Elon University is launching a Master of Science in Licensed Mental Health Counseling next fall to address a shortage of professionals in the region.
According to a 2025 report from the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, 97 of the state’s 100 counties are designated professional mental health shortage areas.
That statistic is what drove Elon University officials to develop the new graduate program. Judy Folmar, who’s taught undergraduate counseling courses at the school for more than 20 years, is the interim program director.
“North Carolina has a huge need for counselors, especially around addiction and substance use," she says. "It's been at the epicenter of opioid use for years."
Because of that, Folmar says the program offers four courses specifically about substance use treatment, enabling students to become licensed clinical addiction specialists when they graduate.
The program is a hybrid of in-person and online classes, as well as clinical placements. Applications for the first cohort are open through April 15.