Minnesota Administrative Rules

8705.0400 SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAMS.

Subpart 1.

Accreditation or approval required.

To prepare individuals for licensure as a school counselor under part 8710.6400, a school counseling program based in Minnesota must hold accreditation from the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) or be approved to recommend candidates for licensure pursuant to subpart 2.

Subp. 2.

State-approved school counseling programs.

A.

A school counseling program may seek approval to recommend candidates for licensure who have completed a portion or subset of the program that is accredited by CACREP. To be approved, the program must comply with subitems (1) to (4).

(1)

The program must obtain board approval of its program model before recommending candidates for licensure.

(2)

The program must have a documented enrollment policy that includes an enrollment requirement that a candidate hold a master's degree in counseling or a related area. A related area is defined as a profession closely related to counseling or the school context, and must be commensurate with the clinical preparation and experience of professional counselors.

(3)

The program must have a documented process for evaluating the candidate's prior experiences in order to determine gaps in coursework and clinical experience, including whether the candidate has completed coursework aligned to CACREP's common core areas of foundational knowledge and whether the candidate has had clinical experiences equivalent to the CACREP practicum.

(4)

The program must ensure the candidate completes at least 600 total clinical experience hours, including a minimum of 240 hours of direct service with students. The program may evaluate a candidate's prior experiences to determine whether to waive up to 150 of the clinical experience hours. The program may not waive direct service hours.

B.

The board may grant approval for a term of up to eight years to align approval with the CACREP accreditation cycle.

Subp. 3.

Notice required.

A program must notify the board if its CACREP accreditation status changes or if it makes changes to its program model.

Statutory Authority:

MS s 122A.09; 122A.092

History:

50 SR 479

NOTE:

Subpart 1 is effective July 1, 2026.

Published Electronically:

December 10, 2025