NMHU Counseling Program Annual Report
Fall 2019
Data for the annual report on graduates was retrieved from a variety of sources, including survey responses performed through telephone and electronically. The Alumni Graduate Survey got a completion rate of 62 alumni graduate responses out of 282 from the 5-year period observed of the graduate years 2014 to 2019.
Licensure
The survey demonstrated that based on obtained or in-process of obtaining license(s) and/or certification(s) status, students who passed the exam(s) for receiving a License as a Mental Health Counselor, Licensed as a School Counselor, License as a Professional Clinical Counselor, Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, and other types of licensing and/or certifications there was about a 78% rate of success. Although, it must be noted that the survey did not clarify whether those who stated “none” to the license(s) and/or certification(s) obtained after graduating had attempted the exam(s) at all. Thus, the success rate of the students passing the licensing and/or certification exam(s) may be higher. Further, about 43 percent of students obtained a License in Mental Health Counseling. The variances in the quantity of licensure(s) and/or certification(s) obtained by the 63 alumni surveyed is demonstrated by the graph that follows.
Demographics
For this 5-year period surveyed, about 87% of alumni surveyed identified as female and the remaining identified as male. This data demonstrates a predominance of females in the Counseling Graduate Program at New Mexico Highlands University. This is comparable to the national annual average for 2019 of counselors employed about 76% of counselors were females in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Further, there is a predominance of Caucasian and Hispanic or Latino alumni from those surveyed. About 37% of those surveyed identified as Hispanic or Latino, while in contrast, the national annual average in 2019 was about 13% for Hispanic or Latino employed counselors (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). The Sex, Race, and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Health Occupations Report for the years of 2011-2015 states that Hispanic, Latino, Native Americans, and Asians are underrepresented in the counseling workforce (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). This demonstrates that the New Mexico Highlands University Counseling Master’s Program has effectively reached the Hispanic and/or Latino communities.
Employment
About 73% of the Graduate Counseling Program alumni were able to obtain a job within their field in 0 to 4 months after the day of graduation. Of those, some obtained a job prior to the graduation date although this specification was not distinctly made in the survey due to it being compiled in the “0 to 4 months” response. 8% of the alumni surveyed obtained a job in their field 5 to 6 months after the day of graduation, 5% obtained a job in their field in the range of 7 to 12 months and the remaining 3% stated they still have not obtained a job within their field. The remaining 11% accounts for those who stated “other” as their response for the length of time it took after graduation to obtain a job within the field. The varied responses for the specification of what “other” meant to them are anywhere from “I chose not to use the degree” to “I was already working in the field of education.”
2019 Annual Report Full Report
2018 Annual Report Full Report
**The complete 2019 Annual Report will include state and national statistics, in-depth analysis of the NMHU survey data, and references.