About Counseling in California State University Fullerton

The Department of Counseling offers a Master of Science in Counseling, with an emphasis in clinical mental health settings. Our program is approved by the California State Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to meet all of the educational requirements preparing students for state licensure as Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT) and as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC).  We are also nationally accredited by The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Our emphasis is on the training of clinicians who can serve the needs of individuals and families in their communities. We train students to provide evidence-based brief and long-term counseling while maintaining professional identities as counselors and marriage and family therapists. 

The program strongly emphasizes a multicultural perspective. We prepare counselors who will be sensitive to the diverse ethnic and religious heritages, lifestyles and special needs of individuals and families. Both our student body and our faculty encompass a wide range of backgrounds and values. 

Each year, we accept approximately 60 students to our M.S. in Counseling Traditional Program and every three years, we accept approximately 24 students to our M.S. in Counseling Evening Cohort. For the 2014-2015 academic year, we had 68 students graduate from the Fullerton campus. Annually we typically graduate 60 students. In the past year, our completion rate was 94% and the LMFT exam pass rate was 66% and 80% for the written and clinical vignette exams, respectively. About 79% of our alumni who respond to our annual survey find employment in the mental health field after graduation.

Our theoretical orientation is grounded in humanistic, relational, and integrative principles. This means that we are respectful of different counseling philosophies, flexible in our approaches depending on client and student needs, and united in our belief that relationships remain at the core of all helping encounters. We also believe that counselors can best help people by understanding the relationship of emotional distress to family dynamics and to the social and cultural contexts that shape our lives.

Note: The CSUF Clinical Mental Health Counseling M.S. program in the College of Health and Human Development is distinct and different from another CSUF program, The CSUF Clinical Psychology M.S. program in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Admission into programs leading to licensure and credentialing does not guarantee that students will obtain a license or credential. Licensure and credentialing requirements are set by agencies that are not controlled by or affiliated with the CSU and requirements can change at any time. For example, licensure or credentialing requirements can include evidence of the right to work in the United States (e.g., social security number or taxpayer identification number) or successfully passing a criminal background check. Students are responsible for determining whether they can meet licensure or credentialing requirements. The CSU will not refund tuition, fees, or any associated costs, to students who determine subsequent to admission that they cannot meet licensure or credentialing requirements. Information concerning licensure and credentialing requirements are available from Ginamarie Scherzi, EC-429, (657) 278-3042.

Academic qualification equivalents 

• You are eligible to apply as a graduate student if you have earned a degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree.

  You must meet the following requirements:

• The minimum English language proficiency as determined by your graduate program. See requirements below.
• Above average class standing at an internationally accredited college or university: the equivalent of at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale is recommended.
• Note: Some master's programs have additional requirements, such as department applications, letters of recommendation, portfolios, auditions, or tests (e.g., GMAT, GRE, MAT). Graduate applicants should check with their graduate departments for additional requirements and deadlines. 
• Graduate students may request to apply a limited amount of transfer coursework towards unit requirements for a master's degree. Transfer coursework is subject to provisions provided by the graduate studies office .

English language requirements

• TOEFL  iBT (including paper, home) : 80
• IELTS Academic Test: 6.5
• PTE Academic Test: 58

California State University Fullerton Highlights

California State University Fullerton Annual Cost to Attend