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M
A S T E R O F
A
R T S I N
C
O U N S E L I N G
The mission of the College of Counseling is to offer professional training in clinical mental health counseling within
a biblical worldview in order to provide Christ-like therapeutic relationships for healing and growth. The training
model focuses on the heart (personal and spiritual development), the head (professional knowledge and research),
and the hands (effective interpersonal and clinical skills).
Admission Requirem nts
In addition to satisfying the general admissions requirements for Columbia International University graduate-level
programs, applicants must submit an additional essay and forms specific to the Master of Arts in Counseling
program and participate in a group interview. Applicants must satisfy the following:
1.
Bachelor’s Degree: Have completed a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
with a minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 GPA in their major field of study, or a minimum 3.0
GPA for the last 60 credits in their undergraduate degree. Students with a lower GPA may document their
ability to succeed in a graduate program in one of the following ways:
a.
Score above the 50
th
percentile on the GRE (verbal reasoning, quantitative reason, and analytic
writing)
b.
Complete a minimum of nine graduate-level credit hours from a regionally accredited college or
university with a minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale and a minimum 2.7 (“B-
”)
grade in each
course
c.
Complete a minimum of 18 graduate-level credit hours from a regionally accredited college or
university with a minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
*International applicants must have comp ted the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s level degree.
d.
Have completed a master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university with a
minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
2.
Prerequisites: Have a minimal understanding of the language and concepts of psychology to be successful
in the program. Therefore, the following undergraduate courses with a minimum 2.0 (“C”) grade (or a score
of 50 on the CLEP or 55 on the DANTES examinations) are prerequisites for full admission:
a.
Introduction to Psychology or General Psychology
b.
Developmental, Lifespan Developmental, or Human Growth and Developmental Psychology within
a social science or educational program
Applicants without these courses can be conditionally accepted pending successful completion of the
courses. However, applicants are strongly encouraged to complete these courses as soon as possible, as
they will not be allowed to take counseling courses that have these undergraduate courses for
prerequisites.
3.
GRE: Submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test that includes all three
sections (verbal reasoning, quantitative reason, and analytic writing). The GRE is used as only one of the
evaluative tools and has no minimum score requirement.
4.
Personal Readiness: Show evidence of potential success in forming effective and culturally relevant
interpersonal relationships in individual and small-group contexts and relevant career goals to the
program.
5.
Group Interview: Following the receipt of all application items, applicants meeting the initial requirements
will be invited to participate in a group interview. Admission will not be granted to those who do not
participate in the group interview. Special arrangements may be made for international applicants.
Residency and Transfer Policies
A maximum of 12 credits will be considered for transfer toward the “Counseling Core” from another accredited
school. No transfer of credit will be accepted for the following courses: CNS 5305 Applied Biblical Foundations of
Counseling, CNS 5306 Foundations of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, CNS 5313 Personal and Spiritual
Development, CNS 5342 Foundations of Marriage and Family Counseling, CNS 6912 Advanced Counseling
Techniques and Practicum, CNS 6937 Internship 1, CNS 6938 Internship 2. Transfer credit must be approved by
the student’s advisor and the dean.
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College of Counseling