Carson-Newman University

Psychology and Counseling Programs

This school appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Most Affordable Master’s Degrees in Counseling in the South.

Carson-Newman University offers a number of psychology and counseling programs for students at the undergrad and graduate levels. Its Psychology Department is responsible for the three undergrad psychology programs that are available for students. The general psychology program incorporates liberal arts class and science courses to give students a stronger background. These students take at least 30 credits of psychology courses, including Statistics and Research Design, Human Development Through the Lifespan, History and Systems of Psychology, and Social Psychology.

The applied psychology program focuses more on research and provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to study at the graduate level. Students take 36 credits of classes that include Introduction to Behavior Science, Abnormal Psychology, Counseling Theories and Techniques and Marriage and Family. The university offers a social entrepreneurship undergrad program that looks at how human behavior affects people in different ways. Its Psychology Department offers this as a graduate program too.

Students with an interest in counseling can enroll in the university's graduate program in clinical mental health counseling. Designed for those who want to work as professional counselors, the program can help students meet the requirements necessary for becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist or a licensed mental health counselor. The program features both a core that is worth 30 credits and specialty courses that are worth 30 credits. Students will need to do one internship at a healthcare facility or two internships at different facilities. They'll also take classes like Assessment and Treatment Planning, Counseling Research and Program Evaluation, Holistic Counseling in a Diverse World and Career Development and Counseling.

Another program that Carson-Newman University offers for graduate students is its professional school counseling program, which prepares students for working as counselors in schools and for getting their counseling licenses. The program features both a practicum and an internship, which allows students to work in local schools and gain more counseling experience. Students will need to take 51 credits of work that include required classes and electives. The required classes in this program include Group Counseling Processes, Professional Orientation and Ethics in Counseling, Individual and Group Appraisal and Foundations of School Counseling.

About Carson-Newman University

Carson-Newman University is a university in Tennessee that can trace its history back to the middle of the 19th century. Established in 1851 as the Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary, the school was so small that it operated out of a local church. When it became a full college a few years later, it built its own campus and moved to a different part of the town. The college adopted the Carson-Newman name in honor of James Harvey Carson and William Cate Newman. Carson donated a large sum of money to the college, and Newman helped found a college for women called Newman College that stood next to the Mossy Creek campus. The two schools merged to form Carson-Newman College, which is now Carson-Newman University.

Many people know CNU because of its ROTC program for nurses. This is the largest program of its type in the state and offers practical training for nurses who want to work for the military. The university is also home to a number of athletic organizations that compete in 18 different sports. CNU still has a deep affiliation with the Baptist Church, which helped found the school, but the university welcomes students of all religious beliefs. The university offers small class sizes and a low ratio of students to professors because it has a total enrollment of right around 2,500 students across all levels.

Carson-Newman University Accreditation Details

CNU has accreditation for the degree programs that it offers in nursing, dietetics, and teaching. The university also has accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is a type of regional accreditation.

Carson-Newman University Application Requirements

Carson-Newman University does not require that prospective undergrads write an essay like other schools do, and it does not charge an application fee. Students can visit the university admissions website, select the link to the application and create a new account to use on the site. Once they finish filling out the application, students will need to provide the university with an official high school transcript and a score from either the ACT or the SAT. The university will not process an application until it receives those documents. It will accept a homeschool transcript and information form in lieu of a transcript and test score.

The application process for graduate students is fairly similar. These students must use the online application designed for graduate students. CNU asks for a college transcript that shows the students has a bachelor's degree or will complete a bachelor's degree at the time that the individual enrolls in classes. This transcript should also list the most recent grades the student received in his or her classes. Some graduate programs ask for a GRE score or an official score on a similar test. That score shows that the student is capable of studying at the graduate level.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Undergrads attending Carson-Newman University on a full-time basis pay $13,350 per semester. Those who take more than 17 credits in a semester pay an overtime fee of $779 per hour. Students who take fewer than 12 credits are part-time students. They pay $1,113 per credit. The university offers meal plans and housing options for undergrads that will add at least $2,800 to their total costs each semester.

CNU charges graduate students $6,675 per semester, which allows them to take between 12 and 17 credits. Part-time students pay $556 per credit hour. Its counseling programs charge a flat rate of $450 per credit hour, but students will pay an extra $75 per credit hour for each class taken at or above the 700 level.

Both undergrads and graduate students attending CNU can apply for financial aid. The university asks students to file the FAFSA each year and uses the information they provide to design their financial aid packages. Undergrads can use loans, grants, and scholarships, but some of these students will also qualify for the university's work-study program. Graduate students generally use more loans because they can borrow more money from the federal government. Carson-Newman University offers loan counseling that helps students understand how these loans work.