School Counseling Mission Statement

The mission of the Master of Education in School Counseling program is to equip school counselors to implement data-driven comprehensive school counseling services informed by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model to support growth in academic achievement, career and social-emotional development. Grand Canyon University’s school counseling program integrates faith and learning while fostering the development of school counselors as change agents advocating for models of school-based collaboration with school stakeholders. Future school counselors can gain the knowledge and skills to promote equity and access for P-12 students to become contributing global citizens.

GCU’s School Counseling Program Objectives

Program Objective One: The counseling programs provide learning opportunities for counselors-in-training to develop and apply the knowledge, skills and dispositional values to become competent, ethical and culturally responsive global contributors.

School Counselors-in-Training Learning Outcomes

•  Counselor Identity and Ethics:Develop best practices and counselor identity as informed by ethical and professional standards and programmatic dispositional values.
• Diversity and Advocacy:Gain opportunities to practice ethically as advocates for social justice through exposure to multicultural counseling theories and experiential exercises that promote awareness of cultural bias and diverse worldviews.
• Human Growth and Development:Acquire knowledge and skills to meet the diverse needs of individuals in the context of human growth and development.
• Counseling and Helping Relationships:Cultivate counseling and helping skills by integrating counseling theories and research, engaging in community collaboration and outreach, and developing skills to apply in professional and therapeutic relationships.
• Group Counseling and Group Work:Integrate theoretical foundations and consider dynamics and therapeutic factors to gain knowledge of theories, develop techniques, promote leadership skills, and facilitate the therapeutic group process for diverse clients.
• Research and Program Evaluation:Acquire the knowledge and skills needed to identify, evaluate and utilize research to inform best practices in counseling.
• Career Development:Facilitate college and career readiness standards to support the development of students in P-12 settings.
• Testing and Assessment:Utilize assessment methods, research and program evaluation to appraise effectiveness of comprehensive school counseling programs using outcome data to inform future practice.
• Specialty Area for School Counseling:Develop an educator and counselor identity that integrates the GCU Professional Dispositions of Learners and upholds ASCA professional and ethical standards as licensed/certified school counselors by acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to plan, implement and evaluate comprehensive school counseling programs based on research and national standards. 

Program Objective Two: The programs will recruit, enroll and retain qualified applicants that reflect the demographic diversity of the multicultural and pluralistic societies in which they will serve.

Program Objective Three: Graduates of the program will complete curricular requisites in preparation to obtain licensure and secure employment in their respective specialty areas.