MEd in School and Community Counseling

In addition to mastering counseling techniques for patients with a wide variety of life experiences, you'll also gain real-world experiences through your practicum and internship. With Chicago as your classroom, you'll have firsthand experiential learning opportunities at the Chicago Public Schools and level-one trauma centers, researching action-oriented projects that have an immediate impact on the community.

Our goal is to prepare culturally sensitive practitioners who, regardless of the setting, base their practices on scholarly inquiry. You'll be committed to social justice, and embrace the role of change agent and advocate in our education system.

Our dedicated Counseling Faculty are experts in their fields who will support students throughout each stage of the program.

Check out this video to learn more about their experiences and expertise in the field.

Full-time students complete the program in two years, including summers. Part-time study is also available.

Continuous Enrollments
MEd students in School and Community Counseling are required to maintain the status of continuous enrollment during their program of studies. This means that during each semester of each academic year (excluding Summer Sessions), each student must enroll in at least one course. A formal leave of absence may be granted upon request and the approval of the School of Education’s Assistant Dean of Student Academic Affairs.

Undergraduate Prerequisites

Students should present transcript evidence of successful completion ("B" or better) of an introductory statistics course or its equivalent. Ideally, students will have completed this course prior to the start of the program.

Counseling Core (27 semester hours)

• CPSY 420: Counseling Skills
• CPSY 421: Professional Issues in Counseling
• CPSY 423: Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy
• CPSY 424: Career Development and Counseling
• CPSY 425: Assessment in Counseling
• CPSY 426: Group Counseling
• CPSY 433: Multicultural Counseling
• CPSY 454: Human Development
• RMTD 400: Introduction to Research Methodology

Specialty Area: Community Counseling Practice (12 semester hours)

• CPSY 427: Introduction to Clinical Mental Health 
  Counseling
• CPSY 437: Addictions Counseling
• CPSY 444: Family Therapy I
• CPSY 528: Diagnostic Appraisal to Treatment Planning

Specialty Area: School Counseling Practice (9 semester hours)

• CPSY 428: Foundations of Professional School 
  Counseling
• CPSY 431: Advanced School Counseling and Consultation
• CPSY 458: Adolescent Development and Counseling

Reading Requirement (3 semester hours)

• CIEP 423: Advanced Literacy Instruction

Clinical Training (6 semester hours)

• CPSY440: Practicum
• CPSY 441: Internship

Practicum/Internship requires 700 hours of supervised experience in a setting relevant to both community counseling and school counseling practice.

Additional Education Courses

School Counseling licensure in Illinois requires a teaching certificate or additional course work in education. Students in the M.Ed. program in School and Community Counseling who do not hold teaching certificates must complete the following additional course work to be license-eligible in Illinois. These courses are:

• The Exceptional Child
• Instructional Strategies for Diverse Populations
• School Administration (or equivalent)

Students will complete exams in school counseling and community counseling. See program handbook for details. Comprehensive examination application deadlines are as follows (see the School of Education Calendar for comprehensive exam dates).

The curriculum of the MEd program reflects current requirements for licensure in the State of Illinois. Licensure is handled by individual states, and portability of licensure across state lines differs according to each state. The Department of Professional Regulation in the State of Illinois has adopted the certification exam developed and administered by the National Board of Certified Counselors. Many states use this exam for licensure purposes, so scores from the exam can be transferred. Coursework, including the number of hours required, differ across states. Students interested in completing licensure or certification in another state are strongly advised to consult the professional regulation boards prior to enrolling at Loyola to determine the appropriate coursework required. Students should also stay apprised of licensure requirements throughout the program.

The school counseling licensure exam must be taken in the semester prior to beginning CPSY 441: Internship, in the spring semester. The ISBE website provides information on dates on which exams are given, fees, and registration procedures. Both examTAP and school counseling) are administered by ISBE, not Loyola, and you must register with ISBE to take them.