Post-Baccalaureate Diploma Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the PBDC program, applicants must have:

• an undergraduate (baccalaureate) degree, normally four years
• a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.50 in the last 10 full course equivalents (30 credits)
• a minimum of three courses* (nine credits) in psychology or educational psychology, including:
  • a course in developmental psychology (3 credits)
  • a course in learning psychology (3 credits)
  • a course in counselling theories or personality theories (3 credits).

* These courses must be at the second-year undergraduate level or above, and must be completed by the application deadline. An official, sealed transcript stating final courses grades must also be received by the Faculty of Health Studies and date stamped by the application deadline.

In the admissions process, preference is given to applicants who have two years or more of full-time experience in counselling or a related field or two years or more of full-time teaching experience PLUS related volunteer or part-time counselling experience. If you are lacking the prerequisite psychology courses, they are available at a distance through Athabasca University. We recommend the following course options for completing your prerequisites. (Note: a course in abnormal psychology is required only if you are applying into the Master of Counselling: Art Therapy specialization.)

These courses are offered in distance learning formats. To register in a course, please follow Athabasca University undergraduate course registration processes.

Before the start of the program, successful applicants are required to participate in a six-week online orientation. Failure to successfully complete the orientation may result in withdrawal of the offer of admission.