California State University, Sacramento MFT Program: Comprehensive Profile and Student Fit Analysis

CSU Sacramento is one of 71 BBS-approved MFT programs in California. Compare all 71 in our directory. Program data collected April 2026 from publicly available sources including the Sacramento State catalog page for the MS in Counseling (Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling), the CSUS Office of Graduate Studies, the Sacramento State Bursar's Office tuition page, and BBS records. Prospective students should verify all details directly with the program before applying.

Student Outcomes

Cost and Regional Pay

Approximate placement of this program’s total cost (about $33,000, California resident estimate) against the directory’s lowest and highest published totals.

Estimated total tuition: approximately $33,000 in tuition and student fees for a California resident over the three-year program, a figure Sacramento State publishes on its program page (out-of-state students pay an additional $420 per unit). CSU systemwide rates change slightly each year.

Regional pay context: In the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom area, marriage and family therapists earn a median of about $75,030 per year, with a typical range of roughly $51,170 to $101,810 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). These figures cover all marriage and family therapists in the area at all experience levels, not this program's graduates. For more, see our California LMFT salary guide.

Schedule and Format Details

Cohort Structure: Students are admitted as a cohort and progress together through a designated course sequence, per the Sacramento State catalog page.

Pacing: The program is designed as a full-time, three-year cohort with 9 to 12 units per semester in fall and spring.

Class Times: Classes meet during the day, late afternoon, and evening hours.

Residency: A minimum of 42 approved semester units must be earned in residence at Sacramento State.

Clinical Training and Fieldwork

Clinical Hours: Per the catalog, students complete a 100-hour clinical practicum plus 600 hours of field experience. Specific direct client, relational, and supervision hour breakdowns are not publicly listed at that level of detail.

Training Clinic: Sacramento State houses an on-campus Center for Counseling and Diagnostic Services that serves as an in-house training setting for counselor education students.

Practicum Placement: Off-campus placements are completed at partner sites that may include local community mental health agencies, school-based mental health programs, hospitals, non-profit organizations, and state-affiliated mental health settings.

Personal Psychotherapy Requirement: Not publicly listed.

Curriculum Structure

Per the Sacramento State catalog page, the 60-unit curriculum combines a CACREP-aligned counseling core with the Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling concentration:

Core Coursework: Counseling theory, human development, multicultural counseling, group counseling, career development, assessment, research methods, law and ethics, and clinical skill-building courses required under CACREP standards.

MCFC Concentration Coursework: 29 units of concentration coursework in marriage, couple, and family counseling, including the selected concentration elective.

Fieldwork Sequence: Clinical practicum followed by field experience at approved on-campus and off-campus sites.

Culminating Requirements

Per the catalog, the culminating experience is the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE). Students enroll in EDC 500 (1 unit) during their final semester and must achieve the minimum criterion score on the CPCE to graduate. Advancement to Candidacy must be completed before enrolling in EDC 500. A thesis is not listed as a culminating option for this concentration.

Application Process

Application Deadlines: The program admits for fall semester only, with application review each year for the following fall cohort. Specific deadline dates are published through the Sacramento State Office of Graduate Studies, which prospective students should consult directly.

Start Term: Fall (cohort-based). Spring admission is not offered.

GPA Requirement: Minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester units (or 90 quarter units) of previous college coursework.

Prerequisites: No specific prerequisite courses are listed as mandatory on the program catalog page.

Application Components: University graduate application, departmental application materials (personal statement and writing prompt), official transcripts from all prior colleges or universities, recommendation forms, and a résumé or CV showing relevant work or service experience.

Interview: Yes. Selected applicants are invited to an in-person admission evaluation (Interview Day) that may include interviews, experiential activities, and writing samples.

Concentrations and Specializations

Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling Concentration: 29 units of concentration coursework within the 60-unit MS in Counseling degree, aligned to California BBS educational requirements for LMFT licensure.

Concentration Electives: Students select a 2-unit elective from two options listed in the catalog: EDC 236 (Couples Counseling) or EDC 238 (Professional Issues in Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling).

Dual LPCC Pathway: The MS in Counseling (MCFC) is designed to meet California educational requirements for both LMFT and LPCC licensure.

What This Program Says About Itself

• Per the Sacramento State catalog page for the MS in Counseling (MCFC), the program is CACREP-accredited and designed to meet California BBS educational requirements for both LMFT and LPCC licensure.
• The program follows a full-time, three-year cohort model with a structured course sequence.
• An on-campus Center for Counseling and Diagnostic Services provides an in-house training clinic setting for counselor education students.
• Culminating assessment is the standardized Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE), consistent with CACREP-aligned programs.
• Admission includes an in-person evaluation day with interviews and experiential activities, signaling an emphasis on fit and readiness for clinical training.

This Program May Be a Good Fit For

Students seeking a public, in-state tuition option in the Sacramento region: Sacramento State is part of the CSU system and uses CSU tuition rates.

Students who want dual LMFT and LPCC eligibility: The MS in Counseling (MCFC) is designed to meet educational requirements for both California licenses.

Students who want a CACREP-accredited program: CACREP accreditation can be relevant for portability to other states and for certain employer or traineeship settings.

Students who thrive in a cohort model: Admitted students progress together through a defined course sequence over three years.

Students who value an in-house training clinic: The on-campus Center for Counseling and Diagnostic Services provides a university-based training setting before off-campus placements.

Career changers entering the field: The catalog does not list specific prerequisite courses or a GRE requirement.

Students comfortable with a full-time load: The program is designed at 9 to 12 units per semester and is not structured as a part-time pathway on the catalog page.

