The Master of Science in Counselor Education at Florida International University is nationally accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The Counselor Education Program prepares professionals who can competently impact diverse individuals in a variety of settings. The program requires 60 credits the focuses on counseling, measurement & research, specialization areas, and clinical studies. Upon graduation, the student will be eligible to be certified and/or licensed in their major profession (CMHC, RC, SC). The program sets no maximum on the number of students accepted each year but has strict criteria including a personal interview with each qualified applicant. The program admits full-time students and a few courses are offered online. The admission process occurs in both the fall and spring semesters. Student outcomes are evaluated yearly as part of an overall program evaluation. The Program is situated in the Department of Counseling, Recreation and School Psychology within the School of Education and Human Development.
Total number of new students enrolled by major 2025:
CMHC Students Enrolled | RC Students Enrolled | SC Students Enrolled |
71 | 18 | 31 |
Average time to complete the program
The majority of students may complete the program in 2.5 years. The Graduate School policy allows students up to six years to complete their graduate studies. Two students (one RC, one CMHC) voluntarily left the program in 2025.
Total number of graduates by major 2025:
CMHC Graduates | RC Graduates | SC Graduates |
32 | 10 | 5 |
Licensure or Certification Examination Pass Rate:
RC Students take the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam as the comprehensive examination for our program and graduate as Certified Rehabilitation Counselors, 100% of our students who have taken the CRC Exam have passed it. SC Students take the Professional Education Exam and the Subject Area Exam in Guidance Counseling for our program and graduate as Certified School Counselors, 100% of our students who have taken these exams have passed them. CMHC Students take the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) as the comprehensive examination for our program, 100% of our students who have taken the CPCE have passed it. CMHC and RC students who choose to do so, are eligible to register for and complete the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) as preparation for Florida State Licensure as Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC). Students who have opted to take this exam prior to licensure have all passed.
Employment and Doctoral Admissions Rates of Graduates:
Graduates in all three majors, CMHC, RC, SC, were employed upon or shortly following graduation. As of yet, none of the 2025 have applied for or were admitted to doctoral programs.
What are your requirements for admission?
We require all applicants to submit the following documents:
All your documents must be received by the deadline to be considered for admission.
What is the GPA requirement for admission into your program?
The minimum GPA requirement depends on the major you are applying to.
Clinical Mental Health majors and School Counseling majors are required to have a minimum GPA of 3.2 for the last two years (60 semester hours) of undergraduate work. Applicants with a completed master’s degree or higher who do not meet the undergraduate GPA will have their graduate GPA considered if it is 3.2 or higher.
Rehabilitation Counseling majors are required to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 for the last two years (60 semester hours) of undergraduate work. Applicants with a completed master’s degree or higher who do not meet the undergraduate GPA will have their graduate GPA considered if it is 3.0 or higher.
Does your program have pre-requisites that need to be met prior to applying?
Yes. If you are applying with an undergraduate degree outside of psychology, you may need to complete prerequisites prior to admission into our program.
Clinical Mental Health majors are required to complete 9 hours of prerequisite psychology courses prior to acceptant into our program. The required pre-requisite courses for “out-of-field” majors applying for admission to the graduate program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling include:
- An introductory course in Psychology (e.g., PSY 2012 Introduction to Psychology)
A course in either:
- Educational Psychology (e.g., EDP 3004 Educational Psychology), or
- Abnormal Psychology (e.g., CLP 4146 Abnormal Psychology), or
- Personality Theories (e.g., PPE 3003 Personality Theory)
And:
A Research/Statistics course (e.g., STA 2122 Research-Statistics)
You may apply to our program without the prerequisites completed, however, you will not be accepted into our program until the courses are completed and on your transcripts.
School Counseling majors and Rehabilitation majorsDO NOT require pre-requisite courses. If you are applying to these majors with an “out-of-field” undergraduate degree, you may need to take co-requisite courses while attending our program.
What is the length of your program?
The length of study is 2.5 years.
The Master of Science in Counselor Education: School Counseling Major has a total of 57 credits. Out-of-field students may need co-requisite courses.
