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Professional counselors help adults and children address personal challenges, improve relationships and build coping skills. The University of Central Missouri’s Master of Science in Counseling degree will prepare you for a career that allows you to improve the lives of individuals in a variety of settings.

UCM’s master’s degree in Counseling builds on your bachelor’s degree to provide you with advanced preparation and qualifications for a career as a licensed professional counselor working one-on-one, with couples, families or groups, or as a certified school counselor. Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), our Counseling master’s program helps you develop an area of professional specialization and broadens your career options.

Get your Master of Science in Counseling at one of UCM’s two campuses

Take classes for your master’s degree in Counseling at either our Warrensburg or Lee’s Summit campuses – or both. Either way, you can take advantage of UCM’s flexible program options while learning from our experienced faculty, who have years of teaching and professional counseling experience.

Vision Statement

The Counseling Program at the University of Central Missouri aspires to prepare individuals for exemplary practice as Professional Counselors in school and clinical mental health settings.

Mission Statement

The Counseling program at UCM prepares professional counselors at the Master and Education Specialist levels who:

Demonstrate all the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions

Are reflective practitioners

Advocate for clients, the counseling profession and society

Are prepared to serve a dynamic, diverse and complex society

Adhere to the current version of ethical standards of the American Counseling Association

What you will study

If you focus on clinical mental health counseling at UCM, you’ll learn to help clients address mental health challenges, relationship issues and substance abuse problems.

The school counseling pathway can lead to certification through DESE to work as a school counselor and assist students in grades K–12 overcome learning obstacles, build social and emotional skills and achieve academic goals.

Both of UCM’s Counseling master’s degree pathways prepare you to work in individual or group counseling settings. The topics you’ll study may include:

Parent and Family Counseling

Counseling Diverse Populations

Introduction to Group Work

What can you do with a master’s degree in Counseling from UCM?

Our Master of Science in Counseling will prepare you for a career in one of two distinct career tracks. Prepare for a career as a professional counselor in clinical mental health or a school counselor who works with students.

Clinical mental health counselors work in public and private community/clinical counseling centers, businesses, educational institutions, private practices, hospitals and employee assistance programs and non-profit agencies.

School Counselors work in elementary, middle and high school settings and address students’ emotional, social and academic, or career concerns. They oversee school counseling programs, provide individual and group counseling, provide counseling class lessons and career counseling, and consult with teachers, parents and guardians.