In October of 2021, Phoenix Seminary announced the closure of it's Master of Arts in Counseling program. The Seminary is committed to teaching out the program for our current students.
As a result of both the historic difficulties in finding CACREP qualified MAC faculty, and the current lack of faculty to support another licensure program, the school’s leadership has decided that the MAC program cannot be sustained beyond a teach out for our current students. Although we must bring the MAC program to an end now, we will continue to explore options that lead to licensure.
We know this information will lead to a lot of questions, so we have put together a list of FAQs for you. Please read the content below and respond with any new questions you have by filling out the form below.
To review the course requirements for the MAC program, please see the 2021-2022 academic catalog.
The full course calendar for the remainder of the MAC program classes can be found HERE.
Frequently Asked Questions
We are actively seeking a MAC Director who will oversee the teach out. The director will help oversee the critical administrative and student care components of the program such as: internships, PQE and comprehensive exam administration, and student care. We hope to have this person in place for the Spring 2022 semester.
We will continue using the same excellent group of adjunct professors who have served you so well this far. And, as we do each year, we will continue to recruit new adjuncts to join us as we teach out the program.
We will follow the academic catalog restriction of five years to complete the program. Our final student admissions for the program will be Spring 2022, so we anticipate the final courses being offered in the 2026–27 academic year. A full calendar of the course offerings through the end of the program can be found HERE. All current MAC students will have until the end of the 2026-2027 academic year to complete the program.
We anticipate offering courses on the same schedule (Tue / Wed / Thu) in the same terms (Fall, J Term, Spring, Summer) that we do now. We also anticipate offering them in the same modalities (in-person, online, Zoom) in which they are offered now.
Prerequisites will still be in place, but with the master calendar being published, you will be able to appropriately plan to complete your courses in the appropriate sequence.
We do hope to be able to establish another licensure program in the future. However, our focus at the moment is to make sure we care well for current MAC students. So we will be exploring other options, but will devote our time and energy more immediately to serving the MAC community.
Accreditation is a complex issue. Most faculty and students talk about accreditation in general ways that are ordinarily sufficient, but at times like these we need to be precise in our language. So, please forgive the tutorial, but it is necessary to make sure you understand accreditation and the MAC program teach out.
There are 3 kinds of accreditation. First, institutions can be regionally accredited. Regional accreditation is for the institution and as such covers all of the degrees the institution issues, but it is not the accreditation of an individual degree. Phoenix Seminary is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
The second kind of accreditation is professional institutional accreditation. Like regional accreditation, this is for the institution and covers the degrees offered but it does not accredit individual degrees. Phoenix Seminary is professionally accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
The third kind of accreditation is program or degree accreditation. For the counseling program our degree accreditation would be done by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The Phoenix Seminary MAC program is not CACREP accredited.
The last aspect that is important to understand is the relationship between accreditation and eligibility for licensure. Counselor licensure in Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. The board, in its policies on licensure requirements, sets educational standards. It approves educational programs for counseling in two ways. First, it approves programs that are accredited by CACREP. Second, it approves programs that are regionally accredited, and which offer a curriculum that meets or exceeds the board’s curricular requirements. The Phoenix Seminary MAC program is approved under the second method. We are regionally accredited by HLC, and our curriculum meets the board’s requirements. This will not change with the decision to teach out the program. Phoenix Seminary continues to be regionally accredited, and we continue to offer a program that meets the board’s curricular requirements.
Yes. Our most recent application for renewal was submitted in November 2021 and the MAC program has been approved through 12/1/2026.
We are working with our staff and faculty to develop the plan for the MAC teach out. If you have questions, you can submit them via the form below, or reach out to your SSA. We will collect questions and periodically send out an update to the FAQ so that all MAC students can benefit.
We recognize there will be many great questions for students, faculty, and staff that will help us identify potential problems that might occur in the days ahead. One such question already on the table is how will be handle leaves of absence and the five-year completion timeline. This is a great question for which we do not have an immediate answer. It is a question that our team of faculty and staff will have to investigate and address. This is in part why our publication of the road map for the teach out will not be published until early next year. We will need time to ensure we have surfaced the questions that we need to address, and we will need time to explore the various options to make sure the decisions we enact will serve the MAC students well.
Additional MAC Program Questions
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