By Tom Ballard
News Editor
The College’s graduate program in counseling has recently been rated as one of the best in the nation, according to SR Education Group, an online education publisher.
SR Education Group ranked the College’s counseling program as the 42nd best in the country from a list of 50 colleges.
According to graduateprograms.com — the website SR Education Group uses to provide resources about graduate programs across the country — the rankings were decided based on student feedback and information gathered from the National Center for Education Statistics, a government website that collects information on U.S. schools and colleges. The website notes that a minimum of 20 students must review their college’s respective program in order for a college to make it onto the list.
“The faculty (at the College) is extremely hardworking and supportive,” one student wrote on the College’s graduateprograms.com page. “The ability to network and continue to stay active is great. I cannot find a better program.”
Many other student reviews also praise the faculty and programs that the College’s counseling graduate program offers.
“With CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) accreditation and an expansive, strong network, TCNJ prepares its students in a more than adequate way,” another reviewer wrote. “The faculty, students and staff are all extremely motivated and dedicated to the counseling field, whether it be Clinical Mental Health, Marriage & Family, School or Substance Abuse Counseling.”
In order to comprise the rankings, the student reviews section allows respondents to rate each college’s campus safety, career advising, quality of instruction, student diversity, networking opportunities, student financial services and satisfaction with degree. According to the website, the College’s counseling program received an overall rating of 3.93 out of five stars, with its best components being quality of instruction and satisfaction with degree. Its worst components were student diversity and student financial services, according to the website.
In counseling, the College of New Rochelle in New York, Governors State University in Illinois and Sam Houston State University in Texas ranked first, second and third, respectively.
The College ranked the highest of the two New Jersey schools included in the list. Kean University in Union, N.J., ranked 48th.
SR Education Group ranked a total of 35 different graduate programs, such as accounting, education, mathematics and psychology. However, only the College’s counseling graduate program ranked high enough to be included in the list of 50.
