University of New Orleans

University of New Orleans appears in our ranking of 10 Most Affordable Doctorate in Educational Counseling Online.

The University of New Orleans is a public post-secondary research institution located on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, Louisiana. Often referred to as UNO by the locals, it belongs to the Urban 13 association and the University of Louisiana System. The campus is nestled in the New Orleans metropolitan area at the end of Elysian Fields Avenue on the former site of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans. The previous area in which the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park was situated is now home to the UNO Research and Technology Park. The school's baseball and basketball facilities, Maestri Field and the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena, are also located nearby.

The University of New Orleans was the first racially integrated public post-secondary institution in the southern United States and currently consists of four colleges: the College of Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Business Administration, and the College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Human Development. Notable alumni include Ellen DeGeneres, John Larroquette, and Wally Whitehurst.

University of New Orleans Accreditation Details

The University of New Orleans is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award master's, doctoral, and bachelor's degrees. In addition to regional accreditation, the programs in the Department of Counselor Education, including the Ph.D. in Counselor Education, are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.

University of New Orleans Application Requirements

Students seeking admittance into the Ph.D. in Counselor Education degree must first complete the school's online application. Students must also submit a personal statement, three references, a professional resume, and official transcripts from all previously attended institutions. Applicants must also send official Graduate Record Examination scores earned within the last five years.

Once applications are completed, received, and reviewed, the school will select applicants for individual interviews conducted by the program faculty. Interviews will cover the student's commitment to diversity, his or her receptivity to feedback, areas in which he or she may conduct research, career goals, the reason for applying into this particular program, the student's understanding of the challenges of the program, why he or she chose counseling as a profession, and his or her reasons for pursuing doctoral studies.

Additionally, applicants must participate in a role-play counseling session. Students will be videotaped for 10 minutes with a current doctoral student role-playing as the client. Also, students will have one hour to complete a required ethical dilemma writing sample within the school's lab computer room. Following these interviews, the faculty will conduct a final review of applications in order to choose students for admittance into the program.

Tuition and Financial Aid

For six years in a row, the University of New Orleans has ranked among national schools whose students accumulate the least debt, making them one of the more affordable institutions in the country. Louisiana residents pursuing a graduate degree from UNO can expect to pay $8,892 in tuition if they take nine hours per semester, and graduate students will pay up to $8,892 for a four-bedroom house in Pontchartrain Hall. Conversely, non-Louisiana residents will pay $13,462 in tuition and fees as well as $13,462 in housing.

UNO offers several types of financial aid to eligible students for the purpose of offsetting the cost of tuition. These include grants, student employment, loans, and scholarships. Students are encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to determine eligibility. Graduate students must have unconditional admission into a graduate school before they can seek financial aid, and they should be prepared to provide proof of such. In addition, graduate students must provide copies of official transcripts from all previously attended institutions directly to the Admissions Office.

The school also believes that a student's military experience significantly contributes to the institution's diversity, making veterans and active duty servicemembers valuable members of the community. As a result, UNO offers educational assistance programs for military personnel and their dependents via the Office of the Registrar's Veterans' Services section. These programs include the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill, the National Call to Service Program, the Educational Assistance Test Program, the Veterans Educational Assistance Program, and the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program.

Online Doctor of Philosophy, Counselor Education Degree Available

The University of New Orleans offers a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Counselor Education. This program prepares graduates for leadership positions in the consultation, mental health, and counseling professions as well as for research and faculty positions as counselor educators. The degree includes all of the coursework in counseling and research required for students seeking employment as professional counselors in fields that require a doctoral degree. Students earning this degree can expect to take courses that prepare them to write a mixed-method, quantitative, or qualitative research dissertation with a conceptual framework.

In order to earn the Ph.D. in Counselor Education, students must complete at least 114 semester hours of coursework, which includes courses taken during the master's degree in counseling as well as up to 15 hours taken after the master's degree. If a student has earned more than one master's degree, UNO allows for the transfer of all courses into the doctoral degree. However, students are not permitted to transfer in more credits than they will complete in the doctoral program. Due to all of the specified research, minor, and counseling courses required for graduation, most doctoral programs consist of more than 114 hours.

A minimum of 48 hours of master's-level counseling courses are required as well as 39 hours of doctoral-level courses, including classes in advanced counseling theories, advanced counseling interventions, advanced multicultural counseling, and supervised experience in group work. The degree also includes 15 hours of research tools in which they develop competency in both qualitative and quantitative research methods. They choose one method for their dissertation and take advanced research courses in that area.

Doctoral students will also take 12 hours of emphasis area classes. Examples of emphasis areas include, but are not limited to, play therapy, private practice counseling, school counseling, organizational counseling, multicultural counseling, group counseling, counseling children, clinical mental health counseling, and counselor education.

Finally, graduate students will complete field experiences as part of the counseling program. These practicum and internship experiences mark the culmination of the degree on the student's path to becoming a professional counselor. Students will spend a total of 700 hours in the practicum over a minimum of one year. These experiences provide students at the University of New Orleans with an opportunity to improve and demonstrate skills and knowledge learned in the classroom setting.