Counseling Program Ranks No. 23 on Graduate Programs Website

Texas A&M University-Commerce has been ranked No. 23 in the Top 25 Best Counseling Education Graduate Programs list on graduateprograms.com.

A&M-Commerce's MED/MS in Counseling prepares students for positions in community agencies, schools, and student affairs in higher education. A&M-Commerce is ranked at 7.78 compared to the school in first, Old Dominion University, at 9.42.

“Counseling Education basically is a generic term used to refer to all graduate-level counselor preparation and training programs,” said Chester Robinson, coordinator of graduate counseling programs. “As the oldest counselor preparation program in Texas, we chose our name before the phrase ‘counselor education' was coined.”

Program rankings were compiled with data between September 1, 2012 and September 20, 2015. The data came from over 75,000 reviews from students participating in over 1,600 graduate programs around the country. The ratings are based on a 10 star system, with 10 being the best.

“While we come in at No. 23 overall, we are first among Counselor Education programs in Texas, and there are over 50,” said Robinson. “This is indeed an honor. Other reviews rank programs on library holdings, financial aid offered, amount of endowment, etcetera. But, for my money, who wouldn't want to attend a program where the students and alums collectively say, ‘it's the best!'?”

Graduateprograms.com reaches current and recent graduate students through both scholarship entries and social media platforms. It assigns 15 different ranking categories to each graduate program at each graduate school. The rankings are determined by calculating the average score for each program based on the ranking categories, which are then compared across all ranked schools for that program and translated into a final ranking for that graduate program. Each graduate program is not ranked until a minimum amount of graduate student surveys are completed for that program.

To see the full list, go to www.graduateprograms.com/counselor-education-programs.