Located in Boone, Appalachian State University is a small-town campus in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Within its Reich College of Education (RCOE), the MA in Marriage and Family Therapy is a full-time program admitting only 12 students per cohort. It meets the educational requirements for licensure in North Carolina and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). The program provides a background in all theories of marriage and family therapy, allowing the student to integrate them into a personal approach when working with clients. Appalachian State also offers a program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Marriage and Family Counseling. This program does not meet the requirements for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist, but it does prepare students for working with families in other counseling settings.
The MS in Marriage and Family Therapy at East Carolina University is the first program of its kind in North Carolina to be accredited by COAMFTE, and is designed to meet the educational component of licensure. ECU is an urban university in Greenville and has its own Family Therapy Clinic located across the street from campus, where students can gain clinical experience. The degree is a full-time two-year program and students are discouraged from holding full-time employment because of the rigorous nature of the curriculum.
Pfeiffer is a Christian university comprising three different campuses, with the Charlotte campus offering the MA in MFT. The program allows for both full and part-time study, but students must be continuously enrolled every semester, including the summers. The Pfeiffer Institute for Marriage and Family Therapy is located adjacent to campus and all students are required to do at least one semester of clinical internship there. The program, which is accredited by COAMFTE and meets licensure requirements, has a stated mission of preparing servant leaders to work with couples and families in many capacities.
North Carolina A&T University, which is located near downtown Greensboro, offers a flexible evening program for an MA in Community Counseling, with a certificate in Marriage and Family Counseling. Enrollment may be full or part-time and the evening coursework allows students to continue employment while working on their degree. The North Carolina Association of Marriage and Family Counselors is housed at the university and both the president and secretary of the association are faculty members in the Department of Human Development and Services. The certificate program does not directly meet the requirements for licensure as a marriage and family therapist, so students will need to take additional coursework if they wish to become licensed.
UNC Greensboro has a unique dual program in Couple and Family Counseling, in which students attend full-time for two and a half years and complete both an MS and an Education with Specialization degree. Students of the program typically come from all over the U.S., as well as other countries, and from a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds. This program does not directly satisfy licensure requirements for Marriage and Family Therapy, but students can work with their advisors to ensure they receive enough coursework to meet these requirements. UNC Greensboro also offers a post-master's certificate in Couples and Family Counseling for professional counselors who are interested in furthering their education in working with families.