After completing 30 hours of coursework for your degree, you  are eligible to take the Master’s Comprehensive Examination (Comps).

1. You must sign up by the announced deadline.

2. Students wishing to sign up for the exam need to send an email to the graduate coordinator (Dr. Brenda Hannon) stating their intent to take the exam along with a copy of an unofficial transcript attached to their email. Copies of unofficial transcripts are available via the students Blue and Gold. Once Dr. Hannon has reviewed your materials she will provide you with additional information about studying, signing up etc. However, some information is in this handbook on our website. Also see the FAQs on the CPCE website. You will be doing a proctored exam.

3. The examination must be passed prior to graduation. Students will have three opportunities to pass the comprehensive exam; however, these opportunities are not all in one semester.

4. The exam is provided in an online format and registration details will be provided to all students signed up for the exam during the semester of exam administration. It currently costs approx. $75.00, which is paid during the online exam registration. The exam is administered at TAMUK’s Testing Center on a specific date at a specific time. If you miss your time you will not be allowed to start late and you will forfeit your money. This is a Pearson rule, the creator’s of the CPCE, not the testing center or Dr. Hannon. There is nothing the testing center or Dr. Hannon can do. You will need to pay $75.00 again and sign up again.

5. It should be emphasized that the additional workload generated by not passing Comps on the first attempt may prove very demanding during a student’s final semester.

6. The CPCE is offered through the Department only in October and February. For this reason, it is highly recommended that all students be prepared to take the CPCE the semester before they plan to graduate.

In order to pass, you must make an overall score of at least 70% (raw score of 95). If you score less than 70% on the exam then the following items apply:

A low score in a content area is defined as a score that is below the national average for that content area. This means that if you score one point below the national average for a content area, you are below the national average for that content area. There are no exceptions.           

If you score less than 70% on the comprehensive exam because you have low scores (i.e., below average scores) in one or two content areas, you may be permitted to complete remedial work. This remedial work will be in the form of make-up essays, addressing the content areas in which you were deficient. Students are given a window of three weeks in which to begin the essay assignment. If you fail to pass this remedial work, you must re-take the comprehensive exam.

Essays for the remedial work are due three weeks after assigned and are reviewed by the faculty member who wrote the essay question.  If that reader determines that an essay is of passing quality, that decision is final. If that reader determines that it has failed, the essay goes to a second faculty reader. If the second reader rates the essay as failed, that decision is final. If the second reader rates the essay as a pass or marginal, the essay goes to a third faculty reader. If the third rating is a pass or fail, that decision is final. If the third rater determines that the essay is of marginal quality, two or three of the raters will document the deficiencies and a revised essay will be due from the student one week after notification of the deficiencies.

If you score less than 70% on the comprehensive exam because you have low scores (i.e., below average scores) in three or more content areas, you will need to re-take the comprehensive exam.

Students will have three opportunities to pass the comprehensive exam. In the unusual case where a student fails the CPCE the third time or fails the make-up essays, the student must present a petition, written in consultation with the student’s advisor, to the Counseling Faculty, requesting a remediation plan for another opportunity to take  Comps. This student is then expected to generate a study plan with the advisor to increase the likelihood of success on this academic milestone.

The National Counselor Examination (i.e., NCE) is a requirement in most states for licensure as a counselor. As the CPCE is modeled after the NCE, studying for the NCE will help you to pass the CPCE. Sample questions are available at

https://www.nbcc.org/exams/nce

“There is no official study guide for the CPCE. Since the CPCE and the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) are based on the same eight knowledge areas, any study materials developed for the NCE should be useful for the CPCE.” (Taken from the web site of Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE), a corporate affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors.)

These are the eight knowledge areas represented on the CPCE and the NCE and our most closely related courses:

• Human Growth and Development ( Psyc 5319)
• Social and Cultural Foundations (Psyc 5317)
• Helping Relationships (Psyc 5304 & 5308)
• Group Work (Psyc 5344)
• Career and Lifestyle Development (Psyc 5331)
• Appraisal (Psyc 5336)
• Research and Program Evaluation (Psyc 5302, 5310, & 5381)
• Professional Orientation & Ethics (Psyc 5333 & 5334)

In addition, the NBCC provides a list of study materials for the NCE: https://www.nbcc.org/exams/examprep  

 

The following study guides for the NCE may help you prepare for the CPCE: (i) Encyclopedia of Counseling: Master Review and Tutorial for the National Counselor Examination and State Exams, 3rd Ed. by Howard G. Rosenthal (November 2007) (ii) Study Guide for the National Counselor Examination by Andrew A. Helwig (February 2006) (iii) Vital Information and Review Questions for the NCE and State Counseling Exams (Audio Cassette) by Howard G. Rosenthal (February 2002

Finally, Lindsey Sanchez, at out Health and Wellness Center suggested the following study materials:

Dr. Pam's youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/PamTurner

Pocket Prep (can be downloaded through App store or accessed online) https://www.pocketprep.com/bundles/behavioral-health/

Encyclopedia of Counseling (the purple book) https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Counseling-Package-Examination-Comprehensive/dp/1138942650/ref=asc_df_1138942650/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312674999652&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7547548641816784816&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028124&hvtargid=pla-762189794392&psc=1