Pupil Personnel Services (School Counseling)

PPS Credential (School Counseling)

Counseling Credentials:
Pupil Personnel Services Credential
(45-48 units)

The Counseling or Pupil Personnel Services Credential, offered in Bakersfield and Mission Valley,  prepares counselors to deliver comprehensive counseling and guidance services focused on supporting student learning in public and private schools at all grade levels including higher education. 

Most aspiring counselors complete requirements for the counseling or pupil personnel services credential along with Master of Arts in Education with a concentration in Counseling and Guidance.   The counseling credential certifies educators to work as counselors in K-12 public schools.  

 This services credential is ideal for:

• Educators in service or helping professions in the public or private sector such as support service units in private schools or higher education,who are interested in counseling in the K-12 public schools.
• Aspiring counselors who feel called to support students academically, socio-emotionally, spiritually, and vocationally beyond the classroom setting.
• Experienced educators seeking educational/career/salary advancement 

Program Distinctions:

Counseling credential candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to support learning community efforts to create and maintain healthy and nurturing environments for ALL students both at home and at school.

Recent counseling credential graduates express their confidence in creating supportive environments that promote and maintain the 40 developmental assets of resiliency in students.
 
The Counseling credential program is an evidence-based program. Candidates develop professional portfolios for their graduate level coursework, building on the evidence of prior knowledge, skills, and dispositions that they bring into the program. This customized instructional design is focused on evidence of significant candidate transformation aligned with both state and national professional counseling and guidance standards.

MA in Education - concentration in School Counseling

Candidates may transfer up to 6 units of  graduate level coursework to this credential program

Sample Course of Study (45-48units):

GED633:  Educational Law and Finance (3 units)
GED641:  School Communities in a Pluralistic Society (3 units)
GED662:  Foundations of Counseling and Counseling Theory (3 units)
GED663:  Individual and Group Counseling and Ethical Standards (3 units)
GED664:  Counseling for Academic Achievement and Career Development (3 units)
GED667:  Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Programs:  Coordination and Collaboration (3 units)
GED670:  Advanced Educational Psychology (3 units)
GED601:  Foundations of Leadership and Educational Issues (3 units)
GED665:  Safe Schools and Violence Prevention (3 units)
GED675:  Family Systems (3 units)
GED672:  Philosophy of Education (3 units)
GED681:  Educational Measurement and Evaluation (3 units)
GED687:  Research, Field Studies & Practicum in Counseling and Guidance (9 units)

Electives (3 units):

GED677:  Teaching Strategies for Special Populations (3 units)
or demonstration of competency in the area of special education (0-3 units)