Overview
The Rehabilitation & Mental Health Counseling (RMHC) Program at the University of South Florida is fully accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) through 2023 and Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) through 2018. The master's program is a 60 credit program and most students take 2鈥�3 years to complete.
Mission Statement
The mission of Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling is to promote quality behavioral health care for all, particularly people with disabilities, and to help the state and nation meet their human service and workforce needs in the area of rehabilitation and mental health counseling through teaching, research and service.
Objectives
The objectives of the program are to:
- Recruit and graduate a highly qualified and diverse student body from local, state, national and international regions.
- Provide high quality teaching and inspire learning in rehabilitation and mental health counseling and related disciplines.
- Contribute to and broaden research in the field of rehabilitation and mental health counseling and related disciplines through local, national and global collaboration.
- Prepare rehabilitation and mental health counselors to be critical consumers of information and to encourage participation in and contribution to the expansion of knowledge in the field of rehabilitation and mental health counseling.
- Enhance and maintain community engagement and service for the professional development of students by expanding experiential (field) training experiences.
- Maintain and improve the ranking in U.S. News & World Report鈥檚 America鈥檚 Best Graduate Schools.
- Maintain CACREP Accreditation at the highest levels of eligibility.
- Increase the number of students who earn credentials as licensed and certified professionals.
National Ranking
U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools currently ranks the USF RMHC program 24th in the nation, which is a significant accomplishment compared to the 2010 listings where the program was ranked 39th of the 166 programs in the nation. The program is also the only program at State of Florida with the dual accreditation.
Our Students
The training program admits an average 30-50 students yearly with high academic backgrounds. In 2014-2015, the grade point average (GPA) upon application is 3.5 and the acceptance rate is around 33%. In 2015-2016, 36 students graduated and the passing rate for the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor exam was 95%.
Where Do Our Graduates Work?
Employment settings where graduates work include state vocational rehabilitation agencies, not-for-profit rehabilitation facilities or community-based rehabilitation programs, federal agency (e.g., Veterans Administration), for-profit or non-profit agencies providing mental health counseling, private practice-rehabilitation, private practice-counseling, substance abuse treatment, and other community based settings (clinics, schools, workplace).