EdSp in Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology with Emphasis in Counseling Psychology
Degree Requirements
The program of study outlined for the degree must contain a minimum of 30 semester hours of approved graduate credit beyond the master’s degree. No more than 12 semester hours of non-degree seeking (NGS) course work may be used in a program. Evidence of proficiency in the areas of educational statistics and research methodology must be shown prior to the candidates’ taking the final comprehensive examination. This will normally be provided through satisfactory completion of ESC_PS 7170 Introduction to Applied Statistics and ESC_PS 8020 Overview of Research Methods or equivalent. If not completed as part of the master’s degree, the program must include a course in the behavioral, social, historical, or philosophic foundations of education. The program may consist entirely of courses in education or may be made up, in part, of courses from other disciplines selected to fit the candidate’s professional needs. A minimum of 15 semester hours of the program must be courses offered in the College of Education. A minimum of 15 semester hours of the program must also be courses numbered 8000 or above. To adhere to the concept of a planned program, at least eight semester hours of the program must be completed after the Program of Study has been filed with the Graduate School.
Sample Plan of Study
The plan of study will depend on the student’s career goals and research interests, and should be completed in consultation with the student's advisor.
Comprehensive Examination Process
The Comprehensive Exam is administered once a year in July or August. The Comprehensive Exam is administered as a take-home exam and follows an essay/long answer response format. It is expected that responses will not exceed 10 pages (double-spaced; not including references) in length and will adequately provide both breadth and depth on the topic. Appropriate citations are expected. Attention should also be paid to grammar, APA style, and overall professional writing conventions. Students will have two consecutive weekends to complete the exam. Students schedule an oral exam after successfully passing the written portion of the comprehensive exam.
The Comprehensive Exam is designed as an integrative, culminating assessment of foundational knowledge of (1) counseling theories, assessment and practice, (2) research design, measurement, and statistics, (3) multicultural and professional issues, and (4) career development. Thus, the exam is designed to assess students’ ability to (a) use counseling theories and appropriate assessment strategies to conceptualize clinical cases and to identify appropriate intervention strategies in clinical practice; (b) design research studies, including developing appropriate research questions, addressing issues related to a study’s internal and external validity, applying appropriate methods for the research methodology, and identifying appropriate statistical analyses; (c) understand multicultural, ethical and professional issues related to counseling psychology; and (d) apply appropriate vocational theories and assessment in practice.
Admissions
Applicants are required to meet two sets of minimum qualifications for admission: the requirements of the EdSp in Educational, School & Counseling Psychology program and the minimum requirements of the Graduate School. Because requirements vary, you must refer to a degree program's graduate admission page to learn about specific admission criteria, application deadlines, eligibility and application process. Your application materials will be reviewed by both the Office of Graduate Studies and the degree program to which you've applied before official admission to the University of Missouri.