Certification

Examples of Unacceptable Courses for School Counselor Certification through the “Individual Evaluation” Pathway

The following courses are examples of courses that would not be acceptable for School Counselor certification through the “Individual Evaluation” pathway.

  • All Undergraduate Coursework

  • Coursework not completed at an institution of higher education approved by an institutional accrediting agency recognized for this purpose by the United States Department of Education

  • Professional Development/Continuing Education Coursework
    Unless it can be documented that the coursework can be issued graduate credit as part of a graduate degree at the institution of higher education at which it was taken and meets one of the eight new competencies stated above.

  • Clinical Coursework (unless otherwise noted) including, but not limited to:
    • Art Therapy
    • Clinical Diagnosis
    • Clinical Internships and Practicums (unless “clinical” can be clearly documented as working SOLELY in a school setting in School Counseling)
    • Diagnosis of Disorders
    • Music Therapy
    • Psychotherapy
    • Treatment of Disorders

  • Social Services Coursework (unless otherwise noted) including, but not limited to:
    • Social Welfare coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Social Work coursework, including the Internship and Practicum

  • Psychology Coursework (unless otherwise noted) including, but not limited to:
    • Applied Psychology
    • Clinical Psychology coursework
    • Clinical Psychology Intervention
    • Clinical Psychology Practice
    • Environmental Psychology
    • Forensic Psychology
    • Psychological Diagnosing
    • Psychotherapy
    • School Psychology Internship and Practicum
    • Social Psychology

  • Mental Health Coursework (unless otherwise noted) including, but not limited to:
    • Mental Health Counseling, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Treatment Planning

  • Other “Counseling” Coursework (unless otherwise noted) including, but not limited to:
    • Adult Career Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Adult Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Agency Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • College Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Community Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Health Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Higher Education Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Organizational Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Physical Health Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Spiritual Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Theological Counseling coursework, including the Internship and Practicum

  • Other Unacceptable Coursework
    • Business Management
    • Human Resources coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Human Services Education
    • Organizational Management
    • Personnel coursework, including the Internship and Practicum
    • Research Methods (unrelated to school counseling or to education)
    • School Administration course work (unless specific to the administration of a school counseling program)
    • Statistics (unrelated to school counseling or teaching in a PK-12 school)
    • Student Affairs (for employees in higher education)
Last Updated: October 5, 2023