California Lutheran University’s Graduate School of Education offers two graduate counseling programs, one for higher education and one for K-12 schools. Both are grounded in cultural proficiency and taught by counselors with extensive experience in the field.
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What Is a Master’s in Educational Counseling?
When people hear “counselor” or “a master’s degree in counseling,” they might picture a therapist’s office. An educational counseling graduate degree is a different kind of work. It can include some of that emotional support that underlies mental health counseling, but the role is broader.
Educational counselors help students plan their classes, make sense of college and career questions, get through what gets in the way of school and find the resources they need to keep going. The work might include one-on-one sessions, group conversations and school-wide programs. Educational counselors can even shape the entire systems students move through.
Both roles start from the same foundation: knowing how to support students across a wide range of backgrounds and circumstances. The core difference is the setting and age of the students you’ll work with, whether that’s K-12 schools or higher education. Cal Lutheran offers a degree for both.
Which Master’s Program Is Right for You?
I want to work with college students
MS in Counseling and College Student Personnel (CSP)
- Career outcomes: College admission, advising, student affairs, financial aid and similar roles
- Course topics: Student development theory, multicultural counseling, higher education law, ethics and student affairs administration
- Certification: Meets the master’s degree requirement for community college counselor positions in California
- Format: Online (1.5 years) or in-person at Thousand Oaks (2.5 years)
I want to work with K-12 students
MS in Counseling and Pupil Personnel Services (PPS)
- Career outcomes: School counseling in elementary, middle and high schools
- Course topics: Child and adolescent development, school counseling foundations, multicultural counseling and crisis intervention
- Certification: Provides eligibility for California’s PPS Credential in School Counseling
- Format: In-person at Thousand Oaks (3 years)
Why Earn Your Educational Counseling Master’s at Cal Lutheran?
Cultural proficiency runs through every course. You’ll examine your own assumptions and identities before you’re asked to support someone else’s growth. Alumni from both programs consistently name this as the part of their education that changed them most.
You’ll get real practice in real settings. Practicum and field placement put you inside the places where you want to build a career. You won’t navigate the search alone — faculty and advisors leverage a network of prior placements to help you secure your placements.
We support students from all backgrounds. Cal Lutheran is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and was named an Opportunity College and University by the Carnegie Classification. You’ll be welcomed as the student you are, learn from classmates who come in from somewhere different than you did and graduate able to support all of the students you’ll serve.
Cal Lutheran feels like home from the first conversation. Faculty are working counselors, deans and K-12 and higher education leaders. They learn what you’re working toward, answer your emails quickly and stay in your corner long after the term ends. The cohort around you becomes part of that community too.
Careers in Educational Counseling
A master’s degree in educational counseling leads to distinct lines of work, depending on which degree you complete.
College Student Personnel (CSP) graduates work inside colleges and universities, often in student affairs and student support roles. Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) graduates work in K-12 schools as credentialed school counselors.
What the two paths share is the work itself: knowing students well enough to support them through the systems that shape their lives.
With an MS in Counseling (CSP) degree, alumni work in roles such as:
- Academic advisor
- Admission counselor
- Assistant director or director of student affairs
- Career counselor
- EOPS counselor
- Financial aid counselor
- Residence life and student conduct professional
- Retention or student success counselor
- Title IX coordinator
- Transfer counselor
See our article, “What Can I Do With a Master’s in College Counseling?” for even more information.
With an MS in Counseling (PPS) degree and California’s PPS Credential in School Counseling, alumni work in roles such as:
- Elementary, middle or high school counselor
- College and career counselor
- District-level counseling coordinator
- School counselor with Child Welfare and Attendance authorization (with CWA Specialization)
- College counselor in K-12 or community college settings (with College Counseling Specialization)
School counseling salaries are climbing, up about 10.5% in the past three years (source: Lightcast labor analytics). A master’s degree is the credential that meaningfully changes earning potential, moving the median annual salary from around $50,100 to $68,000. In California, a master’s degree can increase your earning potential to $90,400 on average.
Demand for counselors is strongest in California, which leads the nation in unique job postings with more than 30,000 positions over the past three years.
