College Match
This online course focuses on best practices for helping students identify, consider and enroll in “match” colleges. The course provides counselors with an understanding of college match and the dangers of undermatch. Additionally, it guides college access counselors through a “match approach” to the application process including developing strong college lists. A match approach to the college search process ensures that students are more aware of and likely to seriously consider or choose institutions that are a good “fit” based on their academic profiles, career interests, financial considerations, and personal and social needs. 8 CPE hours
Financing College: Navigating the Pathways
This online course covers the essentials of financial aid, guiding college access counselors through financial aid applications and financial planning tools. This course will provide an understanding of the nuances of affording college, the types of financial aid available, awareness of differing financial aid award letters, and how to encourage saving for college. College access counselors will be able to gain a breadth of resources and provide students and families with an ethical and financially sound approach to college affordability. 10 CPE hours
Fundamentals of College Counseling
Effective college counseling requires fundamental and advanced counseling skills, knowledge of adolescent cognitive development, an understanding of the higher education landscape and familiarity with the undergraduate admissions process and financial aid. This course provides a holistic, core curriculum to teach the critical skills of effective college counseling. Topics include: exploring colleges, financial aid and scholarships, and the admissions process. 8 CPE hours
Letters of Recommendation
This course offers educators knowledge on how to best advise students, so that they can secure the most effective letters of recommendation. It also provides tips and strategies to assist educators in writing effective letters of recommendation for their students. 8 CPE hours
The Role of the College Access Counselor
This course explores methods and strategies for working with students and their families to guide them through the college search process. It also addresses creating a college list, explaining admissibility and working with campus staff and college admissions counselors. 8 CPE hours
Undergraduate Admissions Process
Navigating the undergraduate admissions process is often one of the most daunting aspects of preparing students to apply for college. Students, families, and counselors all often wonder “what are admissions committees looking for?” This course explains in detail the factors that go into the “holistic review” of highly selective colleges and universities in the United States. Topics include: transcript, curriculum, high school context, standardized test scores, essays, letters of recommendation, athletic recruits, performing artists and disciplinary infractions. 8 CPE hours
Counseling Aspiring First Generation College Students
This course explores the social, emotional and cultural barriers aspiring first generation college students will face and must overcome in order to achieve success in their transition from high school to college. 10 CPE hours
College Access Counseling Capstone
The capstone is a digital portfolio that contains elements from each course along with additional reflective and strategic elements. The purpose of the digital portfolio is to provide students with the opportunity to integrate their coursework into their counseling practices. The capstone is designed to demonstrate a student’s professional learning and contains assignments from courses, a three-year strategic plan for creating a college bound campus, and representative personal and professional work. The capstone course is six weeks long and is led by a capstone advisor. Prerequisite: Students must have completed a minimum of four online college access counseling content courses and earned a minimum 32 CPE hours prior to enrolling in the capstone course.
