Additional Requirements

Additional Requirements

1. Students must pass a Praxis exam to demonstrate their competence in school counseling prior to completion of the program.
2. Students prepare a Graduate Research Project EDCO 592, which includes a formal research paper. The Graduate Research Project content summarizes a topic that the student chooses to study in depth.
3. All candidates admitted to the Clinical Counseling program are required to submit a copy of their California Certificate of Clearance (COC) or another form of clearance, such as a valid and current credential for teaching, counseling, school psychology, and/or nursing. The law requires Azusa Pacific University to keep these records on file while candidates are in attendance at APU.
4. Student must demonstrate that the California Basic Skills Requirement has been met prior to admission to the program. Information on the Basic Skills Requirement can be found on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing website.

Advisory Notes

• The practicum experience included in the educational counseling program is required by the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and consists of 100 hours completed in a K–12 setting. These hours will be verified in the EDCO 575 Clinical Practica course that must be taken prior to fieldwork or internship. This course provides students the educational and clinical experience in applied psychotherapeutic techniques, assessment, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, issues of development, adjustment, and maladjustment, health and wellness promotion, and other recognized counseling interventions.
• At some sites, students may need to delay enrollment until there is a sufficient number of beginning students to provide the appropriate adult learning opportunities. Applicants can obtain detailed information about dates for beginning coursework by requesting an advisement appointment at the Azusa campus or any of the regional campuses.
• Students in an educational and clinical counseling program may request to waive a course (see “Waivers” in the Academic Policies and Procedures section of the catalog) provided that the student can document completion of an equivalent course at another institution in the five-year period prior to requesting the waiver. Division approval of the request is required. If the course accepted for waiver also meets all the university standards for transfer credit (see “Transfer Credit” section in the academic catalog), up to 20 percent of the total program units may be transferred to meet requirements. If the course accepted for waiver does not meet the university standards for transfer credit (i.e., not applicable to a master’s degree at the university where it was taken, not taken from a regionally accredited institution, etc.), then the student must choose alternative elective courses to satisfy the unit requirements of the degree program.
Students approaching program completion must obtain a credential application from the credential analyst office in the Division of Teacher Education. Students must complete all credential requirements to apply for the credential.
• To be eligible for the LPCC license, the Board of Behavioral Sciences requires individuals to complete a 60-semester-unit master’s or doctoral degree from an accredited or approved institution, which is counseling or psychotherapy in content, includes 6 semester units of supervised practicum, and contains at least 3 semester units, or 4½ units, of coursework in 13 core content areas. Candidates receive the LPCC designation only upon passing the required state examinations for licensure.
• Notify graduate registrar of intent to graduate 90 days before intended graduation. Students approaching graduation must complete the Intent to Commence and/or Graduate form through the Graduate and Professional Registrar. The Graduate and Professional Registrar will determine whether the student has met all requirements.
• A student has a maximum of five years to complete all coursework, including waivers and transfer of units, beginning the first date of enrollment for coursework in the degree program.