Program Vision

To be the premier graduate rehabilitation counselor education program recognized for its diversity, and known for excellence in teaching, learning and research.

 Program Mission

The mission of the Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation at The University of Iowa is to increase opportunities for participation and choices of people served through education, training, research, leadership, and community engagement.

Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation

The programs are consumer-focused rehabilitation counseling and counselor education programs. For many years, The University of Iowa has contributed numerous practitioners, educators, researchers, and administrators to the profession of rehabilitation counseling. The programs have achieved national recognition through many faculty and student awards and publications. The master's program in Rehabiltation Counseling is accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) and by Council on Accreditation on Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) in Community Counseling.

Since 2000, U.S. News and World Report's national ratings of graduate programs have ranked the University of Iowa's Rehabilitation Counseling Programs 3rd in the nation. In 1997 the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association awarded its President's Exemplary Rehabilitation Education Award to our master's and doctoral programs in rehabilitation. The award acknowledged "the demonstration of excellence in innovative and exemplary academic program efforts that offer significant potential for improving the standards and ractices of graduate rehabilitation education." The combination of these two recent honors have validated our opinion of the strength of the educational approach taken to prepare rehabilitation counselors for the future needs of the profession, here at the University of Iowa. Our programs have a major impact on the field of rehabilitation counseling.

The Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation are part of the College of Education as well as the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation, and Student Development. In addition to rehabilitation counseling, the Department provides accredited M.A. programs in school counseling and student development in postsecondary education. At the doctoral level, the Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program, along with Ph.D. programs in counseling and human development and student development in postsecondary education, combine to form the accredited doctoral program in counselor education. The close coordination and support among the Department's programs provide students access to a wide range of faculty and courses.

An Established Program

Iowa's Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation have evolved over more than 50 years. The first master's degree in rehabilitation counseling was awarded in 1956, and in 1959 Marceline Jaques became Iowa's first doctoral graduate in rehabilitation counselor education and the first woman to receive her Ph.D. in this field in the nation. Since its founding, the program has produced more than 50 doctoral degree and more than 350 master's degree graduates.

Our programs are an institutional member of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NRCE) and have been chartered as Rho Upsilon Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, the Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society International. The University of Iowa Rehabilitation Counseling Association (UI-ARCA) is a recognized student organization affiliated with the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA), and has the honor of being its first student chapter. UI-ARCA provides the opportunity for students to develop both personally and professionally. In addition, through the interests and efforts of individual faculty members, the programs have ties with a wide range of professional organizations in rehabilitation.