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  6. Tuition & Fees

Tuition & Fees

The current tuition cost per credit hour is published on the website of the university office of Student Accounting. In addition to tuition, students are charged a number of fees by the university. The applicable fees for students in the CCP Program typically include the Academic Infrastructure & Technology fee, Computer Laboratory fee, Professional Liability Coverage, and others. 

Students are also required to carry their own personal professional liability coverage, which can be obtained from a number of insurance providers. The costs of such insurance is usually under $50 per year. 

Students must also use the time2track platform to track the accumulation of their clinical hours. The cost of using time2track varies based on the length of subscription chosen (e.g., a four-year plan currently costs $214).

Graduate Research Assistantships & Fellowships

CCP Students may be granted a Fellowship or Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA). General information concerning assistantships can be found on the Graduate School website. GRA positions are assigned by CCP Faculty and can include a number of roles and responsibilities. Such responsibilities include, but are not limited to working on specific research projects (e.g., a grant funded research study), performing clinical or consultation services for community partners, and fellowships provided to support students working under their faculty mentor. Students assigned to a GRA position are also provided with a Tuition Scholarship. Given that the funds that cover tuition costs vary depending on their source, the Tuition Scholarship associated with a given GRA position may or may not cover all of a student’s tuition. In such instances, the CCP student may be responsible for covering the difference in the total tuition costs. University fees and other non-tuition costs are NOT covered by the Tuition Scholarship. Tuition Scholarships granted for GRA positions and fellowships may not be applied to courses outside of the degree program. The CCP Faculty strive to provide secure funding to provide CCP Students with GRA positions during the entirety of their Program of Study, though this is NOT guaranteed and the assignment of GRA positions is completed on a year-by-year basis. Assistantships pay a minimum stipend of $15,000 per calendar year, but will vary depending upon the source funding the position. Students who, for various reasons, must take an extra year in their doctoral study may be especially vulnerable to not receiving a GRA position during the additional year, though the program will make every effort to identify funding for such students.

Guidelines for Outside Employment

The CCP Program is a full-time, intensive training experience that requires significant time and effort. Students who are granted Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) positions are further expected to satisfy the requirements of such a position, which typically involves 16 to 20 hours of dedicated work weekly. Given such demands, CCP Students who are granted GRA positions are generally not permitted to hold outside employment, including part-time employment. Exceptions to this policy can be made under exceptional circumstances, providing that the outside employment does not pose a risk of interrupting the CCP Student’s responsibilities to their training, coursework, and GRA position effort. CCP Students who wish to obtain employment outside of their GRA position must formally request to do so from the CCP Faculty using Request to Participate in Outside Employment form. Such requests must be approved by the CCP Faculty prior to the student beginning any outside employment. The decision to approve outside employment is wholly at the discretion of the CCP Faculty.

The CCP Program encourages students to acquire clinical skills and experience in a variety of settings. However, it is necessary that clinical work be performed responsibly, with due caution for and protection of both client and clinician, since the outcome may include making major decisions or alterations in the client’s life course. In addition, clients may pursue complaints about real or imagined inadequacies of services or take legal action. Therefore, it is important that CCP Program students are neither exploited nor placed in positions where they overextend their level of skills, thereby violating ethical or legal standards. The purpose of this statement is to set forth guidelines concerning academic credit and/or employment in clinical settings with a rationale for some of the issues involved.

Practicum experiences usually involve academic credit, but very rarely pay. At this level, students are learning new skills, beginning to apply previously taught skills (such as assessment or crisis intervention), or working with patients with whom they have had little previous experience (such as individuals suffering from psychosis, intellectual disability, or who have experienced cultural disadvantage). Since much of a student’s involvement is for learning purposes, services are secondary and often offset the amount of time provided by the agency in training or supervision.

Problems with over extension of skills or lack of procedural safeguards most often arise when students are paid for part-time clinical work outside of the usual protection of established agencies; i.e., in working in private agencies or for professionals in independent practice.

Students are in most danger from potential legal action by clients when the following situations occur: 

  • No malpractice insurance in force that covers all employees
  • Student is not considered an “employee” but an “independent contractor”
  • No written job description
  • Going beyond job description
  • There is no professional available for routine supervision and emergency assistance
  • The employer is not an established agency but a consortium of independent practices

In addition, students run the risk of violating the state licensing law and/or meeting professional disapproval in any context where they assume major responsibility for patient care.

To assist a student in protecting him or herself and clients, and to enable the CCP Program faculty to negotiate with settings that are not providing adequate safeguards, it is required that each student who is engaged in any type of clinical work off-campus not directly under the supervision of a CCP Program Core Faculty member, nor arranged through the Director of Clinical and Counseling Training (DCT) should describe the work in writing at the beginning of each semester. This should include the setting, the supervisor(s), the number of hours of employment expected, and whether the work is paid. This information should be sent to the DCT before any employment begins. If there is doubt as to whether the facility meets the standards listed below, the DCT will discuss the problem with the student and will contact the agency or professional involved.

Suggested Standards for Agencies

In operation for at least five years, headed by an appropriately trained professional for the type of agency; direct supervision by a qualified professional; work done on premises with emergency assistance available; insurance coverage for student; written job description.

Students or persons with narrow-based training or experience may be able to work with a professional under his/her direction and offer appropriate, if limited, services to clients. However, clear limits are necessary to prevent the student from assuming responsibility for major or final patient care decisions that cannot be justified without the above conditions having been met.

It is expected that students enrolled or continuing in CCP Program will be knowledgeable about ethical and legal standards for providing services and will adhere to these standards. Finally, even after a student completes the doctoral degree, he or she should continue to follow accepted ethical and legal standards for provision of psychological services.

The CCP Program core faculty views the following behaviors on the part of a student as serious violations of the above guidelines and grounds for investigation and possible dismissal from the program:

  1. Misrepresenting (or allowing the misrepresentation of) training, degree-status, program enrollment, or extent of supervision.
  2. Functioning in any respect as an independent practitioner regardless of setting or title.
  3. Engaging in behavior that violates ethical standards, as set forth in the most recent Ethical Principles of Psychologists and the Standards for Providers of Psychological Services.
  4. Going beyond levels of training or experience without adequate supervision.
  5. Engaging in any clinical work, with or without pay, which has not been given prior approval by the CCP Program core faculty.