Counselor Education
The GCCE Program now offers both full-time and part-time options for accepted students! Financial aid resources are available to full-time students; part-time students are not eligible for financial aid benefits. Please be sure to indicate which option you would like to attend when completing your application process to be considered as a GCCE student.
The GCCE program is designed for school teachers, administrators, support staff, advisors and tutors in various educational institutions (schools and universities), along with human service workers in government or community agencies, and individuals interested in counseling work. Additionally, course material, collegial collaboration, and faculty mentorship provided within the GCCE program are designed to assist students in determining if they would like to pursue a career in counseling and assist in creating the specific path to begin their career journey. While some graduates of this program pursue their master’s in counseling or a related helping profession, many others provide paraprofessional counseling to assist licensed counselors. Regardless of the career decision, all GCCE graduates become better equipped to assist students/clients in dealing with a variety of stressors, obstacles, or challenging systemic dynamics particularly relevant in today’s society.
Eligibility
Admission to the GCCE requires one of the following:
- An undergraduate degree from an accredited 4-year college with a GPA of 3.0 on a 4-point scale in the major or in the last 60 credit hours of undergraduate study, or
- A master's degree.
Applicants who do not meet the GPA requirement may be admitted provisionally based on past work experiences as a professional in the field of K-12 education, higher education, human resource development, or training and development. If they earn at least a B (3.0) in the first three credit hours of coursework, they will be admitted to the certificate program.
All applications are considered for students to begin the GCCE program in the Fall semester (Application Deadline of August 11th by 5pm). All accepted students will begin their GCCE journey by enrolling in ECD 575: Multicultural Lifespan Development. Since the GCCE program consists of two different cohorts, all accepted students will be placed into either Cohort A or B and register for the appropriate cohort AND course. All GCCE students are provided an advisor to help them navigate through the registration process, along with providing key mentorship during essential decision-making processes associated with their career development and goals. If there are available seats throughout the rest of the academic year, it may be possible for exceptions to be provided for a small number of students to begin the GCCE program during the spring or summer semesters.
Plan of Study
Award of the GCCE requires a minimum overall GPA of B (3.0) in certificate program courses. None of the courses may be taken for credit only. No transfer credits from other institutions are allowed for the certificate. All students must be registered through NC State University. All GCCE requirements must be completed within four calendar years. All certificate students are expected to maintain continuous enrollment every semester (excluding summer sessions) until all course work is completed. Under unusual circumstances, a one-semester leave of absence will be granted if the student is unable to enroll in a course; written approval from the program director must be obtained before the beginning of the semester.
Full-Time GCCE Option: If accepted into the GCCE program as a full-time student, you will begin in the fall semester and be required to enroll in 2 courses for the Fall semester AND 2 courses for the Spring semester. Upon receiving an official acceptance letter into the GCCE program, you will be provided specific course listings and other important programmatic information. If students successfully complete their courseload (i.e. receives an earned grade of a “C” or better), the GCCE program can be completed in just 2 semesters as a full-time student (August-May)!
A Full-Time course schedule is as follows:
FALL: Multicultural Lifespan Development AND Orientation to Professional Counseling, Identity, and Ethics (15-week semester)
SPRING: Theories & Techniques of Counseling (15 weeks) AND Multicultural Counseling (15-week semester)
Part-Time GCCE Option: If accepted into the GCCE program as a part-time student, you will begin in the fall semester and enroll in one course per semester throughout the course of one year. Upon receiving an official acceptance letter into the GCCE program, you will be provided specific course listings and other important programmatic information. If students successfully complete their courseload (i.e. receives an earned grade of a “C” or better), the GCCE program can be completed in just under 1 year (August-July)!
A Part-Time course schedule is as follows:
FALL: Multicultural Lifespan Development (15 weeks)
SPRING: Theories & Techniques of Counseling (15 weeks)
SUMMER 1: Multicultural Counseling (5 weeks)
SUMMER 2: Orientation to Professional Counseling, Identity, and Ethics (5 weeks)
Career Prospects
People who work in schools or educational institutions in such positions as teachers, administrators, advisors, residential assistants, or tutors may benefit from the Graduate Certificate in Counselor Education (GCCE) program. Professionals in positions requiring frequent human interaction such as human services or training and development also find the material useful.
The GCCE program provides basic counseling and communication skills, multicultural skills and training in advocacy and support that can be applied in schools, communities and other settings. It is designed for individuals who desire to help others individually or in groups on their academic, emotional, behavioral, career and contextual challenges. Credit hours earned in the GCCE program may be transferred to a master's program in Counselor Education at NC State (transferring credits to other institutions is not guaranteed).
For more information about the counseling profession see: