MA in Human Services Counseling – Marriage & Family Shape the Future of Families
30
Credit Hours
100% online,* 8-week courses
Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total
Support Family Healing with Liberty University’s Online Marriage and Family Therapy Degree
Do you have a heart for helping people strengthen their relationships and heal past trauma? Our 100% online Master of Arts (MA) in Human Services Counseling – Marriage and Family may be the program for you. With this degree, you can get the training you need for career advancement or prepare for new opportunities. If you want to help struggling marriages and families, this degree can help you get there.
As a Christian university, we are dedicated to training human services professionals with integrity. Our goal is to equip you to successfully apply scientific research and clinical tools in your practice. This online program prepares you to better serve clients who struggle with the challenges of life. You can learn to address their social, psychological, and spiritual needs.
The marriage and family area of study can equip you to address the many challenges of engaged and married couples, children with disabilities or behavioral issues, and other family issues. This specialization offers advanced practical training by providing real-world knowledge from experts in the field. You will examine best practices for various types of assessments used in marital and family counseling.
*Some exclusions apply. Please refer to our exclusions page for more information.
Why Choose Liberty’s Degree in Human Services Counseling?
Are you passionate about studying the human mind? Do you love helping people improve their lives by changing their behavior? Our online master’s degree in human services counseling can provide you with in-depth knowledge on human behavior and psychology. You can learn how to apply your knowledge as you solve specific, real-world problems in the counseling and mental health field.
The Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling provides a balance of field-tested practice and cutting-edge research in behavioral sciences. You can be confident that your approach to treatment will be backed by solid scientific study while still maintaining a biblical worldview in ethics and practice.
Do you want to transition to a non-licensed marriage and family therapist role while pursuing an advanced 100% online degree with a Christian university? The online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling – Marriage and Family can provide the specialized training you need. If you want to help families heal and grow together, the marriage and family area of study will train you to apply your expertise in human thought and behavior to the real-world problems that families face.
What Will You Study in Liberty University’s Human Services Counseling Master’s Program?
The core content of the online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling provides a balanced overview of important theories in psychology. This knowledge is then applied to specific, real-world counseling practices. Students in the online master’s in human services counseling will study the development of the human mind from childhood to adulthood. They will also learn about how multicultural issues impact individual and group situations.
At Liberty University, we base this study of human thought and behavior on a Christian worldview. Our courses clearly demonstrate how these science and evidence-based practices are informed by biblical principles.
The marriage and family area of study provides an overview of marital counseling and family therapy issues and topics. You can choose to use your developed skill set to help newly engaged or married couples connect and sort through critical communication challenges. You may also choose to work with specific age groups for child development counseling or counsel women through developmental and situational crises.
Please note: The online Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling is not designed to fulfill clinical counseling requirements. To get more information about a licensure-track marriage and family program, please see our Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy page.
Potential Career Opportunities
- Adolescent care specialist
- Case management supervisor
- Grief services counselor
- Mental health services specialist
- Non-licensed counselor
- Pastoral counselor to children and families
Featured Courses
Degree Information
- This program falls under the School of Behavioral Sciences.
- View the Graduate Behavioral Sciences Course Guides (login required).
Degree Completion Plan
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Tuition & Aid
Your success is our success, which is why we are committed to providing quality academics at an affordable tuition rate. While other colleges are increasing their tuition, we have frozen tuition rates for the majority of our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs for the past 9 years – and counting.
Graduate Full Time | $565/Credit |
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Graduate Part Time | $615/Credit |
Military Graduate | $275/Credit |
All Tuition & Fees
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Admission Requirements for Our Master’s in Human Services Counseling Program
Admission Requirements
- Apply online or over the phone with an admissions counselor by calling (800) 424-9596.
- A non-refundable, non-transferable $50 application fee will be posted on the current application upon enrollment (waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required).
