Counseling can and will help with planning students’ future education ahead of time. Even though It’s a nervous process to go because some students don’t know where to begin or what to actually do or who to talk about, education, transferring, academic progress, and even personal and wellness counseling. Talking to a counselor and seeing what classes are necessary for either a transfer or even graduation is not the only thing that the counseling offers. They offer many different things, some examples are, academic progress, renewals support, athletic counseling, financial aid appeals and also veterans support.
Why is it important for all CCC students to have an education plan and take counseling sessions?
“Education plans give students an idea of what classes are required to meet their goal and also provide a timeline for students,” Said Co-chair Sarah Boland Drain. “It also helps understand if there are particular classes for their major that are offered only in one semester,” Added Boland.
What are the statistics of CCC students that are taking sessions with counselors? Has the rating gone up or down?
“We had have a 13% increase in students visiting counseling for various reasons (educational plans, career and personal counseling) since January, compared to last year,” Boland added. “From Jan 8, 2024 – March 12, 2025, we saw 4267 students in Counseling. From Jan 6, 2025 – March 11, 2025, we met with 4906 students which is an increase of 639 students visiting our office during the beginning of Spring semester.”
What does counseling do for students?
“We help students with their educational and career planning as well as providing personal counseling. When it comes to educational and career counseling, we help students understand how majors connect to careers, plan for a particular career or major path and also, help students make decisions to declare a major or decide on a career pathway,” Boland explained. “When it comes to personal counseling, we help students navigate life situations and connect students with more long-term therapy solutions if needed. We help students develop strategies to manage stress, time and overall equip to be successful college students and community members. We also teach classes that focus on college success, personal growth and development, transfer readiness, career and major exploration and job search strategies,” Boland included.
The counseling department at the welcome center also offers drop in hours and zoom meeting, which also include in person counseling.
Where can students make appointments with counselors?
“Students can make appointments online or call our office www.contracosta.edu/counseling or visit Student Services (SSC) #108, for questions about classes for upcoming semesters, we really encourage students to visit our office before their registration dates,” Boland said. “Once registration begins, it can get really busy in Counseling and students are often frustrated to have to wait a week or two for an appointment. We work to use previous data to predict when we will need more appointments to adjust schedules. It isn’t perfect and sometimes, there are just more students than we have appointments for. We continue to work on how to adjust in these situations but for students, scheduling early is a great way to avoid stress in those situations,” Boland ended.
The councelors are located in the students service center, in room 108 and as previously stated the CCC Counselors are very friendly and easy to make appointments with. Not only do they have counseling for classes, but they have counseling for your wellness such as disability service and progress alerts, which I wouldn’t take up as a small thing.
Education plans give students an idea of what classes are required to meet their goal and also provide a timeline for students. It also helps understand if there are particular classes for their major that are offered only in one semester.
