M.Ed. of Counseling and Development FAQs

• Coursework builds your expertise and skills with two internships and two practicums that provide rich, career-building experiences and are closely supervised by caring and engaged faculty.
• Align your career goals with either the School Counseling concentration or the Clinical Mental Health concentration.
• Learn from faculty who are deeply dedicated to your success and fully committed to their engagement with you throughout learning.
• The program prepares you for the National Counselor Exam (NCE) and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE).

Winthrop University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master's, and specialist degrees.
The online Master of Education in School Counseling and online Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Winthrop University meet the high standards of excellence for CACREP Accreditation.
The 2024 CACREP Standards Cover:

• The Learning Environment
• Academic Quality
• Foundational Counseling Curriculum
• Professional Practice
• Entry-Level Specialized Practice Areas in the Following Topics:
  • Addiction Counseling
  • Career Counseling
  • Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  • Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
  • College Counseling and Student Affairs
  • Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  • Rehabilitation Counseling
  • School Counseling

  If you have any questions about this, or the CACREP Accreditation process, please reach out directly to a Program Co-Director, Dr. Patricia Arter at arterp@winthrop.edu or Dr. Beth Greene Costner at costnerb@winthrop.edu.

No, but in instances where a student does not meet the 3.0 GPA requirement, a GRE score of 146 on the Verbal Reasoning section and 140 on the Quantitative Reasoning section OR a scale score of 392 or above on the MAT test can be submitted when you apply to the online master's in education counseling program at Winthrop University.

Visit the admissions overview page to learn more about the admissions requirements. Requirements will vary in the cases of international students and other situations.

You can earn the Master of Education in Counseling and Development online within 2 years. The program is 60 credit hours offered full-time.

There is no residency requirement for this online master's degree program.

The tuition for the online Master of Education in Counseling and Development program is $653 per credit for a total tuition of $39,180. For more information, you can visit our tuition and financial aid page.

Financial aid is available to those who qualify. To apply for financial aid, complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Winthrop University’s FAFSA code is 003456.

For more information about financial aid visit our tuition and financial aid page.

The online M.Ed. in Counseling and Development is compatible with state certification in school counseling, national counselor certification, and state licensure for professional counselors and aligns the curriculum with CACREP expectations and standards. Within the program, you will:

1. Develop a professional counseling identity.
2. Apply the Multicultural Counseling Competencies when working with clients.
3. Explain human growth and development theories as they apply to the counseling process.
4. Differentiate among career assessments to inform client needs and growth.
5. Demonstrate foundational counseling skills that are informed by theory.
6. Assess the implementation of group counseling procedures.
7. Integrate basic concepts of qualitative and quantitative assessment into practice.
8. Design a research methodology that will be used to inform their practice.

Typically, coursework is asynchronous, meaning you may log in to learn when and where it is best for you to do so — there are no set times to attend a course. However, there may be an exception depending on the needs and requirements of a course.

Yes. The outcomes and much of the faculty are exactly the same between the on-campus and online programs.