A Descriptive Study of Accredited Counseling Programs.

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) is the accrediting body for the field of counselor education. Since the inception of the standards, several individuals have published journal articles reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of CACREP accreditation. The purpose of this study was to do a preliminary survey of the opinions of individuals within CACREP accredited programs to discover the effects of accreditation on programs. The survey of opinions from respondent CACREP accredited programs indicated interesting results. The eleven frequently held beliefs about improvements after accreditation was substantiated by the number, the percentage, and the Chi Square results from respondent programs. Therefore, after CACREP accreditation, most programs reported the opinion that: students have higher grade point averages and test scores; students are younger, learn better, and receive more employment opportunities; a higher percentage of students pass the licensed professional counselor examination; average scores are higher on the nationally certified counselor examination; programs receive more applicants and faculty is more professionally active, publishes more, and presents more. The second part of the survey indicated that a large percentage of respondent programs offer courses beyond the CACREP core curriculum experiences (91%) and that a variety of courses are offered (78 courses). In addition, 91 respondent programs indicated that courses are required beyond the CACREP core curriculum experiences and that a variety of courses are required (29 courses). Three primary limitations exist in this study. First, the eleven frequently held beliefs were marked by the opinion of one faculty member for each program. Second, the number of blanks for each item was frequently close to or sometimes exceeded the number of respondents who marked the after CACREP column. Third, the survey data collected on courses that were offered by programs beyond the core were based upon memory and/or opinion and may be inaccurate. A recommendation for future research would be to study the hard data collected prior to and after accreditation.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2001

Author dc:creator

• Brew, Leah

Contributors dc:contributor

• Chandler, Cynthia K.
• Bodenhamer-Davis, Eugenia
• Berg, Robert C., 1938-
• Holden, Janice Miner
• Altekruse, Michael K.

• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.
• Educational counseling -- Study and teaching (Higher)
• CACREP accreditation
• counseling
• accredited programs
• future research

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Brew, Leah
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 51938033
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3063/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc3063

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc3063