| School and Community Counseling is offered through an accredited two-year master's degree program at MSU. Approximately three-fourths of our students in this competitive program concentrate in the community counseling emphasis, and the rest focus on school counseling. Virtually all of our students graduate on time and are well placed; nearly one-fourth enter strong doctoral programs. Over the past few years our cohorts have become quite diverse: one-quarter are either racial/ethnic minorities or international students.
These program demographics reflect the exemplary quality of our program. Selective admission allows the faculty to spend a greater time in mentoring and training students. Students are well-supported, which permits and encourages graduation in a timely manner. Given the presence of both school and community counseling students, everyone becomes aware of the critical issues in service delivery across the life span and across the array of settings wherein services are provided. Our diversity provides an opportunity for all students to hone cross-cultural interpersonal skills and increase exposure to multiple perspectives. Faculty work closely with students in preparing materials for applying for employment and to doctoral programs.
In addition, our program provides a unique opportunity for counselor trainees to participate in research teams. Whereas many masters' level counseling programs require no or limited participation in research, our faculty have adopted the practitioner-researcher model in training that highlights the importance of research activity in developing effective service. The resulting research teams, led by faculty, allow students to develop a heightened awareness of the value of the process of inquiry, to explore meaningful research questions, and test original. All research team participants in the past have made presentations at professional conferences and some have published in professional journals.
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