What are some of the specializations within this degree program?

• Administration: Workers in human services administration positions perform management roles in healthcare facilities, social services offices, non-profits, and other organizations designed to help people.  
• Gerontology: As the U.S. population ages, the specialization in gerontology is becoming more and more important. Gerontology specialists are informed about issues that affect the elderly, such as mobility, nutrition, and psychological problems, and they work to match the aging with the services they need.
• Child Welfare: Child welfare services professionals are versed in areas of child development, such as adolescent development and child psychology, and they counsel and assist children and families.
• Addictions Counseling: Human services workers in this area are trained to diagnosis and assess addicted individuals, and to provide them with counseling. They may also work in addiction prevention.           
• Special Education: Special education services providers understand instructional techniques for helping special needs children, and they may teach special education classes themselves, or supervise and manage special education services.

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What degree levels are available?

• Associate Degree: 2 years to complete
• Bachelor's Degree: 4 years to complete
• Master's Degree: 2-3 years to complete
• Doctoral Degree: 4-6 years to complete

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What are the educational and certification requirements?

Associate programs are the shortest available degrees in human services. In these degrees, students take a mixture of general education requirements, along with basic courses in human services, such as Human Behavior, Communication, and Social Problems. Graduates are prepared to enter a career as a social or human services assistant, acting in a support role for human services professionals and helping to provide services to clients.

The bachelor's degree is the minimum educational requirement for most health service management, social work, and counseling positions. Bachelor's programs give students a deeper introduction to human services, and often allow students to specialize in a particular area, such as gerontology or administration. The master's degree allows students to specialize even further, and it opens up more opportunities in the human services career; some counseling, social work, and management positions require applicants to have a master's degree in a related field.

The PhD program in human services is designed for students who would like to do significant research into an area of social service provision. Students choose a research topic and perform quantitative and qualitative analyses on their question. These degrees prepare graduates to enter a career as a professor or other post-secondary instructor of human services.  

Some human services positions have state licensing requirements, before you can practice in that field. All states require social workers to be licensed, certified, or registered. While the exact prerequisites vary by state, most require social workers to have completed at least 2 years of supervised clinical social work, before they can become licensed. 49 states also require licenses for counselors. The minimum experience to earn counselor licensure is usually 3,000 hours of supervised clinical work, as well as a master's degree. The requirements can vary greatly, however, depending on the counseling setting, and individuals interested in this career should check the state requirements for the type of counseling they would like to practice. (BLS; BLS)

Other areas of human services may offer voluntary certifications that are not required to practice, but can help a professional distinguish their abilities. Health services managers, for example, could earn a Certified Manager credential from the Institute of Certified Professional Managers.

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What kinds of classes will I be expected to take?

Accredited human services degree programs are aimed at creating graduates who can take on administrative roles in all types of organizations that contribute to social welfare. Programs generally contain a mixture of coursework in human services fundamentals and management, as well as field work in a real-world human services position. Many programs let students concentrate their degree in an area of human services that interests them, by taking upper-level human services electives in a particular topic. Human services fundamentals classes like History of Human Services Systems discuss the strategies that have been used to provide human services in the past, and the reasons that these organizations have developed into their current state. Others, like Issues in Human Services, discuss the theory behind the existence of human services organizations, and the political and social forces that shape human services institutions.

Management courses provide the practical skills to go along with this theoretical background. In courses like Administrative Decision Making, future human services managers learn about coordinating services, planning for the future, and making financial decisions. A class in Human Services Leadership discusses the hierarchy of human services programs, and how to properly train and supervise employees. Internships in human services organizations let students experience the actual obstacles that can arise in the day-to-day running of programs designed to serve a particular community or population; since there are so many types of human services organizations, students generally intern in the type of facility where they would actually like to work, post-graduation.

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If I pursue this program online, will I be required to complete any on-site training?

Yes. Because human services management is a job that is fundamentally about interacting with people—both the employees that managers supervise, and the clients that are coming to the organization for guidance. Students should obtain experience in a real-world human services situation before they graduate; most online programs will help students find a fieldwork placement in their local community.

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What are some other degrees that are related to this program?

A degree in social work is more geared toward direct client interaction than the human services degree program, which is designed to train managers and administrators. Those interested most in the healthcare industry could alternately consider a degree in health services administration, which is especially designed to train managers of healthcare facilities. A bit more distantly related is the degree in human resources. These programs train students to become human resources specialists, and to handle intra-office relations between labor and management. The degree program in public relations could potentially prepare graduates for roles in nonprofits or public services institutions, finding funding for the organization, and maintaining the organization's image. Still more distantly related is the degree in teaching or education, which prepares graduates to become licensed educators. While not a management position, teaching is one career that provides an important social service to the community.

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