Master of Arts in School Counseling

Guide the Next Generation of Students to Success

School counselors play an important role in students’ lives. Tasked with the personal and academic well-being of the students in their care, school counselors often act as one-stop shops for mental health, social and emotional support, college and career guidance and personal reference.

The University of Texas at Tyler’s Master of Arts in school counseling equips you with the fundamental counseling tools, cultural sensitivity and leadership skills to make a positive impact in each student’s education. Our rigorous program prepares you for the School Counselor TExES certification exam and enhances your ability to help a child thrive in a school setting. As you think about your impact on the future of Texas, this program prepares you to collaborate with teachers, fellow staff members and parents to advocate for a child’s success and design and implement comprehensive school counseling programs that foster student wellness, academic growth and community engagement.

Why Earn an MA in School Counseling From UT Tyler?

You may want to use your mentorship talents in a different capacity and work one-on-one with students in other aspects of their developmental growth. Or, you may seek to shape and direct the school environment, where you can contribute to equal learning opportunities and encourage a welcoming, supportive community.

Whatever your goals may be, UT Tyler’s school counseling program helps you reach them:

100% Online: Complete your degree via a student-friendly online format that easily adjusts to your lifestyle. Courses use a mix of synchronous, semi-synchronous and asynchronous learning that incorporates interactive tools. Most online classes are held in the evening to align with the schedules of working professionals.
Highly Effective: Prepare for the School Counselor TExES certification exam while meeting the requirements for your degree. Our program has a 100% pass rate — an above-average rate for the state.
Time Efficient: Begin your studies during the summer semester and make quick progress through our block sequence of courses to graduate within two years.
Focus on Serving All Learners: Emphasis on the ethnographic, demographic and status differences that can impact a child’s education experience reduces bias in care and enhances your effectiveness as a counselor.
Experiential: Apply your newly acquired knowledge with 500 onsite hours of supervised counseling experience in a local school.
Networking Opportunities: Meet other professionals and stay up to date with the latest developments by becoming a student member of the American School Counselor Association.
Outstanding Faculty: Learn from top-tier counselor educators with backgrounds as certified school counselors and licensed professional counselors who lead the field through their insights and conduct influential research. Professors offer one-on-one guidance throughout your studies.

Curriculum

The MA in school counseling consists of 48 credit hours. Coursework develops advanced proficiency in counseling theories and their applications, comprehensive school counseling programs, intervention strategies, assessment tests and evaluation techniques, program development and implementation, mental health knowledge and child development. For all classes, the curriculum aligns with Texas School Counselor standards and American School Counselor Association guidelines. The material also prepares you to sit for the counselor certification set forth by the Texas State Board for Educator Certification. UT Tyler’s program has a 100% pass rate, showing our graduates are among the best prepared in Texas.

In addition to coursework, the MA in school counseling includes a three-part fieldwork component, during which you work supervised in a school setting.

Review All Course Requirements for the MA in School Counseling

Visit the Department of Psychology and Counseling

Careers in School Counseling

More and more school districts understand the value of a robust team of school counselors to prepare students to face complex challenges in today’s environment. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for school counselors could grow by as much as 5% in the next decade — an above-average rate. While the job can be demanding, school counselors benefit from consistent schedules, low unemployment and the satisfaction of doing meaningful work.

School counselors can find roles in public and private schools and work with elementary, middle and high school students. In addition to general social and emotional support, counselors provide college and career guidance as students think about what’s next.

How to Apply

Graduate Admission Requirements

To be admitted to UT Tyler’s Master of Arts in school counseling program, a prospective student must submit all undergraduate and graduate official transcripts, a completed department information sheet, a Statement of Purpose essay (described on the Department Information Sheet linked under Application Instructions), a Statement on Supporting All Students, three completed professional reference forms and an admission screening survey.

International Applicants: If the applicant's bachelor's degree is from a non-U.S. institution, a listed service must evaluate it. Also, a total TOEFL iBT score of 79 with a speaking subsection score of 26 or higher is necessary for admission.

