Accelerated Graduate Pathway to Counseling

For highly motivated undergraduate students who are already looking ahead to graduate school, USM offers an Accelerated Graduate Pathway from our Social and Behavioral Sciences program to the MS in Counseling program that allows you to begin graduate study while completing your bachelor’s degree, saving you time and money – which means you’ll be ready for a career that much sooner, with your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in hand.

Program Requirements

In order to apply or participate in the Counseling pathway:

Declare the Social and Behavioral Sciences major.
Students must complete at least one full-time semester at the University with a 3.0 GPA.
All students must meet with the professional advisor in the Advising Office to discuss and gain approval to declare the accelerated pathway. Upon approval, the declaration form is signed. If you are a Transfer or Continuing Student, please contact the Advising Office to meet with an academic advisor who can review your previous coursework and determine your eligibility for entering an Accelerated Graduate Pathway.
If the professional advisor approves, and a student has earned junior status (54 credits) they may begin take courses from List A.

Recommended Course Sequence

List A: Take either HCE 500 or HCE 510 (if interest is rehabilitation) and then one additional course from the following list of four courses: HCE 507 Spirituality and Religion in Counseling; HCE 604 Career Development; HCE 620 Fundamentals of Counseling Theories; or HCE 668 Human Development.

Next, once the six credits (List A) are completed, a student will apply to the master’s program. Any exceptions need to be discussed with the professional advisor. Students are required to follow all guidelines for their application as outlined on the Graduate Admissions website. There are currently two application deadlines.
Students must also earn a B or better in these classes as evidence of preparedness for graduate level work.
SBS students must be accepted in the counseling graduate school program in order to take any further graduate counseling courses.
Even if a SBS student is an accelerated pathway student, they are not guaranteed acceptance into the graduate program.
If accepted into the graduate program, a student becomes eligible to take any of the following courses from List B.
The maximum number of overall credits available to be earned as an accelerated pathway student is 18 credits.
If not accepted into the graduate program, the student is not eligible for the remaining courses, however the six credits will count as SBS electives.

How to Apply or participate in the Counseling Pathway:

List B: HCE 514 Principles of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Evidence-based Practice and Treatment; HCE 612 Multicultural Counseling; HCE 641 Mind/Body/Expressive Techniques; HCE 642 Perspectives on Chemical Dependency; or any course not yet taken from List A.

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