Marriage and Family Therapy, MS

MFT Mission

 Our mission is to train students in a relational and systemic approach in order to equip marriage and family therapists for the compassionate, ethical practice of therapy with a diverse, multi-cultural, and global society.

 MFT Program Admission Requirements:

1. Admission to the OBU graduate program.
2. Previous Course Work. Although no specific undergraduate major is essential for admission to the MFT program, applicants are encouraged to have backgrounds in the human services fields or have accumulated undergraduate credit in human development, family science, psychology, sociology, theology or ministry.  Because of the program’s Christian perspective, applicants are required to have completed a basic undergraduate or graduate course in Christian theology. Those who lack this course are expected to complete MFT 5911 - Theological Foundations  or its equivalent by the end of the second semester of study.
3. Personal and Work Experience. Consideration is given to those applicants whose personal and work experience demonstrates commitment to the field of marriage and family therapy. Applicants with at least two years of gainful employment in the Human Services field will receive special consideration.
4. Recommendations. A minimum of three (3) recommendations from persons who are familiar with the applicant’s academic, employment and religious experience is required.
5. Graduate Record Examination. A qualification index based upon the following weighting: GPA at 40%, GRE at 60% (Verbal at 30%, Quantitative at 10%, Analytical Writing at 20%).  Applicants who score below the qualification index, but have relevant work experience since receiving the bachelor’s degree and who are otherwise judged qualified, may be admitted conditionally. The conditional status will be dropped, if after the completion of 12 credit hours the student will have maintained a GPA of at least a 3.0. Failure to maintain this GPA will result in the student’s withdrawal from the program.
6. Interview. Upon qualifying in regard to all the above admission requirements the applicant may be required to have an on-campus personal interview with the MFT Graduate Faculty.

Integrated OBU Bachelor’s Degree/ MFT Degree Program

Through an integrated program, OBU provides the opportunity for students from all disciplines to begin work toward a Master of Marriage and Family Therapy degree while completing an undergraduate degree at OBU. Through the program, students from any academic discipline can pursue completion of both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree within approximately six years.

To participate in the program, the student must complete the MFT degree program admission process by submitting an application, professional recommendations, a statement of purpose and current transcript. A student will typically apply during the junior year of undergraduate course work. At least 96 hours of undergraduate course work must be completed prior to beginning master’s-level courses. Additionally, an interview with MFT program faculty is required. The student is provisionally admitted into the MFT program until the bachelor’s degree is completed. Students who demonstrate success in the graduate courses may have the GRE requirement waived for admission into the graduate program.

Advanced Standing students may begin MFT graduate classes in August or January of their senior year. Undergraduates may take up to twelve hours of graduate work. The remaining MFT degree requirements may be completed following completion of the bachelor’s degree. Advanced Standing students may receive undergraduate credit of parallel content to the graduate course. The MFT Program Director will advise students on which courses they can take at the graduate level.

Students are strongly encouraged to consult with Student Financial Services to determine the best approach for maintaining undergraduate aid/ scholarships while acquiring graduate credit.

For more information, contact the Director of the Graduate Program in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Enrollment Status

Graduate students enrolled for thesis, research, practicum or internship credits may be designated as full-time or half-time equivalency enrollment regardless of the actual credit hours of enrollment. For consideration of the equivalency enrollment, students must complete a Certification of Enrollment Status form and obtain approval from the Program Director or Academic Dean and the CGPS Dean. Sufficient hours required for the thesis, research, practicum or internship must be shown to be equal to or more than the equivalency of the nine credit hours of full-time enrollment, five to nine hours of the half-time enrollment, or less than half-time enrollment. The student’s coursework, along with his/her research/practicum work should be for full-time equivalency, 27 or more hours, and for half-time equivalency, 12-17 hours.