“To find a program like ours, you have to search around through eight other states, in order to find the five schools that ranked higher than Union did. This is a great success on a national scale.” ~ Dr. Ilie Vasilescu, Professor of Psychology

Barbourville, Ky. (PRWEB) April 28, 2015

Union College has been ranked as having one of the top online substance abuse counseling programs in the nation by bestcolleges.com.

In a report released this month, Best Colleges has Union listed as the sixth ranked college in the nation for its online graduate program in substance abuse counseling. The same report ranked bachelor’s degree programs and associate programs in substance abuse counseling. Union was the only Kentucky college mentioned in the report.

“I think this is a great success for Union College,” said Dr. Ilie Vasilescu, Professor of Psychology. “To find a program like ours, you have to search around through eight other states, in order to find the five schools that ranked higher than Union did. This is a great success on a national scale.”

Dr. Vasilescu added that he wanted to “honor and acknowledge” the faculty and staff members that work within the psychology program; all of whom played a role in developing the program into one that is nationally ranked.

One of those faculty members, Dr. Jessica Owens, Assistant Professor of Psychology, said the recognition of the program is timely, due to Union’s recent efforts to bring awareness to the issue of chemical dependency within the region. The college partnered to publish a “Facing Addiction” book highlighting the issue late last year.

“Hopefully, this will bring more attention to this issue and solving the problem we have here,” Dr. Owens said. “This is a big issue for our community and Union College is doing its part to help find resolution for those it affects.”

According to their website, Bestcolleges.com is a resource that can be used for all prospective college students to decisions about their college choice.

“Through the use of student surveys, faculty surveys, independent research, ranking systems and the input of highly credible and authoritative sources, we have created a database of schools to help students and their families learn more about their best options for higher education,” the website states.

Prospective students can search colleges on the website by name, various rankings or according to the best colleges based upon the student’s selected academic interest. Data such as tuition, acceptance rate, enrollment rate, retention rate and graduation rate are provided. Bestcolleges.com has provided the ranking services since 2009.

The website also compiles other “best of” lists annually. Topics included in the 2015 reporting includes Best Online Colleges, Best Colleges for Older Students, Top Colleges for Hispanic Students, and the Best Women’s Colleges. In addition to these rankings, bestcolleges.com provides other online information to prospective students including academic resources, financial aid resources and a general advice feature where staff discusses topics relative to college students.

Union College offers undergraduate and graduate concentrations in the field of psychology. At the graduate level, students can gain certification in the field of chemical dependency, but can also get a master’s degree in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, endorsement clinical psychology or general psychology. The Department of Psychology is housed in the new Ramsey Center for Health and Natural Sciences, a multi-million facility dedicated to study and research in various scientific fields.

To learn more about Union College’s graduate programs, including the online program featured in the Best Colleges report, please visit http://www.unionky.edu/grad.

You can see the entire Best Colleges report at http://www.bestcolleges.com/features/top-online-substance-abuse-counseling-programs/.

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