The Master of Arts in Counseling: Rehabilitation Counseling (COUN) is a 60 semester hour program aimed at preparing rehabilitation counseling professionals who will provide direct services and resource coordination for individuals with a disability seeking re-entry into the labor market. The program is offered in a 24-month sequence. All course work is at a distance and web-based with the exception of two skill-building courses, which require on-campus matriculation for three days each. Students are admitted on a full- or part-time basis. The program is accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education and recognized by the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Counseling. The purpose for the program is to permit graduates to qualify for national certification as rehabilitation counselors. For more information, visit the program’s website. Graduates of this program qualify for licensure as professional counselors in Arkansas and many other states.

Admission Requirements

Regular and Conditional Admission

All applicants must have:

• Completed an application for admission to the UALR Graduate School
• Completed a successful personal interview with a program faculty member or a designated representative

Regular Admission

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education with an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.00 (3.25 in the last 60 hours)

or

• If the student’s undergraduate GPA is below a 3.00 overall or 3.25 in the last 60 hours, achieving the following minimum scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE): (Old Version) 440 on the Verbal and 560 on the Quantitative Scales or (New Revision) 149 on the Verbal and 146 on the Quantitative scales, or a scaled score of at least 391 on the Miller’s Analogy Test (MAT) will permit regular admission. For employed Rehabilitation Counselors who do not meet this standard, please see “Conditional Admission, Admissions Portfolio” below.

or

• Master’s degree from an accredited institution

Conditional Admission

Note: “Condition” means that the student must make a B or greater in the first 12 hours taken in the UALR Rehabilitation Counseling curriculum.

There are two categories within conditional admission:

1. Admission of students based on GPA for graduate hours at other accredited institutions: Students not qualifying for regular admission based on their undergraduate grade point averages may be admitted to the program on “condition” if they have successfully completed a minimum of nine semester hours in a relevant graduate program at UALR or another regionally accredited institution with a GPA of at least 3.0 and a grade of B or greater in each course taken.
2. Admission based on an Admissions Portfolio (For employed Rehabilitation Counselors only): Employed Rehabilitation Counselors have the option to submit a satisfactory Admissions Portfolio of academic and professional work to obtain conditional admission. The guidelines for the portfolio are available from the program coordinator. Letters of reference are not required unless specifically requested by the program coordinator.

Advanced Standing

Applicants who graduated from undergraduate rehabilitation programs and/or those with work experience as rehabilitation counselors will be admitted to advanced standing. Up to six semester hours credit toward advanced standing may be awarded on an individual basis by the program coordinator upon recommendation of the program advisory committee.

Please note that credit awarded on the basis of Advanced Standing DOES NOT count towards the 60 hours required by the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Counseling or many other State Licensing Boards.

Program Requirements

The 60 credit hour curriculum has 4 components: Rehabilitation, Counseling, Foundations/Electives, and Field Work/Application. The field work requires 700 plus hours of supervised practice in a rehabilitation setting under the supervision of a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC).

Transfer Credit

Students have the opportunity to transfer as many as 27 semester hours of credit from other accredited graduate programs.