Understanding counseling careers and licensure
No matter where you see your counseling career taking you, know that you’re prepared to meet the needs of the clients and communities you serve. The online counseling program at Marquette University will prepare you for more than just earning your counseling licensure. You will have the knowledge and experience to adapt to clients’ backgrounds as well as changing clinical and educational environments.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that the need for behavioral disorder, mental health and substance abuse counselors will grow by 25 percent by 2029.1 Across the country, counselors with the understanding to work with unique individuals and groups are in demand.
Through our online master’s in clinical mental health counseling, you will be equipped to make an impact within roles in family services, outpatient care, addiction services, hospitals and other agencies—as well as consultation in schools if you decide to pursue the specialization in child and adolescent counseling.
In addition, our online master’s degree can also help students who plan to continue their education by pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology or another field.
Most people know Marquette and value the education that is taught at this university. I have noticed people are more interested in me and what I do once they hear the word ‘Marquette’...The name of the university will get me in the door, but my abilities from the university will get me the career.
Pursuing a specialization in child and adolescent counseling?
Help transform the lives of young people with our child and adolescent counseling specialization. By gaining the clinical training to work more closely with them and their families, you’ll be prepared for a career in hospitals, outpatient clinics, residential treatment programs and other agencies and clinics.
Earning your licensure
Our online program provides the same rigorous coursework as our on-campus, CACREP-accredited clinical mental health counseling program.
After graduation, you will be prepared to meet the educational requirements for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Wisconsin and many other states. Each state and region’s licensing boards hold different requirements. Differences between state requirements can include the course work covered in your graduate program and the number of credit hours completed. As you apply to our online program, be sure to review your state’s licensure provisions and your eligibility.
Although individual state licensure agencies have sole authority in determining whether credits earned and field experiences are acceptable for licensure, Marquette is required by federal regulations to determine whether our professional licensure preparation programs meet licensure requirements in any states other than Wisconsin.
If a program at Marquette has been identified as not meeting your state’s applicable educational requirements for licensure, you would not be able to enroll in that program at Marquette. Marquette can only enroll students located in states that accept our program as meeting licensure requirements, or students who attest that they plan to seek licensure and employment in a state in which Marquette’s program meets the state’s applicable educational requirements for licensure.
Lists of states where Marquette’s professional licensure preparation programs meet and do not meet educational requirements for licensure are accessible using this link: https://www.marquette.edu/consumer-information/state-licensure.php
If you are interested in making an attestation that you are planning to seek licensure in a state that does accept our program requirements toward licensure requirements or have any additional questions regarding licensure, please email Alan Burkard at alan.burkard@marquette.edu.
1. Retrieved on November 23, 2020 from bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/substance-abuse-behavioral-disorder-and-mental-health-counselors.htm#tab-6