TPC-Journal-V5-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 1 131 reported being either “familiar” or “very familiar” with CACREP accreditation pre-enrollment. For doctoral- level students ( n = 27), 63% indicated familiarity with CACREP accreditation prior to enrolling in a graduate program. These results indicated that doctoral-level students appeared to show more awareness of CACREP accreditation pre-enrollment, as a 42% difference in familiarity level existed. Post-enrollment, familiarity levels increased for both groups, as evidenced by 72.8% of master’s-level students ( n = 201) and 81.5% of doctoral- level students ( n = 22) reporting either being “familiar” or “very familiar” with CACREP accreditation. The difference between the two groups was now 8.7%, with doctoral students exhibiting more familiarity with CACREP post-enrollment. Students’ familiarity with CACREP prior to and following enrollment also were considered between students in accredited ( n = 173) and non-CACREP-accredited ( n = 107) programs, as well as among students who reported being unsure of their program’s accreditation status ( n = 26). Prior to enrollment, the following percentages of students reported being either “familiar” or “very familiar” with CACREP accreditation: 31.8% in CACREP-accredited programs, 18.7% in non-CACREP-accredited programs and 0.0% among those unaware of program accreditation status. Post-enrollment, 78.2% of students in a CACREP-accredited program, 77.4% of students in a non-CACREP-accredited program and 23.1% of those unaware of their program’s accreditation status reported being either “familiar” or “very familiar” with CACREP accreditation. Overall, the results indicated that higher percentage levels of CACREP familiarity existed both pre-enrollment and post-enrollment for students in CACREP-accredited programs when compared to students in either non-CACREP programs or who were unaware of their program’s accreditation status. Research question three explored the level of importance participants placed on CACREP accreditation prior to ( n = 309) and following enrollment ( n = 308) in graduate-level counseling programs. Before enrollment, 39.5% of the sample noted that CACREP accreditation was either “important” ( n = 50) or “very important” ( n = 73). The remaining 60.5% of participants reported the following levels of importance ascribed to CACREP accreditation prior to enrollment: “somewhat important” ( n = 51) or “not important” ( n = 34), or indicated they were “not aware” ( n = 102) of accreditation. After enrollment, participants’ levels of importance ascribed to CACREP accreditation increased, with 79.6% of the sample describing CACREP accreditation as “important” ( n = 80) or “very important” ( n = 165). Approximately one fifth (20.4%) of the sample reported low levels of importance ascribed to CACREP post-enrollment, rating CACREP accreditation as “somewhat important” ( n = 33) or “not important” ( n = 22), or indicated they were “not aware” ( n = 8) of accreditation. From pre- enrollment to post-enrollment, the percentage of students identifying CACREP as “important” or “very important” increased by 40.1%. Potential differences in the results as a function of program accreditation status also were examined. The following percentages of students believed CACREP accreditation was either “important” or “very important” prior to graduate school enrollment: 58% if the program was reported to be accredited ( n = 101), 17.8% if not CACREP accredited ( n = 19), and 3.8% if the participant was unsure of the program’s accreditation status ( n = 1). Post-enrollment, ascribed levels of importance increased for all students regardless of program accreditation status, as follows: 89.7% of students in CACREP-accredited programs ( n = 156), 72.6% of students in non- CACREP-accredited programs ( n = 77) and 38.5% of students unaware of their program’s accreditation status ( n = 10) indicated that CACREP accreditation was either “important” or “very important” to them. Research question four explored potential differences in levels of awareness of CACREP accreditation prior to enrollment in graduate-level counseling programs between participants in CACREP-accredited programs, those in non-CACREP-accredited programs and those unaware of program accreditation status. Descriptive results indicated that a difference existed between CACREP accreditation awareness levels prior to enrollment contingent on self-reported program accreditation status; to determine whether a significant statistical difference