Counselor Education, Doctorate of Philosophy

Welcome to the Ph.D. program in Counselor Education at SHSU! Here is who we are:

• CACREP accredited to prepare graduates as counselor educators in graduate programs.
• Students can receive special training to be leaders in school counseling programs.
• Our cohort model supports our students to achieve a higher graduation rate than the national average.
• Doctoral students conduct and complete a major research study, called the dissertation, that is related to counseling and that reflect students’ research interests.
• Develop advanced counseling skills and supervision skills at our counseling clinics located at The Woodlands Center and the main campus in Huntsville.
• Highly dedicated faculty teaching face-to-face and online courses at both the main campus and The Woodlands Center.
• Courses structured to accommodate students who work full time.
• Diverse faculty with a wide range of academic expertise and research interests. Three American Counseling Association fellows. Publish and presentations for national and international associations and conferences. Leadership in state and national associations.
• Faculty collaborate with students in research, conference presentations, and publications.
• Research and training at the Center for Research and Training in Trauma.
• Certificate in Play Therapy.
• Research and teaching assistantships available. Support for making presentations at conferences in-state and nationally.

Program Components

Cohort Model

The Ph.D. Counselor Education program follows a cohort (group) model, in which students take all core classes with the same group of colleagues throughout the program. Doctoral students feel a strong sense of support from cohort colleagues and completion rates are higher for cohort members.

Coursework

In a typical semester, doctoral students enroll for 6 semester hours or 2 courses. Students have the option of taking 9 semester hours or 3 courses a semester. In order to keep pace with the cohort and make progress in the course sequence, students are expected to take the minimum required 6 semester hours.

Comprehensive Exam

After 6-8 semesters of coursework, students take a comprehensive written examination. In addition to synthesizing course information, students demonstrate competencies in research tools.

Dissertation

Upon completing coursework, a dissertation is required to obtain a doctoral degree. A dissertation is an individual, independent research study that a student conducts under the guidance of a Dissertation Advisor and a committee of two other professors who are familiar with the topic or method of study.

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Program Breakdown