Admissions | School Counseling Certificate for Post-Master's Students

The School Counseling Graduate Certificate Program is designed for individuals with a background in mental health who want to move to a licensed school counseling position. We look for individuals who are committed to promoting equitable school environments for all students, desire to be a change agent in our school systems, and want to work with youth and children to support their mental, personal, social, and academic growth.

Admissions Timeline
Program Start	Fall	Winter	Spring	Summer
Application Opens	September	September	September	September
Final Application Deadline	August 1*	November 1	February 1	May 1
Final Application Materials Due**	August 4	November 15	February 15	May 15
Remote Interview Date	August 4, 2025	December 1, 2026	March 2, 2026	June 1, 2026

Additional Timeline Information

*If you are applying to begin the program in fall and plan to complete it in one year, we recommend applying as early as possible so that our Field Placement Office can secure all required contracts and placements for your Internships.

**Letters of recommendation can sometimes take longer to arrive. You can submit your application before these have arrived. This deadline is to allow a short grace period for your recommendations to arrive, if necessary while still allowing our faculty enough time to review your materials.

After submission, your application will be reviewed by staff and faculty who make interview decisions. After your interview, you can expect an admissions decision within one to two weeks.

Admissions requirements

Completion of a master’s degree in counseling, social work, or psychology which included a clinical practicum providing counseling to individuals.

Required application materials

Below is the list of the materials and information you will need to provide as part of your online application. We recommend preparing these materials in advance of submitting your application.

Unofficial Transcripts: from your bachelor’s degree-granting institution and from any institution at which you have earned graduate-level credit
English Language Proficiency: Automatically assessed in your application materials. Learn more about your options for proving proficiency.
Résumé that demonstrates prior work and volunteer experience as related to the field of counseling.
Statement of Purpose. Please complete a statement of purpose that answers all of the following prompts. We will evaluate your statement based on content, fitness for both the counseling profession and the specialty program to which you have applied, and writing quality/organization. Your total statement of purpose should be no more than 750 words. Please include a total word count with your statement and use the prompts as headers with your response following each prompt. The prompts themselves do not count towards your total word count. The prompts are as follows:
- Part A: Our ideal student demonstrates the following dispositions required to be successful in our program and post-program as a professional counselor: (i) professionalism; (ii) intrapersonal and interpersonal effectiveness; and (iii) commitment to learning and growth. Please provide examples of your qualities and experiences that demonstrate how you meet these dispositional requirements to become a successful professional counselor. Please also address (i) the PSU counselor education dispositions and how you embody the values, attitudes, and beliefs of a counselor, and (ii) the personal and professional experiences that have prepared you to become a counselor.
- Part B: Why are you applying to the School Counseling Graduate Certificate for Post-Master’s Students? Please demonstrate (i) that you are knowledgeable about PSU’s program and the specialty field as a whole, and (ii) how your professional goals align with this program.
- Part C: Describe your interest, knowledge, and personal experience working toward social justice and equity, and how you see your work toward social justice connecting with the practice of professional counseling.
Recommendations: Submit contact information for two references via the application. Portland State University will contact your references and provide them with instructions for submitting recommendation forms.

Admissions Review Process

We review your application for the following:

Academic Requirements: Via your transcripts, we assess whether you meet the university’s minimum admissions requirements. Additionally, we use your transcripts to determine if you meet the minimum admissions requirements of a master’s degree in counseling, social work, or psychology with clinical work.
Experience: We use your résumé to determine if you have relevant experience. We are especially interested in work related to counseling and experience in schools. Most of our students are already working in a school in some capacity; we highly value this direct experience.
Statement of Purpose: Your statement is used to get to know you, learn about how your experiences have prepared you for this next step in your career, why you are pursuing school counseling now, and how you understand the relationships between social justice and school counseling. This is our best opportunity to “meet” you before the interview.
Two Recommendations: If possible, at least one of these should come from someone who has seen you work with youth. Your references will submit a questionnaire that you send them via the application portal.

Questions? Please connect with Jesse Chapman.

Ready to apply?

Review the PSU Graduate School’s minimum admissions requirements.
Learn more about the Counseling Program application review process.
Create an account or sign into the Portland State University Admissions Application system.
Select "Start New Application"
Then select "Graduate Application"
For the college, select "College of Education"
For the program of study, select "Counselor Education: School Counseling Certificate for Post-Masters Students"
Select the term you plan to start the program

To validate your admission you must take a course during the term in which you have requested to be admitted. Should you not take a course in that term, your application will be cancelled and you will need to reapply to the next cohort.

Questions about the application process?

If you have questions about the application process, contact askcoe@pdx.edu.
Learn about available scholarships and financial aid.

Post-Admissions

You will be notified of your admission decision to the program via an email and formal digital letter from the Graduate School. After admission, you will be assigned a faculty advisor and staff student success advisor, both of whom will support you through your program. The college provides an online orientation module to help you take your next steps to begin your program. You will also be invited to a live orientation session to ensure that you’re fully prepared to begin.

A few additional things to keep in mind:

All students must submit their official transcripts to the graduate school after admission; directions can be found here.
You must register for coursework in the term that you are admitted in order to validate admission to the program. If you do not, your admission status will be canceled.
If you’re unable to begin in your term of admission, you may request a deferral by emailing askcoe@pdx.edu for up to 4 terms (one year). This request must be made before the start of the program.