The School Counseling Program is designed to prepare counselors to promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of school-aged youth in the context of a comprehensive developmental school counseling program. Further, our goal is to prepare ethical, culturally competent school counselors who address individual and systemic barriers to educational achievement and personal development. Students are prepared to work professionally with children from kindergarten through high school.
Features of the West Texas A&M University’s Counselor Education Program include being conveniently located in downtown Amarillo, at the WTAMU Harrington Academic Hall, and having access to state-of-the-art teaching and supervision facilities. Faculty offices are located on the 3rd floor.
Please feel free to contact our program director, Dr. Leigh Green, with any questions or to discuss the program further.
Additional Program Documentation: School Counseling Program Goals and TEA Requirements - TAC Code
For Prospective Students
Program length: Can take 3 to 5 years, depending on the number of credits the students complete per semester.
Delivery method: Online
Cost of the program: This can be found through the Business Office
- Completion of 48/60 credit hours of counseling courses; and
- Supervised Practicum and Internship experience; and
- Passing a comprehensive exam.
More information can be found in the Student Handbook
Formal admittance to the school counseling program requires:
- A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning
- All documents are submitted to WTAMU Graduate School Application:
- Departmental Application
- Resume
- Two letters of recommendation (one professional/academic and one from an administrator)
- Official transcripts from all previously attended institutions
- 2.75 Undergraduate GPA (last 60 hours)
- NO GRE required
Starting April 1st, 2019 School Counseling students will be charged a TEA fee of 35$ upon admission.
Starting September 1, 2023, based on Senate Bill (SB) 798, service as a classroom teacher can no longer be required for issuance of the School Counselor certificate. The requirements for issuance of the School Counselor certificate are 1) successfully complete a School Counselor preparation program; 2) achieve a passing score on the School Counselor certification exam; and 3) hold at minimum a 48-hour master's degree in counseling from an accredited IHE.
Before beginning work toward the standard professional certificate, the student must hold the appropriate standard/provisional certificate. Students entering this program must meet approval by the Counselor Admissions Committee.
The deadlines for the M.A. Counseling are as follows:
- August 1 for fall admission
- December 1 for spring admission
- May 1 for summer admission
School Counseling Coursework
Course rotations are given to students at the time of admission.
Additional Questions and FAQs
Texas Certification as a Professional School Counselor
- Hold a master's degree from an accredited institution of higher education
- Successfully complete the school counselor program
- Per Texas Education agency requirements, starting July 20th, 2021, all candidates will be required to pass the school counselor certification examination, TExES #252 School Counselor. The TExES #152 was redeveloped and changed to TExES #252.
More information about Texas Certification can be located at the Texas Education Agency Website (www.tea.texas.gov)
The TExES exam #152 is no longer available to testers, but a passing score on the TExES #152 exam can be used for certification purposes until September 6, 2022. If you have completed and passed the TExES 152 within the past couple of years, this is your last chance to apply for certification. TEA will only accept the TExES 152 results up until September 6th, 2022 for standard school counselor certification. If you have not completed and passed the TExES 152, you would be required to complete the TExES 252 for certification. If you have completed and passed your TExES 152, please send your results to mbehl@wtamu.edu before August 1st, 2022 or as soon as possible. If you are already certified, you do not have to do anything.
Field experiences, clinical teaching, practicums, and internships required for Texas Certification must be completed in a school accredited by the Texas Education Agency and approved by WTAMU. A non-certification option that does not require field experiences, clinical teaching, practicums, and internships in Texas is available for students whose residency is outside the state of Texas.