Colorado State University

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Counseling and Psychology Degrees Offered at Colorado State University

Colorado State University appears in our ranking of the 10 Most Affordable Online Industrial Organizational Psychology Programs.

Colorado State University (CSU) offers one undergraduate and six graduate degrees in the psychology and counseling fields spanning three different colleges. The psychology department is part of the College of Natural Sciences and offers a bachelor of science in psychology with the choice of five concentrations. All students complete the 16-hour core which includes courses like Psychology of Individual in Context and Research Design/Analysis I and II. The remainder of the program is dictated by choice of concentration, and students can choose between General Psychology, Clinical/Counseling, Addiction Counseling leading to Colorado certification as a level 1 counselor, Industrial/Organizational, and Mind, Brain and Behavior. All tracks include an additional 34 hours of coursework within the major with faculty emphasizing the scientific aspects of all specialties. This degree is also available completely online, but instead of choosing a concentration track, students choose from any psychology electives.

The M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology programs are continuations of the undergraduate program with a focus on research and academia, and students choose between five areas of study prior to applying to the program. The Counseling track trains students to treat clients using the scientific-practitioner model and requires four years of study with the final year consisting of a full-time internship. The Cognitive and Cognitive Neuroscience programs involve close work with faculty mentors and extensive interdisciplinary research incorporating other fields like engineering, biology, and computer science. The Applied Social and Health Psychology option focuses on affecting change in the community with students selecting a research focus from the available options including Prevention Science, Relationship and Family Health, Occupational Health, and Environmental Psychology.

In the industrial concentration, Colorado State University offers either the M.S. which is more research-focused or the Master of Applied Industrial/Organizational Psychology (MIOP). Both programs can be completed 100% online.

The Master of Addiction Counseling is the final degree offered in this department. In this program, students complete a year of coursework followed by an internship year and are prepared for the Licensed Addiction Counselor exam upon graduation.

The School of Education in the College of Health and Human Services offers another related program, the Master of Arts in Counseling and Career Development with three separate tracks each leading to a professional license, Career Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and School Counseling. Finally, the Marriage and Family Therapy specialization of the M.S. in Human Development and Family Studies also leads to Colorado licensure as a therapist.

About Colorado State University

Located in Fort Collins, Colorado, in the north-central part of the state, Colorado State University is home to over 33,000 students and 2000 faculty members. This public research university includes more than 55 academic departments. The school was established in 1870 as a land-grant institution meaning that the government provided the funds and land as long as the school focused on the engineering and agricultural disciplines. As such, CSU has a long history of excellence in these fields, and as the university began diversifying its degree programs, the scientific mindset and research methodology became part of the curriculum in all areas of study. The university values innovation and incorporates new technologies throughout campus in the form of state-of-the-art research facilities, award-winning sustainability measures, and an expanding platform for online learning.

Colorado State University’s online programs are among the best in the nation ranking 20th at the undergraduate level according to the U.S. News and World Report, and the university overall ranks in the top 50% of all national universities.

Colorado State University Accreditation Details

The Higher Learning Commission provides regional accreditation to colleges and universities in 19 states in the central region of the United States. This signifies that the schools have met quality standards in five categories that cover the business, academic, and social aspects of the institution. In addition, in order to maintain their status, schools must demonstrate a commitment to self-review and improvement. Colorado State University was first accredited in 1925 and is next scheduled for renewal in 2024. Different industries have their own accrediting bodies to evaluate and certify individual programs within the school to ensure that the curriculum aligns with current practice in the field. Organizations that have provided accreditation to counseling and psychology programs at Colorado State University include the following.

  • Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs
  • American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy
  • American Psychological Association

Colorado State University Application Requirements

First-year undergraduate students can apply via the CSU admissions portal or the Common Application and need to include the $50 fee, high school transcript, personal statement, letter of recommendation, and ACT or SAT scores. There are no official cutoff scores, but the median GPA for the 2018 freshman class was about 3.7 with middle ACT and SAT scores around 26 and 1200. For the online psychology degree completion program, students must submit the application specifically for the online program and send transcripts demonstrating at least 24 transferable credits with a minimum 2.5 GPA preferred.

Graduate applicants must submit transcripts showing undergraduate graduation along with a completed application. Additional required materials depend on the program of study but may include a resume, statement of purpose, sample of academic writing, and letters of recommendation.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Undergraduate on-campus students fall into three categories for tuition purposes, Colorado residents, Western Undergraduate Exchange students who are residents of one of the 15 member states in the western part of the United States, and all other students who are termed non-residents. Tuition and fees are approximately $12,000, $20,000, and $31,000 per year, respectively, for full-time students. Online undergraduate tuition is $476 per credit hour for the B.S. in Psychology.

At the graduate level, annual tuition and fees run approximately $13,000 for Colorado residents with the total increasing to $28,500 for all out-of-state students. Incoming undergraduates can qualify for a variety of awards based on high school GPA and standardized test scores which provide $4000 per semester at the highest tier. Need-based scholarships and grants include the First Generation Award and the Fostering Success Scholarship. While Colorado State University cannot guarantee funding for all returning graduate students, most do receive substantial aid.

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