Certificate need to take two additional courses required by the FLDOE for certification prior to graduation from the School Counseling program, which we highly recommend that students complete in the previous summer semester before beginning in the fall. All graduates meet all requirements for certification as PK-12 school counselors and are ready for employment upon graduation.
Satisfaction of minimum University and program requirements does not guarantee admission to a graduate program. Applicants should check with the program for the most up to date admission requirements prior to commencing the application process. Once open, you can start the process online at /admissionsandaid/graduateadmissions/.
Program Admission Requirements
- Submit an FGCU Graduate Admissions Application and satisfy all applicable university admissions requirements.
- Earned baccalaureate degree from an institution that maintains accreditation by a U.S. Department of Education sanctioned accrediting body () or equivalent foreign institution.
- A grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for the last 60 semester hours attempted accruing to the undergraduate degree.
- Applicants with a 3.0 GPA and above are exempt from taking the GRE or MAT. Applicants below a 3.0 GPA must submit a GRE or MAT report taken within the last five years. For complete information on the GRE, visit their web-site at http://www.gre.org/. If you have any questions on the GRE procedures and regulations, contact the Educational Testing Service. You can also get important information about the MAT from the FGCU website. If you need accommodations, please visit the FGCU Adaptive Services website at /adaptive/.
- Applicants with Florida Teacher or Educator certification are required to submit evidence of their certificate.
- Submission of three recommendations from professionals in the field using the department's recommendation form. Letters of recommendation submitted in addition to the department's recommendation form are optional. You can download the recommendation form template here FGCU School Counseling Graduate Program Recommendation Form.
- Performance in courses taken post baccalaureate will be taken into consideration for admission to the School Counseling Program.
- A brief (2-3 pages, double spaced) Statement of Purpose. This essay should answer the question, "Out of all the many ways I can help children and families with their academic, career, social, and emotional development, why school counseling?" This statement serves both as a writing sample and a demonstration of your thoughtful approach and decision to school counseling as a profession.
- An individual interview as scheduled by the school counseling program admissions committee after all other parts of the application are complete (you will be contacted by phone or email).
- International students must demonstrate English language proficiency in accordance with University regulation.
Criminal Record Policy Statement: All applicants are advised that in order to complete the school counseling program they must complete internships. Most internship sites (i.e., schools) do background checks and will not permit the placement of school counselor interns with criminal records. The department reserves the right to deny program admission to any applicant if it appears that applicant is unlikely to be able to complete the internship requirement due to a criminal record, thus inhibiting their ability to complete the program.
Once your application is submitted you will receive confirmation within five business days. You may check the status of your application by using our online application check at .
Deadline: Priority application review begins on February 1 of each year. Qualified applications submitted thereafter will be reviewed and may be admitted on a space available basis.
- Students must satisfactorily complete the number of credits specified by the graduate degree program.
- A grade of B or higher must be earned in all graduate program courses used as prerequisites and each of the required courses.
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher in all work attempted.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 for all coursework in program.
- Students must complete and pass a culminating demonstration of learning and competence at the end of the program, currently the Florida School Counseling PK-12 (018) Subject Area Examination. Students seeking certification must fully demonstrate Florida Educator Accomplished Practices as part of their supervised field experiences (i.e., internship).
- Students seeking certification by graduating from a state approved program must show evidence of passing all the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) components as required by the state of Florida. These include the FTCE, taken by all applicants applying for an initial teaching certificate (i.e., if you are not a teacher certified), and the Florida School and Counseling PK-12 (018) Subject Area Examination.
- The COE limits the transfer of coursework into its graduate programs to a maximum of 12 credits or three courses. To be considered, courses must have been completed with a minimum grade of B and no more than seven years prior to the date of entry into the graduate program and no more than ten years prior to graduation from the graduate program.
- Submit an application for graduation by the semester deadline listed in the FGCU Academic Calendar.
- Students must register for a minimum of one credit during the semester in which they apply for graduation.
- Earn more than 50% of the credits toward the degree through FGCU.
- Earn a minimum of 45 credits.
Required Courses in the Major (45 credits)
SDS 6010 Intro to School Counseling (3)
SDS 6068 Develop Aspects of Learn & Beh (3)
SDS 6200 Appraisal in School Counseling (3)
SDS 6338 Sch Couns College/Career Dev (3)
SDS 6406 School Coun Theory/Techniques (3)
SDS 6415 School Counseling Techniques (3)
SDS 6418 Sch Couns Ldrship Acct & Supv (3)
SDS 6425 Sch Couns Special Populations (3)
SDS 6515 Grp Wrk for School Counselors (3)
SDS 6600 Consult & Collab Prob Solving (3)
SDS 6635 Sch Couns Research & Prog Eval (3)
SDS 6705 School Couns Leg/Ethical Iss (3)
SDS 6830 School Counseling Internship (9)*
*Nine (9) total credits of SDS 6830 are required for graduation; these are typically accrued over multiple semesters.
Other Requirements (6 credits)
For non-certified or certificate eligible teachers (6 credits): In addition to the above required courses, students who have not otherwise established competencies in Reading, Instruction, and ESOL as specified by the Florida Department of Education must complete the following 6 credits (usually taken in the fall semester and/or spring but under advisement may be taken in the summer prior to matriculation):
EDG 6356 Inst Models and Strategies (3)
RED 5147L Developmental Reading (3)*
Note: *Requires 15 hours of field observation in a school setting during the day.