What are the emotional, social, developmental, and structural factors that affect human beings? How can we design a curriculum to support counseling and behaviors  and learning in a particular context? How do different research methodologies affect our research claims and findings?

Students and faculty in counseling and educational psychology study issues such as identity, culture, motivation, well-being, socialization, addiction, psychological interventions, social development, design of learning environments, research designs and strategies, and different methods of data analysis. Faculty and student research interests are broad and include the areas of counseling, counseling psychology, school psychology, family psychology, learning and developmental sciences, and inquiry methodology.

All graduate students in our programs gain a solid foundation in inquiry methodology. In addition to offering degree programs in inquiry methodology—B.A. in counseling psychology, we require all students to take inquiry methodology course-work in order to learn how researchers do research. Inquiry methodology is also a favorite double major for many programs in the school because it enables students to gain an in-depth understanding of research methodologies using both quantitative and qualitative data.

Academic Programs

Our academic programs prepare students for careers as faculty members, counselors, counseling psychologists, school psychologists, developmental psychologists, learning scientists, curriculum designers, technology innovators, researchers, and program evaluators. Graduates from our programs also find positions working with  schools, educational research centers and institutes and government agencies.

Research and Service

To be successful in the study of Counseling, students must gain practical, real-world experience working with a variety of people from various backgrounds and perspectives. Our department gives  students the opportunity to put their skills to work under the supervision of our faculty.