Related California MFT Programs

If you are weighing Sacramento State, you may also want to compare these nearby and similar programs in our directory:

• William Jessup University: Same Sacramento area, dual LMFT/LPCC
• CSU Chico: Northern California public CSU
• CSU Stanislaus: Central Valley public CSU
• Fresno State: Public, CACREP-accredited, dual LMFT/LPCC
• Weimar University: Sacramento area, fully online, dual LMFT/LPCC

Or compare all 71 California MFT programs side by side.

How This California MFT Directory Is Built

This is the only California MFT program directory that accepts no paid placements of any kind. No program can pay to be listed, pay to rank higher, pay to be featured, or pay to remove information, and there are no affiliate links or sponsored entries. Every program on the California BBS approved-program list is included. At Sentio University, we believe in program transparency. Every prospective student should have as much objective information about MFT programs as possible to make the best decision for themselves.

How to Choose an MFT Program in California

Meeting the BBS requirements tells you that a curriculum clears a legal bar but says almost nothing about how skilled a clinician you can become. The students who get the most out of these years treat licensure as the floor, and then ask a far more ambitious question: which program will help me reach the very top of what I am capable of as a therapist? The program you choose changes everything. By the time they reach practicum, 2 in 3 students at COAMFTE-accredited MFT programs do not feel prepared to see clients. Training built around real, performable clinical skills, rather than theory alone, is what lets you walk into your first session with genuine confidence and keep growing from there. You get to decide how high to aim, and the right program will rise to meet you.

Look closely at four things. First, Deliberate Practice: the strongest programs let you rehearse specific skills with immediate feedback, the same way world-class musicians and athletes build mastery over time. Second, clinical hours: seek out programs that give you a high volume of direct client contact, because nothing accelerates your development faster than real, supervised repetition. Third, video recording in supervision rather than student self-report, so your supervisors can coach what actually happened in the room. Fourth, routine outcome monitoring, which teaches you to track, honestly and objectively, whether your clients are getting better. A program that does all four is training you to pursue excellence, not just clear a requirement.

Also consider programs that teach you safe and ethical AI-integrated clinical training. And do not let cost quietly lower your sights. There are more scholarships and financial aid options for California MFT students than most applicants ever realize.

The purpose of these years is not simply to pass a board and collect a license. It is to become the best therapist you can be, so struggling therapy clients will trust you with the hardest moments of their lives. Hold your education to that standard. Reach for the ceiling rather than settling for the floor, and choose the program that will help you get there.

Note from the Field:
"Aim higher than the license. A degree gets you in the door, but skill is what earns a client's trust. Pick the program that takes your training as seriously as you do."
Alexandre Vaz, PhD

Making Your Decision: What to Do Before You Apply

Salary data and job market projections are useful inputs to your program search, but they cannot tell you what a school is actually like to attend. Marketing materials, program websites, and admissions presentations are designed to present a program favorably. The most reliable way to cut through that and understand what a program actually delivers in the classroom is to ask to sit in on a live class session, whether in person or online, before you commit. Every program that is confident in the quality of its instruction should not only allow this but actively welcome it. If a program is reluctant to let prospective students observe a class, that reluctance is itself informative. The California MFT job market rewards clinical skill, and the training environment you choose over the next two to three years will shape the kind of therapist you become. Take the time to see it for yourself before you decide.

For a detailed comparison of every California MFT program, see our directory of all 71 BBS-approved MFT programs in California.

To learn more about CSU Sacramento's MFT program, visit their official website at csus.edu. If you are comparing MFT programs in California, you can explore Sentio University's MFT program to see how our Deliberate Practice training model compares.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sacramento State's MFT program accredited?

Yes. The MS in Counseling and all four concentrations are accredited by CACREP through March 31, 2029, and Sacramento State holds institutional accreditation through WSCUC. The program states it is COAMFTE-aligned but not COAMFTE-accredited.

Does Sacramento State require the GRE?

No. The GRE is not listed as an admission requirement on the program's catalog or application pages.

How long is the program and how many units?

It is a 60-unit Master of Science completed full time, in person, over three years on a cohort schedule.

Does Sacramento State prepare students for the LPCC as well as the LMFT?

Yes. The program is designed to meet California educational requirements for both LMFT and LPCC licensure.

What outcomes does Sacramento State publish?

As a CACREP-accredited program it publishes annual outcomes reports. For the Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling concentration, recent reports show a 100% completion rate and a 91% to 100% combined employment-and-doctoral-admissions rate, with licensure-exam pass rates in the same band.

What does the program cost, and what GPA and deadline apply?

The program states California-resident tuition and fees for the full three years are approximately $33,000. A minimum 3.0 GPA in the last 60 units is required, and the final application deadline for the Fall 2026 cohort was January 15, 2026.

Disclaimer: This profile was prepared by Sentio University for informational purposes only. Sentio University is an MFT program in California and a peer institution to the program profiled above. All information was drawn from publicly available sources and the program's own published materials as of April 2026. Sentio University makes no guarantee regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information. Prospective students should contact the program directly to verify all details, including admissions requirements, tuition, accreditation status, and clinical training structure. This profile does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. For a full list of California MFT programs, visit our California MFT Program Directory.

About the Authors

Tony Rousmaniere, PsyD is the President of Sentio University and Executive Director of the Sentio Counseling Center. He is Past President of the psychotherapy division of the American Psychological Association and the author of over 20 books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training, including The Essentials of Deliberate Practice book series (APA Books). He is a licensed psychologist in California and Washington. Learn more

Alexandre Vaz, PhD is the Chief Academic Officer of Sentio University and cofounder of the Deliberate Practice Institute. He is co-editor of The Essentials of Deliberate Practice book series (APA Books) and the author of over a dozen books on deliberate practice and psychotherapy training. Dr. Vaz is the founder and host of Psychotherapy Expert Talks. He is a licensed clinical psychologist in Portugal. Learn more

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