NBCC Awards Grants to Counseling Programs Seeking First-Time CACREP Accreditation

Four master’s-level counseling programs were recently awarded NBCC and Affiliates grants to assist them with the costs of obtaining first-time accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).Becoming CACREP-accredited is an important milestone for counselor education programs across the United States because it assures that these programs have been evaluated and meet the highest professional standards.

NBCC has made the commitment to support programs in obtaining this important accreditation by providing grants to assist with the associated costs. Since its inception in July 2014, the NBCC and Affiliates Grant for Initial CACREP Accreditation has assisted 39 graduate counseling programs by providing funds throughout the accreditation process. Funds are awarded in three phases: $2,500 for the preapplication phase, $2,500 for the application phase, and $4,000 for the site visit phase.

Of those 39 programs, 21 have obtained CACREP accreditation and several others have submitted applications or have planned site visits and are working toward obtaining this valuable status.

Four programs were awarded grants for the 2021–2022 grant period:

• The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina
• The Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling programs at Rocky Mountain University in Provo, Utah
• The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky
• The Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling programs at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington

“We are very appreciative to NBCC for their dedication to the profession and encouragement of CACREP standards,” said Dr. Kristal James, assistant professor of counseling at Rocky Mountain University. “We are honored to be awarded this grant, which will help our small program advance quality counseling training in our community.”

Dr. Chad Betters, director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Catawba College, said that the school is honored for its program to have been chosen.

“This award will alleviate some of the financial burden associated with developing a program seeking CACREP accreditation,” he said. “We are grateful for NBCC’s investment in our potential and look forward to continuing our relationship with NBCC as we enhance the counseling field in North Carolina and surrounding states with our graduates.”

Dr. Teah Moore, director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Spalding University, was thrilled to hear that Spalding’s program was awarded the grant.

“What exciting news! This is so wonderful,” Dr. Moore said. “The pandemic really affected universities and programs financially. With this NBCC grant, we can better build a community that is knowledgeable about the benefits of accreditation and be involved in a more productive way in completing the accreditation process.”

Applications for the 2022–2023 grant will be accepted beginning March 1, 2022, and the application cycle will close on May 14, 2022. Learn more about the application process on our website.