Master of Arts: Counseling
This is an elective program, which may be designed to contain half of the required coursework for the California Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Credential in School Psychology. (Our Specialist in Education degree contains the other half.)

What kind of a career can such a degree offer?
Under appropriate licensed supervision, counselors can work in a variety of settings to include mental health centers/clinics, psychiatric hospitals, social service agencies, government bodies/agencies, and private practice settings. Counselors are often involved in such areas as intake assessment evaluations, crisis intervention, individual and/or group counseling, individual/group testing, and/or research. Such a degree, however, may be of interest to higher education counselors, residence hall supervisors, classroom teachers, administrators, and youth workers.

Specialist in Education: School Psychology
This degree provides all the elements specified by the state of California for the Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) Credential with an authorization in school psychology.

What kind of a career can such a degree offer?
School psychologists can work in both public and private school settings to assist students with cognitive (learning and motivation), psychosocial, and behavioral problems. They also counsel parents, teachers, as well as other school staff in addressing individual student needs more effectively. School psychologists conduct psycho-educational assessments in areas which can include attention deficit-hyperactive disorders, learning disabilities, conduct disorder, and separation anxiety. Their expertise in such areas is often used to modify a student's learning environment in order to maximize individual student potential.

Specialist in Education: Educational Psychology
This degree is a non-credential elective program which provides advanced preparation for educational generalists, teachers in all disciplines, administrators, college instructors who are desiring a professional educational background, and especially to practitioners aspiring toward clinical and/or research applications.

What kind of a career can such a degree offer?
Educational psychologists can work in a variety of settings to include colleges and universities, government agencies, and/or corporate settings. Such persons are not only likely to focus on how effective learning and teaching take place, but on developing methods to continually improve such processes in academic and/or other institutional settings. Thus, they are primarily concerned with developing and implementing more effective ways to improve memory retention, learning, and motivation. As a result, such persons are often actively engaged in areas such as research, staff training, and/or program development.