Guidance Counselor Degree Requirements
School guidance counselors must be certified at the state level in order to work in any official capacity. An optional national certification also exists through the National Board for Certified Counselors. Each state has its own independent requirements for school counselors, though most require education at the undergraduate and graduate level as well as additional professional experience. NBCC certification is voluntary, though in many states, the certification leads to increased pay and recognition as an expert professional.
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Undergraduate Education
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All guidance counselor certification programs require applicants to have at least a bachelor degree from an accredited four-year institution of higher learning. Future guidance counselors should complete undergraduate coursework in counseling, education, social work and behavioral science, and achieve a degree in a related field.
State certification programs that don't require a master's degree often require a combination of a bachelor degree and professional experience or training. Alaska, for instance, requires licensure applicants with bachelor's degrees to have completed a one-year teacher preparation program focusing on school counseling.
Graduate Education
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Almost all states require guidance counselors to complete some graduate-level coursework, if not achieve a master's degree. New York, for instance, requires applicants to have completed a registered school counseling program at the graduate level or hold a bachelor's degree with at least 30 semester hours of graduate-level coursework completed in counseling and related fields.
Nebraska requires guidance counselors to hold a master's degree in school counseling and at least 36 graduate semester hours of coursework in the field. Oregon requires guidance counselors to hold a master's degree in counseling, education, or a related behavioral science and have completed an initial graduate program in school counseling, if not done through the graduate program.
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Additional Requirements and Education
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All but four states require guidance counselors to undergo background checks in order to achieve certification. The nature of these checks ranges from perfunctory fingerprinting to investigations of criminal history, sexual behavior and moral character. Requirements differ from state to state.
Some states, such as Arizona, allow teaching experience and the completion of nondegree certificate or continuing education programs in counseling or school counseling to substitute for a master's degree. States with strict requirements, such as Arkansas, require school counselors to hold a teaching license or to have completed a supervised counseling internship in a school setting.
National Board for Certified Counselors Requirements
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The National Certified School Counselor designations is one of the three credentials awarded by the National Board for Certified Counselors. In order to achieve this certification, guidance counselors are required to pass the National Certified School Counselor Examination, which consists of seven simulated counseling courses.
The certification and examination were created by collaboration between the American Counseling Association, the American School Counselor Association and the National Board for Certified Counselors. In order to take the examination to achieve NBCC certification, candidates must hold a graduate degree in counseling.
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References
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