Master of Arts (MA) offered in On-campus formats.
Students interested in earning a masters in school counseling are required to earn 48 credit hours in core curriculum and elective courses.
Field Placement Requirement
Students in the school counseling track are required to complete a minimum of 400 hours of supervised field placement experience. Field Placement 1 (IPC 62100) requires a minimum of 200 clock hours. Field Placement 2 (IPC 62400) requires a minimum of 200 clock hours. All field placements must be in K-12 settings under the supervision of a certified school counselor with a minimum of 3 years full-time experience as a certified school counselor. A minimum of 100 hours must be spent at an alternative grade level building. Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA to begin Field Placement 1 or Field Placement 2 and be placed at an approved K-12 site through the Office of Field and Clinical Experiences. Students are expected to earn a grade of A or B in Field Placement (IPC 62100 and IPC 62400) in order to graduate. Students will be required to repeat the course if they earn less than a B. If students take an incomplete in IPC 62100 and are unable to complete at least half the required field placement hours, they must enroll in Field Placement 2 K-12 Extension (IPC 62101) for zero credit hours to allow them to attend field placement classes while completing the required hours. If students take an incomplete in Field Placement 2, regardless of how many hours are needed, they must enroll in IPC 62401 for zero credit hours to allow them to attend field placement classes while completing the required hours. A fee of $50 will be incurred for each extension.
Exit Requirements
In order to fulfill degree requirements, each student completes IPC 60500 (Comprehensive Examination) by passing the Missouri Educator Gateway Assessments (MEGA): Missouri Content Assessment, test MO056 MEGA Counselor. During the program, each student will also complete all state required assessments. In addition, each student will purchase and compile an electronic portfolio demonstrating competencies as delineated by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards, to be completed by the end of Field Placement 2. Further information regarding exit requirements is provided in the School Counseling Handbook.
