As a student in the UD Department of Counselor Education & Human Services, you'll prepare for a career where you can impact the lives of individuals and support your community as a whole. You'll learn not only from your professors, but also from your classmates to become an outstanding professional in your chosen field.

No matter which of our graduate-level programs you choose, you'll benefit from personalized instruction and individual attention. Students also gain valuable experience through research, internships and community programs.

Programs are offered at our main campus in Dayton, our campus in the Columbus Metro area, and online:

Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Dayton and Columbus)
Higher Education and Student Affairs (Dayton)
School Counseling (Dayton and Columbus)
School Psychology (Dayton)
Human Services (Dayton)

CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling - for graduates of UD's School Counseling Program (Dayton and Columbus).
Certificate in School Counseling - for graduates of UD's Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program (Dayton and Columbus) or professionals who already have an active LPC license in Ohio.
Certificate in Pastoral Counseling - available for those seeking or with an earned MA in Theological Studies or MA in Pastoral Ministry who complete an additional thirteen semester credit hours through Counselor Education and Human Services.
Ecotherapy Certificate - part of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.

A High-Quality Education

Two Campuses Available

Alignment With UD Values

Career Options

Take Courses in Dayton or the Columbus Metro Area

Students in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Human Services and School Counseling have the flexibility of attending classes at UD's main campus in Dayton, Ohio, or at Saint Francis DeSales High School, located in the Columbus metropolitan area.

Explore the Columbus Campus

UD and the Department of Counselor Education and Human Services affirm that diversity, equity, and inclusion are inextricably linked with excellence, these core values align with our mission of building community in the world and working for justice for all people. As a Catholic and Marianist institution, UD embraces diversity and is committed to honoring the intrinsic value and dignity of all people, no matter their race, religion, socio-economic status, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, (dis)ability, ideology, and other expressions of human difference. UD and the Department of Counselor Education and Human Services commit to eliminating discriminatory or hateful words and actions, pursuing equity, and becoming known as a fully inclusive and welcoming environment for learning, discovery, and community engagement.
Explore UD's Steps Toward Becoming an Anti-Racist University

Graduates can work in a variety of settings, depending on their area of interest, including community agencies, hospitals and clinics, private practices, PK-12 school systems, or higher education and other adult learning-focused organizations. They can serve their communities by advocating for children (both in and out of the school environment), providing effective strategies to individuals with behavioral problems and their families, or providing counseling and psychotherapy to individuals who are struggling with mental and emotional disorders, substance abuse, family and relationship difficulties, and career development needs.
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Featured Programs and Initiatives

Opportunity for a Interprofessional Training

The Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program is a grant-funded initiative that offers interprofessional training opportunities and stipends for clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, and school psychology students. The program is an extension of practicum and internship and includes a $10,000 stipend for selected students. Participants work with regional partners, including hospitals, schools, community mental health agencies, police divisions, juvenile courts, faith-based organizations, and public service agencies to address systemic issues in our region through research and service learning.

Learn more about BHWET

Private University Education at the Cost of a Public University

Programs offered by the UD Department of Counselor Education and Human Services, within the UD School of Education and Health Sciences, offers a private university education at the cost of a public university. Discover tuition costs per semester for SEHS by clicking the link below.

Explore Graduate Tuition and Costs

Graduate Assistantships

Graduate Assistantships are available with various departments within the UD School of Education and Health Sciences, along with the UD Division of Student Development. Depending on your area of study, you may also be placed in an off-campus assistantship. GAs are typically employed to work between 10 to for 20 hours per week. Tuition remission and a paid stipend are awarded for the nine-month academic year.

Explore Graduate Assistantships

Student Research

Students work alongside faculty to conduct and publish research in respected journals. Students also participate in UD's annual Stander Symposium, a campus-wide event that allows students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual accomplishments.

