If you’ve decided you want to work with students as a school counselor and earn your degree online, it can be challenging to find the right program. Increasingly, colleges and universities are offering school counseling degrees online, expanding your options for counseling education. While that’s positive news, program quality, state certification requirements and differences in course delivery all add to the aspects you have to weigh. 

So, how do you find the best online program for you? The following can help guide your decision.

Consider your goals and ideal school counselor career path.

School counseling is a broad field. As a school counselor, you can work with K-12 students of various ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds and in a wide variety of districts, from rural to urban. Your job duties can range from helping elementary students with social and emotional skills to working with high schoolers to plan their careers. You’ll also collaborate with parents, educators and school administrators to promote your students’ well-being. 

While you don’t have to have a specific job posting in mind to become an effective school counselor, the following questions can help you narrow your focus:

• School setting: In what regions or states might you work? Are there certification requirements you need to meet or reciprocity you need to consider?
• Types of learners: Do you want to work with elementary, middle school or high school students? What populations might you be working with?
• Specializations: Do you want to focus your degree on a particular facet of school counseling, such as college advising?

The best online school counseling programs prepare you to work in a wide range of settings and with a variety of learners while still focusing on specialized topics in school counseling. Look for online master’s in school counseling programs that will build your expertise in subjects such as human growth and development, multicultural counseling, group counseling, and college and career development. Teaching both general school counseling skills and how to work with underserved populations, these types of programs position you for success regardless of your career path. 

Look for accredited online school counseling programs.

In addition to providing a robust, career-focused curriculum, the best online school counseling programs are accredited. National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) programs are widely respected for their adherence to standards of educational excellence.

Accreditation entails a rigorous evaluation process in which schools must demonstrate the quality of their curriculum and experiential learning. This third-party validation can help you choose a respected program — and illustrate reputability to your employer. Accreditation standards often align with state or employer requirements for your degree, and accredited programs can more effectively prepare you for school counselor certification exams. 

The online master’s in school counseling program at Teachers College is New York State and NCATE-accredited. NCATE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting body for higher education institutions that prepare educational professionals to work in elementary and secondary schools. This accreditation validates that TC can equip you to support the development of all K-12 students. 

Seek out programs with an engaging delivery format.

While often more accessible than in-person programs, online programs can feel isolating, particularly when delivered in a fully at-your-own-pace (asynchronous) format. An asynchronous format is important for creating balance and flexibility, but the feeling of connectedness — and the opportunity for live skills training — may be lost.

Programs with a live component can be more engaging, accommodating multiple learning styles and adding interactivity. But perhaps the most important piece of a live component is the opportunity to hone your skills. For example, in addition to a required practicum and an internship, Teachers College builds live skills practice into the curriculum. TC’s students lead individual and group counseling sessions and practice other essential skills in live virtual contexts, allowing for real-time feedback from professors. 

This feature gives you the critical opportunity to refine your counseling skills, learn how to adapt and raise questions to deepen your understanding of counseling practice. The format also more closely simulates the environment in which you’ll eventually work, more effectively preparing you to help students. 

Examine the program’s values.

School counselors are advocates by design, promoting the academic, post-secondary, and mental health of their students. That makes a focus on advocacy, equity and multicultural competence essential for any online school counseling master’s program. This focus should go beyond a single course in inclusive practices or multicultural theory and span the entirety of the program. 

At Teachers College, all courses are rooted in social justice. Our curriculum also represents a greater number of groups and experiences, with courses such as Counseling Linguistically Diverse Populations, Exploring Transgender Experiences, Microaggressions in Institutional Climates, and Racism and Racial Identity in Psychology and Education. This intensive focus on all aspects of identity and how they shape student experiences prepares you to work with and advocate for every student.

Consider the time commitment of earning your school counseling degree online.

Succeeding in an online school counseling master’s program takes time, initiative and dedication. Choose a program that both challenges you and allows you to balance your personal commitments. Programs that offer built-in student support, dedicated full-time professors, opportunities to connect with your classmates and virtual office hours position you to thrive on your journey to becoming a school counselor. 

With both asynchronous and synchronous formats, TC’s program balances flexibility with live learning opportunities. In our program, you’ll benefit from courses with recorded lectures (by full-time TC faculty) that you can view on your schedule in addition to live classes and skills labs that meet on weeknights. The total commitment you can expect in the school counseling program at TC is 9 hours of instruction per week, plus readings and assignments – with up to 4 hours live and 5 hours asynchronous, though time can vary based on your courseload and pace.

Explore School Counseling at Teachers College

At Teachers College, you’ll earn an online master’s degree in school counseling from a respected, accredited institution with a focus on social justice and extensive student support. Explore our Ed.M. in Psychological Counseling - School Counseling Track or apply today.