Graduate Education in Vocational Evaluation

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Graduate education in vocational evaluation began in 1967. Over the next several decades approximately two dozen universities offered Master’s programs and a couple created online professional certificates. The federal government’s Rehabilitation Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Education was the primary funding source for these programs. As federal funding lessened, universities did not support programs on their own. As a result, the nation now has no Master’s programs in vocational evaluation.

The RSA funded an online certificate program at Auburn University recently with an emphasis on forensic evaluation.

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VECAP continues to advocate for Master’s level funding and additional online professional certificates which emphasize the knowledge, skills, and practices for evaluators who work in a variety of settings. Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, vocational evaluation and assessment services are still mandated and supported within Title IV: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended as well as for broader services within other parts of WIOA.  ‘Objective assessment is also recommended and allowed under other titles of the Act.

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Based on these mandates and the uses of career assessment and vocational evaluation in other venues, the need for formal education is massive.