Thomas University officials recently announced that the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) granted accreditation for TU’s master of science in Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health Counseling. The program is housed in TU’s Division of Counseling and Psychology.

“CACREP accreditation demonstrates Thomas University’s commitment to meeting the highest academic standards,” said Dr. Pauline Patrick, chair of the Division of Counseling and Psychology. “Students enrolled in TU’s program can be assured of our program’s quality because of our CACREP accreditation. CACREP accreditation enhances a program’s reputation while also increasing faculty involvement in research, publication and service.”

TU’s M.S. degree in Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health Counseling was formerly accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE), which merged with CACREP in July 2017. To obtain CACREP accreditation, the faculty in TU’s program and TU administrators were required to completed an in-depth application demonstrating how TU follows CACREP standards and policies. 

“TU’s program is one of the few in the national to be accredited by CACREP as a dual program in both Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling,” said Dr. Cristina L. Jones, director of the program. “Plus, the dual accreditation is retroactive for 18 months. All our graduates who completed the clinical program 18 months prior to our accreditation are grandfathered in as coming from a CACREP-accredited program. This is especially important to our students and recent graduates who want to become licensed professional counselors, licensed mental health counselors, or work in federal government agencies.”

TU originally began a master’s degree program in Rehabilitation Counseling in 2006 and a master’s degree program in Community Counseling in 2008. The two degrees were combined in 2013. With the merged degree and the CACREP accreditation, students can now become a certified rehabilitation counselor and/or a licensed mental health counselor as part of the program.

Since its start the graduate program in counseling has included 484 students. Currently 81 students are enrolled in the M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree program.

In addition to the CACREP accreditation for the M.S. in Clinical Rehabilitation and Clinical Mental Health Counseling, other TU degree programs are accredited by organizations relevant to their fields. TU — as a university — is also accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).