Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Counseling & Psychology Programs at Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Southeastern Oklahoma State University appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Most Affordable Master’s Degrees in Counseling in the South.

One of the two degree programs available at the graduate level that the SOSU offers is a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This program is only available on the Southeastern campus. Students will take a class before doing any practicum work that lets them practice the skills they'll need in the field. This course even lets students role play with each other. They will then do two internships in the field and do 300 hours of fieldwork in each one. The program also features courses like Clinical Mental Health Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice, Career Counseling and Development, Personality Assessment in Counseling and Crisis and Disaster Counseling.

SOSU also offers a Master of Education in School Counseling, which is only available online. The admissions requirements for this program are a little stricter than the requirements of other programs because the university designed this one for students who already have teaching experience. It prepares those students for working with kids as school counselors. Like the clinical mental health counseling program, it features a class that shows students what others will expect of them as they do fieldwork. The program requires that students do a practicum and complete 100 hours of fieldwork over the course of seven weeks. At least 40 of those hours must include direct contact with clients. Students take a total of 42 credits of counseling and educational courses to graduate.

About Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Southeastern Oklahoma State University is a public university that often goes by the name of Southeastern. Some also refer to the university as SOSU and as SE. established in 1909 as one of the first state normal schools in Oklahoma, the university started life as the Southeastern State Normal School. The training programs that it offered focused on education. Students could complete all four years of high school here and then take up to two years of college classes. As it switched from certificate programs to degree programs, the school became a state teachers college. This eventually led to the college adopting more degree programs and becoming Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Though the university's education program is still popular among undergrads, the university also offers other bachelor's programs in business, psychology and other fields. Enrollment at the university is usually around 4,000 students, though this figure occasionally climbs higher. The Southeastern School of Education, which is responsible for its graduate programs in counseling, has an enrollment of less than 90 graduate students. Students have the chance to work with those enrolled in other degree programs both online and off. Southeastern provides online students with access to all the same resources and classes as its traditional students.

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Accreditation Details

Incoming graduate students must present the university with official transcripts from all the colleges that they attended. The university uses the transcript to determine if a student granted from a university with regional accreditation. Southeastern itself has regional accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS), which allows students to both transfer credits into one of its graduate programs and to use the FAFSA when seeing if they qualify for any type of financial aid. Southeastern also has accreditation for its music, education and business programs. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited its counseling programs too.

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Application Requirements

Both graduate students applying to one of the university's traditional degree programs and those applying to an online program must meet the same application and admissions requirements. Southeastern offers an online application that allows students to create their own accounts to work on that application. This gives students the chance to spend more time on each section and only submit their applications when they feel confident. It asks for general background information and biographical information, including where the student earned a college degree and his or her social security number. Students must pay a $20 application fee too.

Though students do not need to take and submit scores from a standardized graduate exam, they do need a bachelor's degree from an accredited school. Southeastern asks for an official transcript from any college the student attended. Those applying to its online school counseling program must meet one of the following requirements:

• Have a bachelor's degree, a current teaching license that is in good standing and a transcript that shows a grade point average of 2.75 or higher in the last 60 units of classes taken at the undergrad level
• Submit a package that includes a resume, supply a transcript that shows the student maintained an undergrad GPA of at least 2.0 and have a minimum of two years of teaching experience
• Have a bachelor's degree, present a transcript that shows the student took at least six credits of graduate classes, have an undergrad GPA of 3.0 or higher and have a teaching license

Tuition and Financial Aid

Southeastern estimates that graduate students will pay around $3,060 per semester for their classes and fees. As the university does not charge a nonresident tuition rate, all graduate students pay the same tuition rate of $238 per credit hour. Traditional students pay a fee of $17 per credit hour, while online students pay $75 per credit hour in fees. The fees allow students to use all the resources the university offers online and on its Oklahoma campus. Southeastern estimates that graduate students will spend $500 a semester on their textbooks and other supplies.

The FAFSA goes live on October 1 of each year. Graduate students can fill out this form months before applying to a Southeastern program. Those who receive financial aid will receive documents from the university that let them purchase their textbooks before the school disperses their funds. Students starting in the fall can gain access to their financial aid as early as July. Graduate students will usually qualify for one of the unsubsidized loans that the federal government offers, but Southeastern requires that students go through counseling that explains how the loan process works. Southeastern Oklahoma State University accepts the private and alternative loans that some students take out too.