Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) School Counseling Credential

The Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) School Counseling Credential (formerly K-12 School Counseling Credential), offered by the Department of Counselor Education, is a 54-unit program that qualifies individuals to work as school counselors in California K-12 public schools.

Note: A master’s degree in Counseling or a related field is required to be eligible to apply for a clear PPS School Counseling Credential through the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). Therefore, applicants who have not already earned a master’s degree in Counseling or a related field need to apply via the MA in Counseling and Guidance program option. The MA in Counseling and Guidance with a PPS School Counseling Credential program option requires the completion of 60 units.

Individuals admitted into the PPS School Counseling Credential program are eligible to apply for a PPS School Counseling Internship Credential (valid for up to two years) if they are offered a school counseling position by a local school district before completing the program requirements. To be eligible, a program candidate must have completed a minimum of 15 units (EDCO 215 , EDCO 218 , EDCO 232 , EDCO 248 , and EDCO 294 ) with a 3.0 GPA or higher and met the Basic Skills Requirement (BSR).

A Child Welfare and Attendance (CWA) Authorization, which focuses on issues related to truancy and dropout prevention, can also be obtained.

Please see department website for most current program offerings and requirements: https://www.sjsu.edu/counselored/

PPS School Counseling Credential Requirements (54 units)

Foundational Core Courses (24 units)

EDCO 215 - Introduction to Counseling and Guidance 3 unit(s) (GWAR)
EDCO 218 - Counseling Process & Techniques 3 unit(s)
EDCO 227 - School-Family-Community Collaboration 3 unit(s)
EDCO 232 - Law & Ethics in Counseling 3 unit(s)
EDCO 244 - Cultural Perspectives in Counseling 3 unit(s)
EDCO 248 - Dynamics of Behavior and Development 3 unit(s) OR EDCO 280 - Multicultural Counseling 3 unit(s)
EDCO 268 - Lifespan Development 3 unit(s)
EDCO 275 - Practicum in School Counseling 3 unit(s)

Advanced Professional Development Courses (21 units)

To be completed in the order listed below:

EDCO 221 - Research in Counselor Education 3 unit(s)
EDCO 266 - Education and Career Planning 3 unit(s)
EDCO 279 - Advanced Group Process Theory and Practice 3 unit(s)
EDCO 283 - Advanced Educational Assessment 3 unit(s)
EDCO 285 - Trauma Counseling & Crisis Intervention 3 unit(s)
EDCO 287 - Comprehensive School Counseling Analysis 3 unit(s)
EDCO 288 - Seminar in Counseling Theory and Practice 3 unit(s)

Supervised Experience in School Counseling (9 units)

Complete 800 hours of supervised counseling fieldwork experience-200 hours for every 3 units supervised fieldwork. A minimum of 200 hours must be completed within each of two public K-12 school levels. Fieldwork experience can commence after five Foundational Core Courses (EDCO 215 , EDCO 218 , EDCO 232 , EDCO 248 , EDCO 268 and EDCO 275 ) and 100 hours of K-12 practicum experience are completed with a 3. 0 GPA or higher. Practicum experience is typically completed within EDCO 218 (35 hours) and EDCO 275 (65 hours).

EDCO 276 - Supervised Experience in School Counseling I 3 unit(s)
EDCO 277 - Supervised Experience in School Counseling II 3 unit(s)
EDCO 278 - Supervised Experience in School Counseling III 3 unit(s)

Total Units Required (54 units)

Completion of coursework requires a minimum grade of C or higher in each course and a minimum overall GPA of 3.0.