The Master of Science in Counselor Education: Mental Health Counseling Major has a total of 60 credits.
The Master of Science in Counselor Education: Rehabilitation Counseling Major has a total of 60 credits. Out-of-field students may need co-requisite courses.
Is your program CACREP Accredited?
YES! Our program is CACREP Accredited. Attending our program will allow you to fulfill your requirements to sit for the state licensure exam.
How much does your program cost?
The cost per credit hour for Florida residents is $455.64 plus semester fees. You can transfer up to 6 graduate-level credits if your previous institution is CACREP accredited. Students in our program are required to enroll in 9 credits per semester - $4,100.76 for three classes a semester. Students may need to enroll in more credits if they require co-requisite classes.
The total cost of our program, yearly, depends on many other factors. Please use the following tools to estimate your total cost depending on your situation.
Estimate Your Fees - OneStop
Tuition Fee Calculator FIU
Do you offer a fully online modality option?
No, our program does not offer an online-only modality.
In order to align with CACREP standards, our program must be in-person. However, each semester students are required to enroll in both online and in-person classes. Typically, students will have two in-person classes and one online class. Attendance is required for all in-person classes.
When and where are classes held?
Classes are held from Monday to Thursday at FIU’s MMC campus and I-75 campus.
Students are typically scheduled to attend in-person classes twice a week.
Classes are held during the evening at 5 p.m. and later.
Do I have to apply with a sub-specialty/major?
Yes. We require that you decide on your major at the time of your application submission. Each major has different requirements for admission into our program. Each major prepares you for your career and provides you with the tools you need to qualify to sit for the licensure exam in that specialty.
We currently offer the following majors:
- Clinical Mental Health
- School Counseling
- Rehabilitation Counseling
You can view our webpage for up-to-date information on each of our majors:
https://case.fiu.edu/crsp/counselor-education/
Is field experience a requirement for graduation from your program?
Yes. All students must take both practicum and internship in order to qualify for graduation and the licensure exam.
Practicum is a part-time field experience that requires students to complete 100 hours of field experience over the course of one semester.
Internship is a full-time field experience requirement that requires students to complete 600 hours of field experience over the course of one semester or two semesters.
These experiences are designed to provide students with the opportunity to apply and practice the competencies they acquire throughout their training program.
For more information about field experience, please view our webpage:
Clinical Mental Health Field Experience
Rehabilitation Counseling Field Experience
School Counseling Field Experience
Students will complete their field experience during the last year of their studies.
Site options for practicum and internship will be provided to students. Students may also seek out their own sites if approved by our Site Coordinator.
Does your program offer scholarships or grants?
While our program does not currently offer scholarships, we do offer grant opportunities for School Counseling Majors and Rehabilitation Majors.
The grant opportunity will be presented to all School Counseling and Rehabilitation Counseling Majors upon acceptance into our program. Applicants will not be able to apply for the grant before being accepted into the program.
For more information about the School Counseling grant, please contact:
School Counseling Program Graduate Assistant, Sandra Hermoso, at pathsc@fiu.edu
For more information about the Rehabilitation Counseling grant opportunities, please contact:
Rehabilitation Counseling Program Graduate Assistants, Justina Vaicelionyte, at jvaiceli@fiu.edu, and, Juan Hernandez, at juanhern@fiu.edu.
For more scholarship opportunities at FIU, please visit the following resources:
FIU Academic Works Our Opportunities
https://admissions.fiu.edu/cost-and-aid/scholarships/
When are your deadlines to apply?
Clinical Mental Health majors are admitted during the Fall Semester ONLY. The deadline to apply is February 15 at 5 p.m. EST.
School Counseling majors and Rehabilitation Counseling majors are admitted during the Spring and Fall semesters.
The deadline to apply for Spring admission is November 1st at 5 p.m. EST.
The deadline to apply for Fall admission is March 15th at 5 p.m. EST.
Who may I contact if I have more questions?
Please contact our General Graduate Assistant for any further questions about our program or the admissions process:
GA Allison Mayer at amayer@fiu.edu.
