When you talk to graduates of the Department of Counseling, you’ll quickly learn about how rewarding and fulfilling it is to work as a counselor. Our students are often drawn to be counselors because they want to help people grow, heal, recover, or find meaning in their lives. There are many ways to describe the clinical work that we counselors do, but at the heart of our work lies the intersection of skill, passion, and relationship.
Employment Rate
Employment rate of 2021 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduates
Counselors work in schools, hospitals, clinics, community agencies, and private practices. In the Department of Counseling, we train students to be either Clinical Mental Health Counselors or School Counselors. Both of our accredited tracks lead to licensure by the State of Ohio. Clinical Mental Health Counselors provide many services, including psychotherapy (i.e. talk therapy), assessment and diagnosis, treatment planning, substance abuse treatment, crisis management, and prevention programs. School counselors work with students, teachers, and parents to help students in their academic, personal, and career development.
Students in the Substance Use Disorder Counseling programs are prepared for license eligibility as either a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) or a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor (LICDC), depending on prior academic work.
U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks John Carroll among the top ten master’s-degree granting universities in the Midwest. When you wander the halls of the Counseling Department, you’ll find that our doors are open. Our faculty is committed to developing deep and meaningful teaching and mentoring relationships with our students. We bring a diverse set of skills, knowledge, and experience to our teaching and supervising. Our classes are small – none larger than 20 students, and many with as few at 15 or 8. Our courses involve discussion and practice, rather than solely lecture. Typically, in the second year of enrollment, students begin their practicum and internship Practicum and Internship) fieldwork. In a clinical or school setting of their choice, students begin to practice the science and art of counseling. During this time, students receive formal supervision on site and at John Carroll. At graduation, the outlook for our students is bright because of their strong reputation in the community. This, and the numerous connections our faculty has with local employers, positions our graduates as top candidates on the job market.
Some of our graduates continue their education in doctoral programs, typically in the fields of counselor education or counseling psychology.
In 2023, John Carroll’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling Programs received the maximum eight-year re-accreditation after submitting a two-year interim report, meaning that John Carroll's program is currently accredited into 2029. This fact reflects the Department’s commitment to excellence and demonstrates that the Department of Counseling meets or exceeded all accreditation standards. John Carroll University is also in process of applying for the Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program to also be accredited by CACREP.
Gaining and maintaining CACREP accreditation is essential for any counseling program, especially in Ohio. In 2014, the Ohio State Legislature passed legislation requiring all counseling programs to be CACREP-accredited by 2018. In addition, several insurance carriers will reimburse only for counselors who earned degrees from CACREP-accredited programs.
John Carroll University has determined that its counseling curriculum meets the state educational requirement for licensure/certifications in the State of Ohio. John Carroll University has not made a determination that our counseling curriculum meets state educational requirements for licensure/certifications in any other state, territory, or country. Please check with your state licensing board to determine if our curriculum meets requirements in your state.
For Fall 2022, the total enrollment for the two master’s programs was 188: 144 in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and 40 in School Counseling. Of the students admitted to the fall 2019 cohort, 74% completed the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program in the expected three-year time period and 88% completed the School Counseling program in the expected three-year time period. The programs had 59 graduates from Summer 2021 to Spring 2022: 44 in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and 15 in School Counseling. Our graduates have consistently achieved high scores and high pass rates on licensing examinations. During this academic year, the graduates of the Clinical Mental Health Program had a pass rate of 95% on the NCE examination. School Counseling graduates achieved a 92% passing rate for school counselor licensure. Our graduates also have been extremely successful in obtaining employment in positions in recognized occupations for which they were trained. For Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduates the employment rate was 100%. School Counseling graduates had a 80% employment rate. The figure for School Counseling is complicated by the fact that several students are looking for employment only within their school or in a specific geographic area.
