![School counselor giving students high-fives in the hallway](/education/sites/g/files/ijdqth211/files/styles/4_3_l/public/2023-01/schoolcounseling-full-20180620028.jpg?h=c354e645&itok=u7jVlYQ4)
School Counselor Education
Have a powerful influence on children's development.
The School Counselor Education program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst prepares professionals to create school environments where all students can thrive.
Program Mission
School counselors promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of all PreK–12 students through data-informed school counseling programs. We believe that all school counselors must be multiculturally competent and committed to social justice and equity in education in order to ensure that all students have equal access to resources and opportunities. We also believe that school counselors are most effective when they work collaboratively across the multiple contexts that shape children's development—at the individual level as well as at the classroom, school, family, and community levels.
We teach an innovative model of school counseling that understands schools as complex institutions that require classroom-based, small group, and individual school counseling interventions and programs. We also ensure that our graduates have thorough training in both mental health and the American School Counselor Association’s National Model for School Counseling.