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Why Pursue a Master's Degree in School Counseling

The Master of Education in School Counseling provides the foundation for graduates to become certified school counselors in Texas (with two years of teaching experience at the time of application for state certification). Additionally, this program provides a diploma and transcripts specifying students’ training and specialty in school counseling. A variety of career opportunities are available upon graduation and state certification in education, non-profit, private, state, and federal sectors.

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Admission & Application Requirements

Applications are submitted through the UTSA Graduate Application. Please upload all required documents (listed below) on your UTSA Graduate Application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure completion and submission of the application, a nonrefundable application fee, and all required supporting documents are on file with UTSA by the appropriate application deadline.

School Counseling (MEd)
  Required Degree Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in the United States or have proof of equivalent training at a foreign institution.
  Minimum GPA 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) Departments may consider GPA of last 60 semester credit hours
  Coursework 18 credit hours in an area related to this graduate degree and at least 12 hours must be at the upper-division level.
  Transcripts* Required from all institutions attended; international transcripts must be recorded/translated to English
  Credential Evaluation Required if you have earned university-level credit from foreign institutions. Submit an evaluation of your transcripts from Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) directly from the graduate admission application platform
  English Language Proficiency 600 TOEFL Paper / 100 TOEFL Internet / 7 IELTS / Duolingo 130
  Narrative Statement Required See Instructions for Narrative Statement
  Letters of Recommendation 3 academic or professional reference(s) demonstrating your attributes for successful completion of this program (you will request these through the Graduate Admissions Application; let your recommenders know of your deadline to ensure submissions are on time)
*Unofficial transcripts will be taken into consideration for admissions; however, if admitted into the program, you must submit official transcripts to the University.
Apply 2024-25 Application Apply 2025-26 Application

Application Deadlines

Applicants are encouraged to have their admission file completed as early as possible. All applications, required documents and letters of recommendation, if applicable, must be submitted by 5:00 PM U.S. Central Time on the day of the deadline. Deadlines are subject to change.

School Counseling (MEd)
Timing on Admission Decision: Students can expect to hear back on an admission decision within 4 to 6 weeks after the posted deadline.
Application Deadlines for: Priority International Domestic
Spring 2025 October 1 October 1
Summer 2025 Not Available Not Available
Fall 2025 March 1 March 1
Spring 2026 October 1 October 1
Summer 2026 Not Available Not Available

Funding Opportunities

Resources

Career Options

UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. The possible careers below is data pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls information from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program.


The majority of courses are offered in the evenings one night a week from 6:00 PM to 8:45 PM at the Downtown Campus.

  • Creative interventions relative to relationship issues, grief and loss
  • Comprehensive school guidance and counseling program effectiveness
  • Multicultural issues in counseling
  • Behavioral health issues
  • Brief family consultation
  • Creative approaches to school guidance and counseling services
  • On-line counseling
  • Addictions
  • Suicidality
  • Crisis intervention
  • Child abuse and other  trauma
  • Legal and ethical issues in school counseling
  • Injurious behaviors

Graduate Advisor of Record

Gretchen McLain, PhD

210-458-2600

gretchen.mclain@utsa.edu
Jessica Gonzalez headshot

Student Development Specialist

Jessica Gonzalez

210-458-6619

Jessica.gonzalez5@utsa.edu