Mental Health Counseling

MA

Why study Mental Health Counseling?

Mental Health Counseling is a career choice that is widely popular and has remained in high demand during both challenging and prosperous economic times. The University of Cincinnati's Mental Health Counseling graduate degree is designed to train counselors for employment in community agencies and private practice settings. The overarching goal of the program is to train counselors to function appropriately as wellness-oriented mental health professionals, working within communities to improve the lives of individuals and families.

Graduates of this counseling degree program meet the training requirements established by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and will be prepared for the National Counselor Examination (NCE).

Admission Requirements

  • Undergraduate transcript(s)
  • Letters of Recommendation (3 strongly preferred, minimum of 1 required)
  • Goal statement 
  • CV/Resume

Application Process:

Prospective students should complete the online application by January 15th for Fall enrollment. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all required materials and support documents are successfully submitted by the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be processed or reviewed.

Unofficial Transcripts:

At the time of application, please upload unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.

Common career paths for our graduates include working with children, adolescents, and adults of all ages; career counseling; working with individuals experiencing severe mental illlness or homelessness; and providing counseling in a wide variety of mental health settings.


Federal regulations require the University of Cincinnati to publicly disclose whether completion of certain programs that lead or may lead to professional licensure or certification would meet a given state’s educational requirements for a specific professional license or certification required for employment in an occupation (regardless of whether the program is in-person, online, or hybrid). To learn whether a University program meets a given state’s educational requirements, please visit the University of Cincinnati State Authorization webpage. 

The information provided is sourced from a third party, Lightcast. Their product, called Career Coach, combines extensive labor market data from Lightcast and the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics. It provides insights on industry, occupation, compensation, and projected growth for each profession. Economic and workforce information is available for various geographic regions. Some careers may require additional training or education.

Students are assigned a faculty advisor at Orientation. 

Gaining hands-on experience through internship training is an advantage of training in this program! Students also have opportunities to participate in research, which may be beneficial if a goal is to apply for additional study at the doctoral level. Chi Sigma Iota, a national counseling honor society, maintains an active chapter affiliated with the program.

For international admissions requirements, please visit our website.

Explore unique opportunities, faculty, and resources available in Counseling

Application Deadlines

The application deadline for Fall Semester admission to the Mental Health Counseling program is January 15th.

The University of Cincinnati and all regional campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

This program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Contact Information

CECH Office of Recruitment
PO BOX 210014
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0014
(513) 556-6308
cechrecruit@uc.edu

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Program Code: 18MAS-MHC-MA