TPC_Journal_10.4_Full_Issue

444 The Professional Counselor | Volume 10, Issue 4 (n = 75). As seen in Table 1, the North Atlantic region had roughly the same ratio of CACREP-accredited master’s programs to population size as the Southern region and yet had a ratio of CACREP-accredited doctoral programs to population size that was three times greater than the Southern region’s ratio. The North Atlantic region also had more than double the number of master’s programs than the Western region, despite having a smaller population overall. Considering this larger presence of CACREPaccredited master’s programs, the North Atlantic’s lack of doctoral programs is somewhat surprising. The reason for the low number of CACREP-accredited doctoral programs in the North Atlantic region can be understood when considering the historical presence of APA-accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs in the region. Although not a predictor for the number of CES doctoral programs nationally, APA-accredited counseling psychology programs appear to be a potential barrier to CES doctoral program establishment in New England especially. Massachusetts had the second largest number of APA-accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs (n = 6), behind only Texas (n = 7; APA, 2019). As stated previously, university administrators may perceive doctoral programs in counseling psychology and CES as competitor programs for faculty lines, as core faculty cannot be shared between APA and CACREP-accredited programs (CACREP, 2015). The large number of counseling psychology doctoral programs in Massachusetts may help explain why there are no CES doctoral programs in New England. CES Doctoral Programs Across Regions Although the Western and North Atlantic regions had the greatest degree of pipeline problem, it is possible that all five regions will be impacted by the pipeline problem in the near future. An analysis of programs currently in the process of applying for CACREP accreditation (designated “in process”) is presented in the Appendix. Across regions, a total of 63 master’s programs were in process, compared to only five doctoral programs. This 12.6:1 ratio is far above the current ratios of the Southern, North Central, and Rocky Mountain regions and is similar to the current ratio for the North Atlantic region. All regions except the Rocky Mountain region appear to be impacted. The Southern region had 31 in-process master’s programs and three in-process doctoral programs (10:1 ratio). The North Central region had 13 in-process master’s programs and one in-process doctoral program (13:1). The North Atlantic region had 10 in-process master’s programs and one in-process doctoral program (10:1). The Western region had eight in-process master’s programs and zero in-process doctoral programs (8:0). The Rocky Mountain region seemed least impacted, with only one in-process master’s program and zero in-process doctoral programs (1:0). Any existing pipeline problem for doctoral-level counselor education faculty therefore seems likely to continue if not worsen in the coming years. State Laws and Rules Prohibiting Doctoral Programs In this study, the number of CACREP-accredited master’s programs is a strong predictor of the number of CACREP-accredited doctoral programs within a state. The relationship between the number of master’s and doctoral CACREP-accredited programs is far weaker in the Western region because of state laws and rules that restrict doctoral study at public universities. The California and Washington state university systems limit doctoral programs to their research-intensive universities. The California Master Plan (California State Department of Education, 1960; Douglass, 2000) restricts doctoral programs to the University of California university system and specifically does not permit Doctor of Philosophy degrees to be offered at the California State University system campuses. This is important because in California all of the counselor education programs at state universities are operated within the California State University system, with no programs offered within the researchintensive University of California system.

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