Explore the Stander Symposium

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Experiential Learning

Real-World Experience

Course content is accompanied by appropriate field experiences for students. Internships and practicum experiences are among the opportunities available for students to apply their learning throughout the program in a work setting. Each experience is coordinated with guidance from a faculty advisor and practice supervisor.

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Equality Statement

The University of Dayton Department of Counselor Education & Human Services is committed to providing equal access to its programs, facilities and employment without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, physical disability or mental disability (unless the disability is essential to the practice of counseling), or identification as a disabled veteran.

CACREP Accreditation information

School Counseling Mission Statement

The mission, intent and purpose of the School Counseling program at The University of Dayton is to prepare students for employment as professional school counselors in K-12 school systems. The School Counseling program prepares students to become dynamic school counselors who are empathetic, adaptive leaders and champions of social justice. Through teaching and modeling, the faculty works to empower students to embrace holistic, ethical and innovative approaches to their personal lives, to their professional endeavors, and to the school systems they serve.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Mission Statement

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at the University of Dayton seeks to develop scholar-practitioners to become methodical and reflective in facilitating therapeutic processes that foster growth and improvement in the mental health and well-being of children, youth, and adults in the community.

The program prepares students with the knowledge and skills needed to practice effectively in the current educational, human services, and healthcare environments, while at the same time fostering the skills and dispositions needed to embrace a holistic approach to working with diverse individuals, families, and communities.

School Counseling Program Objectives

UD school counseling graduates will demonstrate a professional school counselor identity through participation in professional organizations, acquisition of ethical and legal knowledge and recognition of a professional, developmental process characterized by the integration of personal and professional experiences.
UD school counseling graduates will demonstrate the knowledge, skills and dispositions to enable an appreciation of cultural differences and their influence on counseling practice, and a developing openness and acceptance in their work with students, families, and communities
UD school counseling graduates will demonstrate the ability to apply an understanding of human development as a holistic process which results in various student outcomes due to the interactions between individual and environmental factors.
UD school counseling graduates will demonstrate the growth characteristics of effective helpers in acquiring theoretical knowledge, therapeutic relational skills, compassion, competence, and self-awareness through critical reflection.
UD school counseling graduates will demonstrate abilities to successfully practice school counselor professional duties in the K-12 school setting by acquiring the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to design and implement comprehensive school counseling programs as defined by the ASCA National Model

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Objectives

Successful participation in the CMHC program enables students to:

Demonstrate a professional counselor identity through participation in professional organizations, acquisition of ethical and legal knowledge and recognition of a professional developmental process characterized by the integration of personal and professional experiences.
Demonstrate the knowledge, skills and dispositions to enable an appreciation of cultural differences and their influence on counseling practice, and a developing openness toward "others."
Demonstrates the ability to apply an understanding of the process of human development as holistic - involving mind, body and spirit, spanning a lifetime, and resulting in varying outcomes due to the interactions between individual and environmental factors.
Demonstrate the characteristics of effective helpers as they grow in acquiring theoretical knowledge, therapeutic relational skills and self-awareness through critical reflection.
Demonstrate abilities to successfully practice clinical mental health counseling in public and private behavioral health care systems by acquiring the knowledge, skills and dispositions to think and speak in the vernacular of the medical model (i.e. the current DSM) within a broader contextual understanding of the holistic (mind, body, spirit) nature of the human experience.

The Department of Counselor Education and Human Services is actively engaged in ensuring our recruitment efforts, application process, classrooms, course content, and students reflect our adoption of an anti-racist culture. Anti-racism involves acknowledging and understanding privilege, working to change internalized racism, and interrupting racism when it is encountered. Each of UD’s mental health programs includes coursework on multicultural competence. Multicultural practice is woven throughout the curriculum and is openly and overtly discussed.

As part of our commitment to excellence and inclusivity, the counselor education program prioritizes the establishment of an equitable and welcoming learning environment that values and respects individual differences. This dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is evident throughout various aspects of our program. For instance, our annual merit pay review process incorporates DEI considerations in teaching, scholarship, and service, fostering a culture of fairness and recognition.