The Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University upholds the highest standards of the profession. While it is not eligible for consideration in the national rankings of counseling programs because it is not a doctoral level program, it is widely regarded as one of the best master’s degree programs in the nation. Evidence to support that claim is multifaceted and includes accreditation decisions, awards received, faculty leadership positions, caliber of students, pass rate and scores on national licensing exams, reputation of graduates with employers and doctoral programs, and testimonials from other counselor educators.
The face-to-face and the online curricula are identical. The major differences are delivery methods (face-to-face v. online) and the time needed to complete the program. The on-campus program is designed for full-time students only and can be completed in two years, while the online program is designed for part-time students only and can be completed in three years. Learn more about our graduate programs.
No. The Counseling Program at Wake Forest University Reynolda Campus is structured for full-time, Reynolda Campus students only. An average of fifteen full-time students are accepted each year.
The Online Counseling Program at Wake Forest University is designed for part-time students, and admits students to begin courses three times a year. Cohorts begin in each academic semester–fall, spring, and summer.
The full-time, Reynolda Campus program offers face-to-face courses on the Reynolda campus of Wake Forest University Monday through Friday.
The Online Program offers courses online to part-time Online Campus students. Our online content courses are predominantly asynchronous with optional synchronous components (live interaction with instructors via video-conferencing) while our clinical courses include regularly scheduled required synchronous sessions.
Students may not change delivery methods for courses.
No. Our graduate courses are limited to students who have completed the regular admissions process and have been admitted to one of our graduate programs.
Yes, we allow students to take up to 6 credits as a non-degree or non-matriculating student, in our online program only. Please contact Louise Schatz at schatzla@wfu.edu for additional information on how to register.
Our on-campus counseling program admits students once a year in the fall semester, with an application deadline of January 15th for the upcoming Fall semester.
Admissions to the online counseling program happen three times a year–every fall, spring, and summer semester.
Please check the Graduate School website for the most up-to-date application deadlines.
Details of the admissions process for both delivery methods of the Counseling Program may be found in the admissions section of our website. You may apply to our programs here, through the Wake Forest University Graduate School.
No, students can only begin the full time Reynolda Campus counseling program in the fall. Classes are arranged in a logical developmental order and offered certain semesters only. Students in the online counseling programs can begin in the fall, spring, or summer term.
No. Helping professions attract a diverse group with backgrounds in different disciplines including, but not limited to, psychology. We encourage prospective students to investigate the profession of counseling through activities including but not limited to supporting related research or by volunteering in helping organizations or schools.
No, the Graduate School of Wake Forest University does not require the GRE for consideration for admittance.
The Graduate School states “whatever your previous academic training may have been, all applicants should have superior records. This requirement in usually interpreted as at least a B (3.0 GPA or greater) average or standing in the upper quarter of the class, or both.”
While our accepted students typically demonstrate strong undergraduate records, including cumulative grade point averages (GPA) we do not hold a rigid cut-off. Rather than looking solely at the cumulative GPA, we conduct a review of transcript(s) to consider the prospective students’ academic achievements with regard to courses taken, major/minor, institution attended, and other contextual factors.
Counseling
All of our counseling students (On campus and Online) are required to complete a 165-hour practicum and a 600-hour internship. Depending on which track the student chooses, the clinical experiences will be either in schools or clinical mental health sites. All sites must be screened and approved by the Department of Counseling. Students will receive clinical supervision from both site and University supervisors.
Counseling
The full-time counseling program sequence is two years, beginning in the fall semester and ending after the spring semester of the second year. The part-time online counseling program sequence is three years beginning in the fall, spring, or summer semester.
Yes, students in the Reynolda Campus Counseling program must attend the first session of summer school between the two years.
Online Counseling students take classes year-round, including summers.
Online Counseling students are required to complete two in-person, three-day residency experiences (Thursday evening – Sunday afternoon) on the Wake Forest Reynolda Campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. These on-campus sessions will allow students to connect with one another in-person, and give faculty opportunities to conduct student competency and readiness evaluations, as well as to plan and evaluate field experience arrangements. Students also complete the experiential group requirements of CACREP during this time. A third residency may be required for Counseling Students on an as-needed basis, pending student performance evaluations.
Read more about the residency experiences for Online Campus students here.
While we welcome international students, all clinical experiences required for the counseling program must be completed in the United States. As a result, the University is unable to offer its online counseling programs to students who are ineligible for or unable to participate in U.S.-based internships.
An average of fifteen applicants are selected to enter the full-time, Reynolda Campus counseling program each year. All of those selected will be awarded partial tuition scholarships that cover approximately 75% of the tuition cost.
As part-time students, online students are not eligible for tuition scholarships from Wake Forest University, however the financial aid office will help students navigate application and secure outside loans and scholarships.
For more scholarship opportunities and financial aid information, please visit our departmental Financial Aid page, as well as the Graduate School Prospective Student Webpage, and contact the WFU Office of Financial Aid.
While we do not accept transfer students, in some cases we may allow students to transfer up to six credits. To pursue this option, apply to the program. If you are accepted, you could petition the faculty to transfer up to six credits. These requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to evaluate if the courses requested for transfer credit are appropriate for transfer, sufficiently comparable to our corresponding course, and that the student demonstrated successful completion of the course (earned a B or higher).
For on-campus students, even with six transfer credits, it is unlikely that you could complete the rest of the program in less than the typical course sequence timeline, due to the fixed order of course offerings.
Yes, prospective students complete their application through the Wake Forest University Graduate School webpage. Any supplemental hard-copy application materials are to be sent to the WFU Graduate School at:
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Wake Forest University
200 Brookstown Avenue, Suite 305
Winston-Salem, N.C., 27101.
Applicants who have participated in qualifying programs are eligible to have the application fee waived. Applicants must have participated in the program within the last two years of their application date.
Counseling Podcasts
The Counseling Department produces a regular podcast series to highlight the research of its faculty, and to talk about various aspects of the Counseling program. Take a listen to one episode below or visit our Podcast page to hear more.