Bellevue University is one of the regional accredited universities by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of colleges and Schools (NCACS). The University’s online courses and Degree programs are designed in such a way as to provide its students with the knowledge and skills required to meet educational and career goals. In this university, students are normally encouraged to take advance of other prior learning like professional or military training, existing college credit and professional certification.
Bellevue University provides its students with various degree programs for those who are keenly interested in human services careers. Graduates from Bellevue University work in mental counseling and in community development as well as in case management, corrections, administration, addictions and psycho education. Most of the graduate counseling programs at Bellevue University therefore give a strong foundation aimed at service delivery at both undergraduate and in other programs like behavioral science degrees, sociology, and health care management degrees and in psychology while the master human services program aims at preparing students to deliver direct mental health services or manage mental health programs. Students who are interested in licensure are therefore offered with two graduate programs while those students who seek for other human services options are offered with a non-licensure masters program. Research opportunities are therefore available for both master Human Services program and graduate counseling programs. Both graduate and undergraduate levels are therefore provided with research opportunities.
The Master of Arts in Human Service is a degree course that is specifically designed for those people who are already working in human services or those who wish to pursue a career in human services profession. As a result, this program is a non-licensure course and it is not geared for those people seeking mental health licensure, or those who desire a career in mental health counseling. In addition, a master in human service is designed to boost communication as well as leadership skills. It is also provides a basic foundation for several functions that are needed by leaders in human services arena and it is a 36-credit hour degree. By contrast, Master of Science is a 60-credit hour degree in Clinical Counseling that is intended for those who desire to obtain the provisional LMHP and the LIMHP (Nebraska) or licensure in other states as mental practitioners. The requirements for the licensure vary from one state to the other.
In both the Masters of Arts in Human Service and Graduate Programs in counseling, all students must adhere to general admission requirements for each specific course and complete the curriculum requirements as they are listed in the Bellevue University catalog. In addition to this, individuals interested in enrolling for these courses are further required to pass all the graduate courses in the degree with a at least a grade of C or better and achieve a GPA of 3.o or greater or overall. And the credit hours are normally stated in semester hours. For one to enroll on a Master’s Degree, the Residence Requirements which have to be met include possession of at least 30 Bellevue university in house residence courses while students must also complete 18 additional credit hours in residence for a second degree which must have been earned after having been conferred with a first degree.
However, students wishing to earn a second graduate degree from Bellevue University after being awarded a graduate degree must complete all the requirements entailed in the first graduate degree and thereafter apply for and obtain the first graduate degree. The student must then complete an additional minimum of 18 graduate credit hours obtained from Bellevue University except in the Master of Science in Clinical Counseling which will require 12 minimum additional credit hours for 48 credit hours in MSHS obtained from a degree from Bellevue University. In addition to this, the student must complete academic and GPA procedural requirements that are in effect during the time of enrolling for a second graduate degree program from Bellevue University. While two master Human Services Programs can be awarded simultaneously, this is not the case for graduate degrees or graduate counseling programs as these graduate degrees cannot be simultaneously awarded at the same time.
In both the Master Human Services Program and the graduate counseling Programs, concentrations are used in the provision of areas of focus for the students and therefore provide a choice for different options in content areas for both programs. Concentrations are therefore generally nine credit hours which can be taken in addition to other requirements to the master’s degree or which can be taken as part of credit hours in some of the degree programs.