St. John Fisher College

St. John Fisher College Psychology and Counseling Degree Programs

St. John Fisher College offers one of the top psychology programs for undergrads. The department has a low ratio of faculty to students of just 12 students for each professor. Many of the courses that students take have a class size of 25 students or less. The college awards students up to six credits for doing fieldwork, and students can opt for shorter experiences that are worth just one credit. This is not a requirement of the program, but students can do two fieldwork experiences before they graduate. The college also has its own honors society for psychology majors and both a Psychology Club and a Psychology Journal Club.

Students can enroll in the B.S. Psychology program or the B.S. Psychology program. The science version of this program requires that students take two laboratory classes 18 credits of domain courses. Those in the BA version need to take fewer domain courses and just one lab class. Students in both tracks will take some of the same classes, including Social Psychology, Research Methods and Writing in Psychology and Society and Mental Illness. St. John requires that undergrad psychology majors take a capstone course too.

Another option available through this college is its Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling program. Though it features 60 credits of work, only 48 of those credits come from the classes that students take. They'll take Assessment & Intervention of Childhood & Adolescent Disorders, Adult Lifestyle and Career Counseling, Social and Cultural Diversity and Counseling Theories and Strategies. The remaining credits come from a practicum and an internship. St. John Fisher College requires that students do 100 hours of fieldwork to complete a practicum and that they do 600 hours of fieldwork in a supervised internship.

About St. John Fisher College

St. John Fisher College is a private university in New York. Located in Rochester, the college opened in 1948 as a school for men. Though it originally had a close relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, it later ended this relationship and became an independent college. It still functions as a Catholic college but offers more freedom than many of these schools usually do. It began admitting women in 1971 and now has a nice ratio of male to female students.

U.S. News & World Report ranks St. John Fisher College as one of the best colleges in America, and Washington Monthly also includes the school on its list of the top American colleges. It now offers more than 20 options for undergrads that include both majors and minors in different fields. Undergrad enrollment at the college is around 2,700, but it also has an enrollment of around 1,000 graduate students. St. John Fisher College offers a small number of graduate programs.

St. John Fisher College appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Most Affordable Master’s Degrees in Counseling in the Northeast.

St. John Fisher College Accreditation Details

The institutional accreditation that St. John Fisher College has comes from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which is also a type of regional accreditation. This is necessary for anyone who wants to transfer college credits, but it is also a requirement for those seeking federal or state financial aid such as loans and grants. Many of the individual degree programs that the college offers have accreditation too. Those programs have accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and other professional organizations.

St. John Fisher College Application Requirements

Though the college uses a rolling admissions policy, it still asks that students follow the same steps when applying. A rolling admissions policy means that the university will keep the application process open all year and that it will keep accepting new students based on the amount of available space. Those who get in their applications earlier have a better chance at getting into one of its programs.

The graduate counseling program that it offers is a little different because students can only start in the fall semester. Prospective students can submit applications at any point of the year to start in the fall though. They must use the online application system and pay the application fee. Those who attended graduate school in the past need to submit a transcript from that school and fill out a form to transfer their credits. The college asks for an official undergrad transcript, two letters of recommendation, a statement of personal goals and a professional resume. St. John will accept letters of recommendation submitted online.

Undergrads will need to use the application designed specifically for them and pay the associated application fee. The college looks for students who finished a high school college preparatory curriculum that includes higher level and advanced courses in math, science and social sciences. Students can use the Common Application to apply, which does not charge an application fee. The college also requires a letter of recommendation from a teacher or counselor, a high school transcript and an essay that the student received a grade on in the past. Students can submit a resume and/or more letters of recommendation, but both of those are optional.

Tuition and Financial Aid

As St. John Fisher College is a private institution, its tuition rate is higher than those found at state and public schools. The college estimates that undergrads pay $33,500 a year for tuition and all miscellaneous fees. This cost is the same for residents and those from other states. It allows students to take a full course load during each of the two main school semesters. The cost of living on campus is around $12,000 a year and includes both a dorm room and a meal plan. Graduate students pay a tuition rate of $11,400 a year. Those who enroll part-time in graduate classes pay $950 per credit hour.

All students interested in attending St. John Fisher College can apply for financial aid. The college uses the FAFSA and the information listed on that form to determine if a student qualifies for any aid, the amount of aid that the student needs and which types of aid the student will get. Most packages include at least one loan and one grant. Loans come from the federal government and in both subsidized and unsubsidized options. St. Joh Fisher College students and their parents or guardians can look for alternative or private student loans and PLUS loans.