School Counseling

School counselors (previously called Guidance Counselors) are highly educated, professionally certified individuals who improve the success of all students by implementing a comprehensive school counseling program. School Counselors ensure equitable academic, career, and social/emotional opportunities for all students. An integral part of the total education system, school counselors help students form healthy goals, mindsets, and behaviors.

With the aid of a school counselor, some skills students learn are developing effective collaboration and cooperation skills, practicing perseverance, developing time management and study skills, and learning self-motivation and self-direction habits (American School Counseling Association, 2021).

Students are provided with an excellent educational foundation that leads to Connecticut state certification as a School Counselor and work in school counseling settings from kindergarten through 12th grade. Students can pursue a 60-credit hour Master of Arts (MA) degree in school counseling or a Sixth Year Certificate of Advanced Study (SYC) in school counseling. The SYC is a 30-credit hour degree designed for students with a master's degree in a counseling field seeking to be certified as a School Counselor in Connecticut.

We believe in the need to develop a greater sense of self-realization throughout the lifespan and the need to cultivate personal and communal wellbeing for all. We are committed to serving individuals and communities in their various manifestations of diversity both for the prevention and remediation of life’s problems. Through their knowledge, skills, an engaged professional identity, and the pursuit of the highest standards of excellence, our students will strive to become leaders and advocates in the counseling profession.

We are committed to training out students to meet the needs of diverse communities by providing community-engaged learning throughout their training. Within these experiences, we provide students with the kinds of challenges that will encourage them to become compassionate, reflective, and critical advocates and practitioners in the schools and communities where they work.

We, as faculty members in Counselor Education, acknowledge our obligation as gatekeepers to students who pursue professional preparation as clinical mental health counselors or school counselors and to the larger public to be served by our graduates. In our role as gatekeepers, we value the need to create a climate of professional care and consistency from a compassionate, supportive view. We are committed to ethical and effective counseling and require our students to adhere to the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics 2014. We champion a commitment to cura personalis and promote such a stance with our students, within the broader School of Education and Human Development, Fairfield University, and surrounding communities and global contexts.

Connecticut School Counselors are certified professional educators with a minimum of a master’s degree in school counseling. School counselors work from a holistic perspective to prevent and respond to challenges of their students with sensitive attention to racial, socioeconomic, and other cultural factors. Students need school counselors to provide them with support and guidance not only through challenges in school but also in their personal lives. School counselors engage in both counseling and guidance as well as leadership and advocacy making data-based decisions to promote students’ academic, career, and personal/social advancement.

Upon completion of a 60-credit hour MA in School Counseling, graduates are qualified to seek paid positions in the K-12 Education System as Certified School Counselors. Graduates of our program work diligently to bridge the achievement and opportunity gaps for students throughout the K-12 system.

School Counselors provide a variety of services, including:

• Group Counseling
• Guidance Lessons
• Mental Health Consultation with Administrators, Parents, and Teachers
• Individual Counseling
• Input into Individualized Education Plans and 504 Plans
• Referrals to External Mental Health Services

School Counselors may be employed in the following settings:

• Elementary School
• Middle School
• High School

Please visit the Comprehensive School Guidance & Counseling page for more information on School Counselors in Connecticut.

In 1-2 pages, please respond to the following questions:

• What aspects of the Counselor Education Department and Fairfield University do you find attractive and why?
• What personal or professional skills and work experiences do you bring that would be helpful to become a school or professional counselor?
• What do you plan to do with a degree in CMHC or School Counseling?

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Accreditation from CACREP is voluntary. Those institutions who wish to receive this accreditation are required to meet a rigorous set of program and faculty standards.

For the incoming student, a CACREP-accredited program is beneficial for a few reasons:

• An assurance that the educational activities of an accredited institution or program are satisfactory and therefore meet the needs of students
• Assistance in the transfer of credits between institutions or in the admission of students to advanced degrees, through the general acceptance of credits among accredited institutions when the performance of the student has been satisfactory and the credits to be transferred are appropriate to the receiving institution
• A prerequisite in many cases for entering a profession

Applicants for the Master of Arts degree must hold an earned Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university. A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.67 is strongly recommended. Applicants for the Certificate of Advanced Study must hold an earned Master's degree from an accredited college or university, completed with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00.

On average, it takes our students approximately 30 to 36 months to complete the program.

Classes will cover various topics including counseling theories, fundamental counseling skills, group counseling, multicultural issues, research, assessment, ethical and legal codes, and career counseling.

Once you are accepted into the program, you will receive information from your advisor and will be able to set up a meeting to discuss and design your plan of study.

Classes are offered with the graduate student's schedule in mind. We offer weekday classes at night from 4:55 – 6:55 p.m. and from 7:15 – 9:15 p.m., as well as weekend classes.

The program's Clinical Coordinator will assist you in finding a practicum and internship site.

To begin the practicum process, you must first turn in a completed, signed, Application for Practicum to the Clinical Coordinator by the date indicated on the Departmental Calendar. Then, you and the Clinical Coordinator will arrange to meet to discuss your career objectives and the availability of practica sites within your area of interest. Once the availability of a practicum site is confirmed, you will be asked to contact the site to arrange an interview.

For internships, some students will stay at their practicum sites. In other cases, students will have identified sites through contacts that they have made during practicum experiences. Others will require assistance from the Clinical Coordinator in finding and securing an internship site. In all of these cases, it is the student's responsibility to take the appropriate steps to secure a site within a timely manner, which will require meeting with or contacting the Clinical Coordinator to ascertain that a particular course of action or setting is appropriate.

Practicum cannot be taken over the summer.

Internships are a two-semester (10-month), full-time commitment for those school counseling students who do not hold a Connecticut Teaching Certificate but wish to be certified as school counselors.

If you are a certified teacher and have completed 3 years of successful elementary, middle, or secondary public school teaching, a full-year internship is not required. What you are required to complete to be eligible for certification as a school counselor in Connecticut is a 600-hour full-time internship in a public school which can be completed in one semester.

Licensure is not required to work as a school counselor, but you do need to be certified as a school counselor which you will be upon completing the program.

Upon successful completion of the 60-credit Master's program, passing the comprehensive exam, and receiving formal faculty endorsement, a student will be eligible to apply for Connecticut State Certification as a school counselor, grades K-12. Certification is granted by the Connecticut State Department of Education. To apply for state certification, the student must submit a completed application form, an official transcript of graduate work from the Registrar's Office, and a personal check made payable to the State Department of Education to the Associate Dean of the School of Education and Human Development. Upon receipt of the student's application materials, the Associate Dean will confirm with the Counselor Education Department chair that the student has met all state of Connecticut and University requirements for school counselor certification and will complete the form. The Dean's office will either send the paperwork to your address provided or contact you to pick up to forward the application to the Certification Office of the State Department of Education.