Transcripts

Submit complete official transcripts reflecting the reception of a bachelor's degree and any other undergraduate and graduate coursework. Applicants must have an overall OR last-60-hour GPA of 2.75 or better for consideration for admission to this program. Students should request previous institutions send official academic transcripts to the Office of Graduate Admissions at gradadmissions@uttyler.edu. Any request by the student for acceptance of graduate transfer credit should go to SCgraduate@uttyler.edu.

Application Instructions

There are three portions of the application process:

First:

Start by applying through our online application after Sept. 1, 2023.

Then:

After you have submitted your application, send all of the following directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions at the address below:
- All official academic transcripts for undergraduate and graduate coursework. You must have an overall OR last-60-hour GPA of 2.75 or better for consideration for admission to this program.
- Completed Department Information Sheet and Statement of Purpose. Both are required fields. Please do not complete the Department Information Sheet until you are also ready to submit the Statement of Purpose. Please be aware that admission into this program is a competitive process; therefore, you should be thorough in your responses. The prompts for the essays are as follows:
  - Statement of Purpose: "Describe your future educational and career goals, and explain how the school counseling program at UT Tyler fits into these goals. How does the school counseling program correspond to your particular plans, needs and previous background and experiences?"
A completed reference request form. Do not submit until you have completed your application and you have a student ID. Please select professional references rather than personal references.

Email documents to gradadmissions@uttyler.edu or mail them to the following address:

The Office of Graduate Admissions, HPR 248
The University of Texas at Tyler
3900 University Blvd
Tyler, TX 75799

Finally:

Once all application materials are submitted as indicated above, complete the Admission Screening Survey. Please be very thorough in your responses.

You may be subject to a background and fingerprint check from a university-approved vendor at the applicants' expense.

This program does not offer provisional admission. You must be fully admitted to begin coursework.

Deadlines

We begin accepting applications for the May 2024 cohort in September 2023. The Office of Graduate Admissions accepts applications until Feb. 16, 2024. All application materials must be submitted and received no later than March 1, 2024, for consideration for the May 2024 cohort. The university will not consider applications submitted after Feb. 16, 2024, and you must reapply for consideration for the 2025 cohort. Application fees are nonrefundable.

Application review begins on March 1, 2024, and UT Tyler sends offers of admission by March 29, 2024.

Admission to this program is a competitive process. The Office of Graduate Admissions holistically evaluates all submitted materials to make a decision.

Criminal History Acknowledgment

As required by Texas HB1508, applicants need to be aware of the following:

In order to receive a school counseling certification, you must pass a criminal history background check.
If you were convicted of an offense considered not appropriate for a school counselor, you could be ineligible to earn this certification from the state of Texas.
You have a right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the Texas Education Agency. The Texas Education Agency currently charges a $50 fee for this criminal history evaluation.

Out-of-State Information

If you are an out-of-state applicant, please be aware of the following:

Out-of-state tuition is substantially higher than in-state tuition. See the graduate calculator to determine your tuition.
The state of Texas requires that the internship be done in Texas or at a Department of Defense school in order for you to receive Texas certification. This means that you could still participate in our program and earn your master's degree, but unless you complete your internship in Texas, you are not able to be certified in Texas.
We make no claims that our program meets the standards of any state other than Texas; you must research your own state's regulations in regard to certification.

Scholarship

Currently employed Texas full-time K-12 teachers are eligible for $200 the first graduate semester by applying for the Teachers in Excellence Scholarship.

Fieldwork

Get on-the-job training as a school counselor as part of your master’s degree. The supervised internship is one of the signature components of UT Tyler’s MA program and a meaningful opportunity to apply the skills you’ve learned in a real school environment. The onsite, in-class requirement involves direct services — intake interviews, individual and group counseling, parent meetings, career guidance, group activities, classroom functions and other functions you can expect to fulfill in your career.

Spotlight

The University of Texas at Tyler School Counseling MA

The professors in this program care deeply about preparing future school counselors to meet the needs of students in three main areas of school counseling, which are social-emotional wellness, academic matters and career. In addition, it has been wonderful to collaborate and learn from my peers who are incredibly invested in preparing for this role.

Steffi Etzminger, MA in School Counseling, 2020

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Next Steps

Your future starts here. Discover all the places a Master of Arts in school counseling from UT Tyler can take you.

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