Volume_5_Issue_1_Digest

15 TPC Digest As the implications of graduating from a CACREP- accredited counselor preparation program increase for students’ postgraduation licensure and employment opportunities, it becomes paramount for the profession to ensure that prospective students are able to make well-informed decisions when choosing a program. Such choices entail cost-benefit analyses framed by students’ personal and professional needs and goals. Program accreditation status is not an enrollment criterion that all prospective counseling students prioritize. However, awareness of CACREP accreditation and the implications of program accreditation status for postgraduation outcomes are exceedingly integral to counseling students’ enrollment decisions. The present article examines factors that influence counseling students’ decisions regarding enrollment in graduate-level programs, with particular attention to students’ awareness of CACREP accreditation prior to and following enrollment. Limited research exists that specifically assesses enrollment decision factors for graduate-level counseling students. No known studies have explored the role that program CACREP accreditation status plays in students’ graduate-level enrollment decisions. Study participants represented a national sample of 359 master’s- and doctoral-level students currently enrolled in both CACREP- and non-CACREP-accredited counselor preparation programs. An online survey assessed the following: (a) basic demographic information, (b) factors that influenced participants’ enrollment decisions, (c) factors that participants wished they had considered more when making enrollment decisions, and (d) levels of awareness of and importance ascribed to CACREP accreditation prior to and following program enrollment. The results indicated that accreditation was the second most influential factor (after program location) for participants when making an enrollment decision. Additionally, for participants attending non-CACREP-accredited programs, accreditation was Read full article and references: Honderich, E. M., & Lloyd-Hazlett, J. (2015). Factors influencing counseling students’ enrollment decisions: A focus on CACREP. The Professional Counselor , 5 , 124–136. doi:10.15241/emh.5.1.124 the top factor that participants wished they had considered more in their enrollment decision-making process. Prior to enrollment in a graduate-level counseling program, nearly three quarters of the participants reported having little familiarity with the concept of CACREP accreditation. Following enrollment, participants’ levels of both familiarity and importance ascribed to CACREP accreditation significantly increased. Considering participants’ lack of awareness of CACREP accreditation prior to enrollment in a graduate counseling program, implications of this study’s findings are discussed, including examination of potential ethical responsibilities of counselor preparation programs and the broader counseling profession to address this phenomenon. Suggestions are made to facilitate more effective dissemination of information about CACREP accreditation and related postgraduation implications to prospective students prior to enrollment, with the ultimate goal of assisting students in making enrollment decisions most congruent with individualized personal and professional objectives. Eleni M. Honderich, NCC, is an Adjunct Professor at the College of William and Mary. Jessica Lloyd-Hazlett, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Correspondence can be addressed to Eleni Honderich, College of William & Mary, School of Education, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795, emhond@gmail.com . Factors Influencing Counseling Students’ Enrollment Decisions A Focus on CACREP Eleni M. Honderich Jessica Lloyd-Hazlett