Courses for this program are 100% online: no campus visits are required.
Successful completion of the program requires 60 credit hours of course work. Courses are 3 credit hours each, unless stated otherwise. Your plan of study will include ESC_PS 8940: Counseling Psychology Practicum (12 credit hours), which requires the supervision of counseling in an approved school setting.
The chart below shows when the courses are traditionally offered. The University reserves the right to change or cancel courses as needed.
If you do not have K-12 teaching certification, you will take 6 credit hours of teacher preparation courses in order to be eligible to obtain the school counseling certification: ESC_PS 7000 and SPC_ED 7300. These courses are included within the 60 credit hours required to complete the program.
Note: X = full semester, A = 1st half of semester, B = 2nd half of semester
Students will take a school counseling certification (state licensing exam) — the Missouri Education Gateway Assessment — through the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as their capstone. If students live outside of Missouri, they may take equivalent exams in their own state.
States require that the University of Missouri-Columbia be authorized to deliver university-level distance/online education to their residents. Each state handles this process differently.
Please see our state authorization page for more information.
Students residing in all states are eligible to enroll in this program.
