NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY MASTER'S PROGRAM

GENERAL PROGRAM INFORMATION

PROGRAM STATEMENT

The focus of the College Student Development and Counseling program is on preparing students to work in emerging areas of student affairs. The program prepares students for careers through an emphasis on multiculturalism, the management of rapid change, and participation in a year-long, 300-hour practicum experience. Our philosophy is embedded in courses and programs that foster leadership potential, pay respect to individual development, value diversity and human dignity, and serve to support the academic experience of college students.

While most higher education curriculums place more of a focus on either administration or counseling, the College Student Development and Counseling program deliberately connects both of these aspects in a unique way. Students learn to create, implement, and evaluate student development services and programs in higher education. They develop theoretical knowledge and applied skills in individual counseling and group dynamics. Since 1968, the College Student Development and Counseling Program has provided students with the academic and experiential tools necessary to excel as practitioners in a higher education setting. Graduates of this program are knowledgeable and skilled in the application of the following: individual, cross-cultural, and career counseling, interpersonal and group dynamics, programmatic assessment and evaluation, and systematic approaches to the management of higher education and student affairs. Graduates also hold expertise in the direct application of theoretical and administrative areas of higher education such as: student development theory, the evaluation of quantitative and qualitative research, and financial, legal, and ethical issues in higher education.

PROGRAM MISSION

The College Student Development and Counseling program aims to create mindful, action-oriented leaders, specifically in the field of higher education and student affairs. It is the goal of the program to focus on counseling, college student development, the history and philosophy of the student affairs profession, and the organization and administration of the field. The program will provide emerging professionals with the academic and experiential background that will allow them to be able to design, create, and administer student personnel programs that teach leadership, foster development, value diversity, and compliment the academic experience of college students.

PROGRAM UNIQUENESS

In accordance with the accreditation process of the American College Personnel Association, the two-year academic curriculum is intentionally designed to develop a strong knowledge base in counseling, student development theory, group dynamics and leadership, higher education and student affairs administration, and program assessment. Additionally, a year-long internship experience provides students an opportunity to apply administrative, counseling, and student development theories in a practical setting.

Northeastern University has a long history of providing its students with practical experience in which they put the theories and skills that they learn in the classroom directly to use in work settings. Boston, with more than 120 colleges and universities within a sixty-mile radius, offers many opportunities for CSDC students to have practical experiences in various collegiate settings. The practicum component provides students with field opportunities that will prepare new professionals for working in entry level and beginning management positions in the college student development field. These positions are offered in departments and offices, which may not directly address the academic concerns of students, but are a vital part of the social, emotional, and moral development of students.

In an economy that increasingly demands higher levels of skill-based education, project orientation, and critical thinking, it is no longer feasible to graduate programs to focus solely on the administrative aspects of higher education and student affairs practice. The comprehensive nature of the College Student Development and Counseling Program at Northeastern University prepares students to meet the administrative demands of a skill-based workforce while utilizing a counseling-base perspective.

APPLICATION AND ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Application
• Application fee ($50)
• Personal Statement
• Professional Resume
• Official transcripts
• Letters of Recommendation (3)
• GRE or MAT
• Deadline: Rolling admission

CURRICULUM INFORMATION