Medaille College Innovative Psychology and Counseling programs
Medaille College appears in our ranking of the Top 25 Master’s Degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy Online.
Medaille College offers flexible programs so that adult learners can complete their educational goals. The school also stresses interactions within the surrounding community both as a way to acquire experience and to ‘give back” to the area.
The BA in Psychology is the only undergraduate degree offered in psychology. Offered on-campus, it gives students an overview of the field and knowledge in behavior and psychology that is useful in whatever career they pursue. It also prepares students to go on to graduate study in the field. The degree contains 120 credit-hours including 45 in the major, 33 hours in core, 21 hours in liberal arts and sciences and 21 hours of free electives. The program also features a 4+1 component allowing students to earn the bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in five years of continuous study. Classes are small, and students may do more than one internship.
The Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60-credit-hour program that is offered on-campus or online. The traditional on-campus classes meet one weekend per month for fourteen months and take an additional three online classes. There is also a supervised three-semester internship. Completion of the program meets the educational requirements for licensure in New York State. The online degree program follows a sequence of seventeen seven-week classes. There is a weekly due date, but students progress at their own pace. The online program requires a three-semester internship as well. Medaille’s Family Counseling Center serves as a “counselor-in-training facility” for counseling students.
The Advanced Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a program containing 12-to-18 credit-hours that can be earned online, on-campus or in a hybrid delivery. Required core classes are: MHC 670 Helping Relationships and MHC 678 and MHC 679 which are two practicums. The certificate program is intended for students with a master’s degree in a related area who want to become licensed as mental health counselors. Each course in the degree runs for two months, and the certificate may be earned in 16 months.
The Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy is a 51-credit-hour program taught one weekend per month on-campus with a four-week period of online learning between sessions. Completion of the program takes two-and-a-half years or seven semesters. Practicum is held weekly under the supervision of a faculty member. Five hundred hours of clinical experience is required.
The Advanced Certificate in Family Therapy is for students who have a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, psychology, social work or psychology but who want to specialize in marriage and family therapy. The program contains 39 credit-hours and can be completed in 18 months of one-weekend -a-month sessions.
The PsyD. in Clinical Psychology is a 99 credit-hour program that meets twice weekly on consecutive days. It can be completed in five years of continuous study. The program includes 1,000 hours of supervised practicum and a one-year doctoral internship.
About Medaille College
Located in Buffalo, New York, this small private school was founded in 1937. The undergraduate student population is 1,194. The school’s most popular programs are veterinary sciences, business and psychology. It is ranked by the US News and World Report as #142-#187 of Regional Universities North. Medaille offers more than 38 programs of study. It features small class sizes and a 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio. The school also works closely with the community to provide needed services while giving students an opportunity to gain innovative and real-world work experience.
Medaille Accreditation Details
The school is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Counseling programs are accredited through the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
Medaille Application Requirements
Students applying to Medaille for the first time do so through an online application form. There is no application fee. In addition to the application, students must complete a FAFSA form and arrange for their high schools to submit an official transcript and for the agency that administered the SAT or ACT to send those official scores to the college as well.
Graduate students also apply online. Generally, they should arrange to have their official transcripts of undergraduate work and any GRE, GMAT or other tests submitted to the school. Like undergraduate students, graduate students should complete a FAFSA form. Beyond that, requisites vary by department and degree. For instance, The MA in Psychology degree requires applicants to send a resume, a statement of personal goals and two letters of recommendation. The MA in Marital and Family Therapy requires a resume, statement of goals, three letters of recommendation and an interview.
Students applying to online programs should submit their applications and transcripts and complete the FAFSA form. Graduate programs have additional requisites that are listed on departmental web pages.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Tuition for a full-time undergraduate student is $14,750 per semester, or $29,500 per year. Room and board charges at the Buffalo campus are $6,750 to $7,800 per semester.
Undergraduate online tuition is $671 per-credit-hour. Active-duty military personnel pay $250 per-credit-hour. Master’s programs vary in tuition, but the psychology and counseling degrees are $955 per-credit-hour, and the school gives military personnel a ten percent discount. The Psy.D. program is $1,257 per-credit-hour, and the advanced certificate programs in psychology and counseling are $450 per-credit-hour.
Earning a degree s expensive at any level, and Medaille urges students to complete the FAFSA form to get needed assistance. The federal program awards the Pell and SEOG grants, student and parent loans and work-study opportunities. After students receive their award letter from FAFSA, they have a better idea of the amount they will still need to meet educational obligations.
New York State offers an undergraduate merit scholarship, the Say Yes to Education Grant, the First Responders, Alumni and Veteran’s Grants, an award for adult learners, a tuition assistance program for full-time and part-time students, a scholarship for Child Welfare Workers and other assistance. The college has financial aid available to students who excel academically, who are in specific programs and who participate in activities.
Additionally, individuals often fund memorial or tribute scholarships, and organizations like the International Lions Clubs, The American Legion, and other service organizations sponsor scholarships and grants. Corporations, too, fund grants. These can all be located through an Internet search.
Students who did not qualify for enough scholarship or grant money to meet their student debt can also apply for student loans which carry a lower interest rate and allow borrowers to defer repayment until after graduation or take a part-time or work-study job. These are often overlooked but offer not only a way to repay the debt but a great learning experience that also fleshes out a resume nicely.
Students should explore all of these resources to pay for their degrees at Medaille College and avoid graduating with the pressure of high student debt.
