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UC Santa Barbara General CatalogUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

Counseling and Human Services

Other Pages In Preparing for Careers and for Graduate and Professional Schools

Students planning careers in one of the helping professions such as counseling psychology, health psychology, marriage and family counseling, educational psychology, social work, and industrial psychology may complete their undergraduate education at UCSB. No specific undergraduate major is required for most programs, but substantial coursework in the behavioral and social sciences is strongly recommended, and a course in statistics is often required. Some programs require applicants to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Graduate professional programs in the counseling and human services area normally require one to two years of study.
Previous experience (volunteer or paid) in a human services setting is a requirement for most professional degree programs. Applicants to such programs are often asked to provide letters of recommendation from their supervisors. Additional information can be obtained from the Departments of Sociology and Psychology, from UCSB’s Counseling Services, from the Graduate School of Education, and from the pre-professional advisor in the College of Letters and Science.