Applying

PLEASE NOTE: All new Masters students begin in the Summer Quarter - June 2008 & All new Doctorate students begin in the Fall Quarter - September 2008

Complete graduate application materials online

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Application Requirements

To be considered for admission to graduate study in counseling, the applicant must meet the following basic requirements. Admission to the Counseling Program is highly competitive. Meeting these basic requirements does not guarantee admission.

1. The applicant must hold a Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. A variety of majors may be considered appropriate background for training in counseling, but in general, successful applicants have a background in education and/or the social sciences. Certificate students must have a masters degree in counseling from an accredited college or university and demonstrate admissibility to doctoral study. Doctoral applicants must have a Master's degree from an accredited college or university in either counseling or an allied field.
2. The applicant must show evidence of academic skill documented by submission of transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate work. While the minimum qualifying grade point average is 2.8, successful Master's applicants generally have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.2 or higher. Certificate and doctoral applicants must have a graduate grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
3. The applicant must show openness to personal exploration and professional development and evidence of skill in helping relationships documented by three letters of reference from qualified persons and by behavior during admissions interviews. For Master's degree and certificate applicants considerable latitude will be given in terms of what constitutes experience in helping relationships and who is considered a qualified source of recommendation. Certificate program applicants must have completed a Master's internship in counseling and provide at least one letter of reference from a qualified counseling supervisor. Doctoral applicants must have at least one year of supervised counseling experience and provide at least one letter of reference from a qualified counseling supervisor. Applicants who have completed one year of internship under program supervision are considered to have met this requirement.
4. Persons for whom English is not their native language must show evidence of proficiency by virtue of their score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (Minimum TOEFL score: 620).
5. Master's applicants must submit general scores (i.e. Verbal, Quantitatve, and Analytical) from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). In addition, doctoral applicants must submit scores from the advanced GRE test in psychology. Successful applicants typically have scores of approximately 500 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the general exam. The GRE is not required of certificate applicants.

Financial Aid & Scholarships

The University of Cincinnati participates in a full range of state and federal financial aid programs. For example, graduate students may qualify for assistance under the federal Work-Study, Guaranteed Student Loan, or National Direct Student Loan programs. The University also sponsors work-study, loan, and budgeting programs. Some teaching, research, or program-assistance graduate assistantships are available. Finally, many deserving graduate students may qualify for tuition remission scholarships which can ease the burden especially for out-of-state students.

Graduate Assistantship (GA):

A Graduate Assistantship is a financial award and stipend for full-time graduate students. GA's usually carry teaching and/or research responsibilities, requiring at least 20 hours of service per week. These assistantships carry stipends ranging from $3500 to $8000, plus a tuition and coverage of general fees. Application for an assistantship should be made to the department by March 25th; GA awards are available for the academic year only.

University Graduate Scholarship (UGS):

A University Graduate Scholarship is a university-funded, tuition-only scholarship which covers instructional fees for full-time graduate students. These awards do not cover the general fees which are assessed each quarter. UGS monies are available for the academic calendar year and also for the summer session. Application for a UGS should be made to the College of Education by March 1st. A separate application for the UGS must be made for the current summer session and should also be submitted by March 1st.

In order to be eligible for financial assistance, all international students must demonstrate basic proficiency in English. The University of Cincinnati conducts a testing program to determine such proficiency. International student recipients of financial aid who, after testing, are deemed lacking in English proficiency, must improve their abilities and achieve a passing score on the proficiency test to become eligible for financial aid beyond that academic year.

For additional information on these financial assistance awards and other sources of assistance, one may refer to the Graduate Awards Manual, available upon request from the Graduate Office of Education.

Application Deadlines

Application materials are due to the office by January 15th. Financial aid application deadlines are different, so please check with the Financial Aid office.