- Send official college transcripts (mailed as sealed, unopened copies or sent via a direct electronic transcript system). A regionally or nationally accredited bachelor’s degree with at least a 2.0 GPA is required for admission in good standing. Applicants who have earned a master’s degree or at least 12 graduate credits from an accredited institution will be assessed on the basis of the master’s-level degree work.
- Unofficial transcripts can be used for acceptance purposes with the submission of a Transcript Request Form.
- Applicants whose native language is other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternative assessment. For information on alternative assessments or TOEFL waivers, please call Admissions or view the official International Admissions policy.
Preliminary Acceptance
If you are sending in a preliminary transcript for acceptance, you must:
- Be in your final term and planning to start your master’s degree after the last day of class for your bachelor’s degree.
- Complete a Bachelor’s Self-Certification Form confirming your completion date. You may download the form from the Forms and Downloads page or contact an admissions counselor to submit the form on your behalf.
- Submit an official/unofficial transcript to confirm that you are in your final term. The preliminary transcript must show a minimum of 105 completed credit hours.
- If you are a current Liberty University student completing your undergraduate degree, you will need to submit a Degree/Certificate Completion Application.
- Send in an additional, final official transcript with a conferral date on it by the end of your first semester of enrollment in the new master’s degree.
Dual Enrollment
Please see the Online Dual Enrollment page for information about starting graduate courses while finishing your bachelor’s degree.
Transcript Policies
Unofficial College Transcript Policy
Unofficial transcripts combined with a Transcript Request Form can be used for admission. Official transcripts are required within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first, and will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.
Before sending unofficial college transcripts, please make sure they include the following:
- Your previous school’s name or logo printed on the document
- Cumulative GPA
- A list of completed courses and earned credit broken down by semester
- Degree and date conferred (if applicable)
Official College Transcript Policy
An acceptable official college transcript is one that has been issued directly from the institution and is in a sealed envelope. If you have one in your possession, it must meet the same requirements. If your previous institution offers electronic official transcript processing, they can send the document directly to luoverify@liberty.edu.
If the student uses unofficial transcripts with a Transcript Request Form to gain acceptance, all official transcripts must be received within 60 days of the admissions decision or before non-attendance drops for the first set of matriculated classes, whichever comes first. Failure to send all official transcripts within the 60-day period will prevent enrollment into future terms until all official transcripts have been received.
Admissions Office Contact Information
Liberty University Online Admissions Verification
1971 University Blvd.
Lynchburg, VA 24515
Ready to Apply?
Submit your application online or over the phone.
Military
Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe.
Who May Qualify?
- Active Duty
- Reserve/National Guard
- Veterans/Retirees
- Spouses of Service Members and Veterans/Retirees
- Current Department of Defense Employees
Available Benefits:
- Tuition discounts – $275 per credit hour for graduate courses
- Additional discount for veterans who service in a civilian capacity as a First Responder (less than $625 per course)*
- 8-week courses, 8 different start dates each year, and no set login times (may exclude certain courses such as practicums, internships, or field experiences)
*Not applicable to certificates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between family counseling and marriage counseling?
Most counselors who learn to work with families also learn to work with couples and vice versa. The married couple is the smallest family unit, so it can fit into this category. However, marriages have their own set of dynamics and associated problems. These issues may need to be addressed separately from the rest of the family.
Family counseling can involve a married couple, but it typically involves other family members as well. This usually means parents and children in counseling together to work on familial issues. However, it can be other pairings or groups of family members as well as extended family.
What are the benefits of pursuing Liberty’s human services counseling degree?
- Complete your coursework on a schedule that fits your life with Liberty’s award-winning online learning environment.
- Study a balanced perspective of the theological principles that underlie psychology. You can learn effective human services counseling techniques from a biblical worldview.
- Be mentored by professors with real-world experience in human services and counseling while you explore cutting-edge scholarship and methods for marriage and family counseling.
- See best practices put to action by observing group meetings in your own community.
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