Counseling & Psychology Programs at Lynchburg College
Lynchburg College appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Most Affordable Master’s Degrees in Counseling in the South.
Lynchburg College offers a psychology program for undergrads that provides them with the solid foundations that they need when taking graduate classes later. Students receive a suggested curriculum guide when they first enroll, which lists all the classes they need to take and shows them when they should take those classes. The program features psychology courses and a senior symposium.
Students come from all across the country to enroll in the college's Master of Education in Counselor Education degree program. They can customize their degrees with a specialization in school counseling or clinical mental health counseling. All students must take the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE) before they graduate. This exam tests them on their knowledge and skills. It determines whether a student can handle working in the counseling field.
The clinical mental health counseling specialization requires that students do 60 hours of work. They take core and specialized classes like Professional Identity and Ethics of Clinical Health Counselors, Career Development, Counseling Techniques, Group Counseling Procedures and Techniques and Addiction Counseling. Students must also do both a practicum and an internship. Lynchburg College has clinical practice facilities on its campus.
School counseling students take courses and do fieldwork that prepares them for working in school settings. They can specialize their degrees based on whether they want to work in elementary, junior high or high schools. The program features 45 credits of required classes and a single elective. Students take courses that include Marriage and Family Counseling, Survey of Special Education, Research in Counseling and Counseling Theories. They earn six credits for their internships. This internship requires that students pass a criminal background check and that they do 600 hours of fieldwork. Lynchburg College also requires that students attend group sessions once a week to go over what they learned.
About Lynchburg College
Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg College is a small institution of higher learning that has an affiliation with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Established as the Virginia Christian College in 1903, it took over a small resort in Lynchburg that went out of business and used the buildings and land as its campus. The founders chose the original name as a way to reflect that it offered educational programs for Virginia residents. As enrollment grew and more students came from other states to attend its classes, the college changed its name to Lynchburg College. It announced in 2017 that it was now a full university and would use the name the University of Lynchburg in the future.
The majority of students attending Lynchburg College live on its campus, which puts them close to their classes, but students will also find housing options within walking distance of the campus. In addition to its Lynchburg campus, the college also operates a study center about 40 miles away that allows students to study both natural and environmental issues. Lynchburg College has an enrollment of around 2,500 students. It also has a ratio of around 15 students for every one of its professors.
Lynchburg College Accreditation Details
Lynchburg College has regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which is especially important for students applying one of its graduate programs. SACS accreditation lets the college know that the credits a student earned from another accredited college provided them with the strong foundation that they need at the graduate level. Lynchburg also has accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The college's physical therapy, business, nursing and music programs have specialty accreditation too.
Lynchburg College Application Requirements
Graduate students can start in the fall, spring or summer semester. The deadline for fall applications is July 31, but students can submit applications up until November 30 and start classes in the spring. Lynchburg College has an application deadline of May 1 for students starting in the summer. Students must submit the online application and provide the college with any required information by the deadline. The college offers a paper application that students can fill out at home and submit in lieu of using the online application system. Though Lynchburg charges a $30 application fee, it waives this fee for those using the online system.
All its graduate programs require that students have a bachelor's degree from an accredited school before they start. Students can submit an unofficial transcript that shows the progress they made towards an undergrad degree as part of the application process, but the college asks for an official transcript before the student can begin classes. This transcript must show the date that the student completed the degree.
Other requirements for graduate students include letters of recommendation and a goals statement. The goals statement should list the student's overall goals, explain how the college will help the student achieve his or her goals and include any reasons the individual has for enrolling in a graduate program. Graduate students must submit a GRE score too.
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Tuition and Financial Aid
Lynchburg College graduate students pay just $510 per credit hour. This makes the college one of the more affordable options for graduate students in Virginia. The college offers different types of financial aid for incoming students such as assistantships. Once a student receives an acceptance letter from the college, he or she can go online and apply for one of these positions. They will go through several interviews before the college offers jobs to students. These students receive tuition remission that covers their costs. Some positions also pay for the student's room and board to live on the campus.
Grad students who complete the FAFSA may qualify for the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant. This grant program gives full-time graduate students who are also Virginia residents a large sum of money that goes towards their tuition costs. Students can also apply for federal student loans. The state has a tobacco program that will cancel one full year of the loan payments that students make later. Undergrads who attended the college qualify for a tuition discount. Lynchburg College provides those students with a scholarship that reduces the cost of one of the graduate classes they take in half.