The work pays in something other than salary. In a 2025 study of practicing elementary school counselors in Professional School Counseling, every participant named the emotional reward of supporting students as a core contributor to their job satisfaction.
See our article, “What Can I Do With a Master’s in School Counseling?” for even more information.
Frequently Asked Questions
The core difference comes down to the age group each degree leads you to work with:
- The MS in Counseling (CSP) program centers on work with college and university students. Graduates take roles in admissions coordination, academic advising, student affairs, financial aid, residence life and similar areas of higher education.
- The MS in Counseling (PPS) program centers on work with kindergarten through high school students. It leads to eligibility for California’s PPS Credential in School Counseling, the credential the state requires for school counseling positions in K-12 public schools.
Because the worlds of K-12 and post-secondary education are frequently in contact, there can be some overlap. In fact, in our PPS program we offer a College Counseling Specialization for those who want joint knowledge of the K-12 experience and higher education landscape.
Both programs also share a foundation in cultural proficiency, counseling theory and supervised field experience.
School counseling and college counseling describe two different settings for the same broad profession.
School counselors work in K-12 schools, supporting students with academic planning, personal challenges, college preparation, career guidance and the systems that affect their school experience. In California, school counseling positions require the PPS Credential. At Cal Lutheran, our PPS programs prepare graduates to be successful working to support K-12 students and their families.
College counseling can mean a few different things. It can refer to counselors who work inside colleges and universities, supporting enrolled students through advising, admission, financial aid, student affairs and similar roles. It can also refer to professionals who help high school students plan for and apply to college, a role sometimes held by school counselors and sometimes by independent advisors.
At Cal Lutheran, the CSP program prepares graduates for the first kind of role, working with students once they’re already in higher education.
Yes, the MS in Counseling (CSP) program offers a fully online option that includes synchronous components such as live class sessions and instructor meetings. It can be completed in about 1.5 years. (There is also an in-person option that meets at our Thousand Oaks campus.)
The MS in Counseling (PPS) program is not offered online. It is an in-person program that meets at our Thousand Oaks campus, with classes typically meeting one evening per week.
The length of time depends on the program and modality that you choose:
- MS in Counseling (CSP), online: 1.5 years minimum
- MS in Counseling (CSP), in-person: 2.5 years minimum
- MS in Counseling (PPS), in-person: 3 years minimum
Please note: if you add a specialization to the PPS degree, these do add credits and some extra time. See our PPS curriculum page for more details on the Child Welfare and Attendance Specialization requirements and the College Counseling Specialization requirements.
The PPS program leads to eligibility for California’s PPS Credential in School Counseling, issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This is the mandatory credential required to work as a K-12 school counselor in California public schools.
The CSP program does not lead to a state-issued credential, but it does meet the master’s degree requirement for community college counselor positions in California under Title 5 regulations from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. The master’s degree also qualifies graduates for a wide range of student affairs and student support roles in higher education that don’t require a separate credential, but tend to require a master’s for entry-level positions.
Neither program leads to licensure as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California. That license requires a different degree program and practicum focus. If that’s what you’re interested in, we encourage you to look at Cal Lutheran’s MS in Counseling Psychology.
We have more information on becoming a school counselor in California in this article.
No counseling background is needed. Both programs welcome applicants from a range of academic and professional backgrounds, including career changers entering counseling for the first time. What matters more than your undergraduate major is your reason for pursuing the work and your readiness for graduate-level study.
Admission requirements include a bachelor’s degree, a 3.0 undergraduate GPA (which can be waived), transcripts, two letters of recommendation, a personal statement and an admission interview. International applicants also need to demonstrate strong English language proficiency.
Two ways to learn more:
Explore on your own: Download the program brochure
Talk with someone who knows the program: An enrollment specialist can answer questions and help you figure out if this is the right fit. Call 805-521-9856 to talk one-on-one.
Request Information
To learn more about the graduate degree programs offered by the Cal Lutheran Graduate School of Education and download a brochure, please fill out the form. You can also get in touch with an enrollment specialist directly by calling us at 805-493-3325 or for the online Master of Science in Counseling and College Student Personnel call 805-521-9856.
