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News Release
Contacts: Robert T. Tad Perry, Executive Director
Janelle Toman, Director of Information & Institutional Research
T: 605.773.3455
F: 605.773.5320
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 26, 2009
SDSU and USD Bring Counseling Master’s Degree Programs to Sioux Falls
PIERRE, S.D. – Two public universities that prepare master’s-level counselors are bringing their degree programs to University Center in Sioux Falls.
The South Dakota Board of Regents Friday approved requests from South Dakota State University and The University of South Dakota to begin offering the degrees in Sioux Falls starting next spring. The degrees available are the M.S. in counseling and human resource development from SDSU and the M.A. in counselor education at USD. Both programs currently are taught on the respective campuses in Brookings and Vermillion; today’s board action approves program delivery at an additional location.
“Each university will admit a cohort of 10 students in Sioux Falls starting in spring 2010,” explained Paul Gough, the regents’ director of policy and planning. “Both universities have regularly delivered counseling courses in Sioux Falls on a part-time basis for about 25 years, but there is increased workforce demand for these full programs to be delivered in that market.”
Expanded program delivery will help meet the needs of employed adults, consistent with the focus of University Center in Sioux Falls. Gough said state officials project that employment growth for counselors in South Dakota will increase as much as 35 percent through 2016.
Students who complete the program will be qualified to work in various agency counseling settings, and after completing 2,000 hours of post-graduate supervised work and passing the National Counselor Examination, will be eligible for licensure as a professional counselor.
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