School Counseling Programs at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Written by School-Counselor.org Editorial Staff, Last Updated: October 9, 2026

Picture a second-grade classroom where many of the parents are more comfortable in Spanish than in English. The school counselor there spends real time on family phone calls, translated permission slips, and parent nights that run in two languages. If that’s the kind of school you want to work in, where you train matters. A program at a Hispanic-Serving Institution can place its students in districts that look a lot like that classroom.

This guide covers what HSI status actually means, how we built the list, and all 42 programs, organized by state.

What Makes a College a Hispanic-Serving Institution

The 25% enrollment definition

Hispanic-Serving Institution is a federal designation from the Higher Education Act. A college qualifies when it’s accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit, and at least 25% of its full-time-equivalent undergraduates are Hispanic.

That definition is about enrollment. It isn’t a promise of bilingual courses, Latino faculty, or culturally specific counseling training. Excelencia in Education, the research group that tracks HSIs, makes this same point. Some programs on this list build those features in. Others don’t. Each profile below tells you what the university itself says.

The figure is also about undergraduates. A graduate counseling cohort at an HSI can look quite different from the undergraduate student body.

Seal of Excelencia

The Seal of Excelencia is a separate certification. Institutions earn it by showing, with data, that they intentionally serve Latino students rather than simply enrolling them. Eight universities on this list were Seal-certified on Excelencia’s 2024-25 list: Sacramento State, San Francisco State, Florida International, Central Florida, UNLV, Texas Woman’s, UT Rio Grande Valley, and UT San Antonio.

Where federal HSI funding stands

In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would end discretionary funding for certain minority-serving institution grant programs, including programs serving HSIs. It cited constitutional concerns. That didn’t mean every HSI lost all federal funding. HSI status alone doesn’t guarantee a college a federal grant. For a graduate student, none of this changes a program’s CACREP accreditation or its path to state certification.

Why HSI Status Can Matter for Future School Counselors

School counseling is a family-facing job. You’ll explain course schedules, attendance plans, and college applications to parents, not just students. In many districts, a lot of those conversations happen across a language gap.

A program at an HSI can help in a few practical ways. Your practicum and internship may take place in schools with large Latino enrollments. Your classmates may include bilingual counselors-in-training who’ve grown up navigating these schools themselves. And a few programs, like Hunter and Lehman in New York, offer a formal bilingual extension you can add to your certification.

None of that is automatic. The best way to know is to ask each program where its students complete fieldwork.

How This List Was Built

Every program here is accredited by CACREP as a School Counseling program, verified against the CACREP register on September 30, 2026. Any program whose CACREP status shows a teach-out, closure, show-cause, or withdrawal is excluded, because a reader can’t reliably enroll in it. HSI status comes from Excelencia in Education’s list of Hispanic-Serving Institutions with Graduate Programs for 2024-25. That list uses federal IPEDS enrollment data from fall 2024. The undergraduate Hispanic share shown for each school comes from that same list. Programs are listed by state, then alphabetically within each state. They are not ranked. Tuition is shown where the university publishes a rate we could tie to the program, but it played no part in selection. For public universities, the figure is the rate an out-of-state student pays. Residents of that state usually pay less. Tuition changes, so confirm the current rate with the university before you enroll. CACREP accreditation is not the same as state approval, so check your own state’s certification requirements.

School Counseling Programs at HSIs, by State

Arizona

California

Why only three California programs? Most California universities prepare school counselors through programs approved by the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing rather than through CACREP. Those programs can lead to California’s PPS credential too, but they fall outside this CACREP-only list.

Colorado

Connecticut

District of Columbia

Florida

Illinois

Indiana

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

Tennessee

Texas

Texas has 11 programs on this list, more than any other state. School counselor certification there runs through the Texas Education Agency and the TExES School Counselor (252) exam, so read up on how certification works in Texas before you compare.

Washington

How to Compare Programs at HSIs

School counselor certification requirements vary by state. Depending on where you plan to work, you may need to complete a state-approved preparation program, pass a state-specific exam, and meet application or background-check requirements. CACREP accreditation doesn’t automatically give you a school counselor credential or a clinical counseling license. Check the certification rules in your state with the agency that issues credentials where you plan to work.

School counselor certification and LPC licensure are also two different things. Some programs on this list prepare you for both. Even then, the LPC requires its own supervised experience, exam, and state application after you graduate.

Then ask a few questions that HSI status alone won’t answer. Where do students complete practicum and internship? Are there site supervisors who speak Spanish? Does the program offer a bilingual extension or certificate? If you’re a Spanish speaker, a formal credential like the one at Hunter or Lehman can be worth a few extra credits.

If bilingual training is your main goal, our guide to bilingual school counseling programs goes deeper.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Hispanic-Serving Institution mean?

It’s a federal designation for accredited nonprofit colleges where at least 25% of full-time-equivalent undergraduates are Hispanic. It’s based on enrollment, not on a college’s mission or curriculum. Status can change from year to year as enrollment shifts.

Do I have to be Hispanic to attend an HSI?

No. HSIs admit students of every background. In fact, Excelencia’s research shows that most students enrolled at HSIs aren’t Hispanic.

Are school counseling programs at HSIs bilingual?

Most aren’t. HSI status doesn’t require bilingual coursework. A few programs, like Hunter and Lehman in New York, offer a formal bilingual extension. Others may offer bilingual fieldwork sites, so ask each program directly.

Which state has the most HSI school counseling programs?

Texas, with 11 of the 42 programs on this list. Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey each have four.

Does HSI status affect my financial aid?

Not directly. HSI grants go to institutions, not to individual students. Your aid depends on the usual federal and university sources, so check with each financial aid office. Our guide to ways to pay for your master’s covers the main options.

School-Counselor.org Editorial Staff

School-Counselor.org covers school counseling careers, licensing and graduate programs. Program accreditation is checked directly against the CACREP register, licensing requirements against state departments of education and licensing boards, and salary figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics with the data period stated. Every update is reviewed by a person before it's published. Licensing rules change often, so confirm current requirements with your state before enrolling. Read our editorial standards.

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