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142 | COLUMBIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY 2017-2018 │SEMINARY & SCHOOL OF MINISTRY
MASTER OF ARTS IN COUNSELING
The mission of CIU’s Clinical Counseling Program 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 Requirements
1. In addition to satisfying the general admission requirements for Columbia International University graduate-level
programs, applicants must submit a specific essay and reference form for the Master of Arts in Counseling program
and participate in a group interview. Applicants must satisfy the following:
2. Bachelor’s Degree: Have completed a bachelor’s degree from an 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 an 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 an accredited college or university with a
minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
*International applicants must have completed the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s level degree.
d. Have completed a master’s degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum overall 3.0
GPA on a 4.0 scale
3. 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.
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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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 I, CNS 6938 Internship II. Transfer credit must be approved by the student’s advisor and the dean.
Non-Degree Seeking Students
Students accepted as non-degree seeking students or students in other graduate-level programs at CIU may take a
maximum of 12 graduate hours in the Master of Arts in Counseling degree. Admission into a course does not imply
admission into the Master of Arts in Counseling program. Students may choose from the following courses: CNS 5075
Multicultural Counseling; CNS 5306 Foundations of Clinical Mental Health Counseling; CNS 5310 Counseling Theory; CNS
5330 Professional Orientation and Ethics; CNS 5342 Foundations of Marriage and Family Counseling; CNS 5410 Research,
Statistics, and Evaluation; and CNC 6015 Advanced Multicultural Counseling. Internship courses are open only to Master
of Arts in Counseling students.
Candidacy
Admission to candidacy in the M.A. in Counseling program is a checkpoint to ensure that students are progressing
appropriately in their professional skills, academic understanding, and personal and spiritual development in order to
continue toward internship and graduation. Details of the application process for candidacy are found in the Program