Montana State University will soon be offering a version of its graduate-level school counseling program online, while a grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help individuals in rural parts of Montana access that program.

The efforts are part of the MSU Department of Counseling’s ongoing work to train professionals to serve people in communities across Montana, said Rebecca Koltz, professor and head of the counseling department.

“There is a real need for what we call ‘place-committed’ individuals who would like to do good work in those rural areas but can’t leave for a two-year training,” Koltz said. “We heard from people who said they would love to go back to school, but they can’t leave their jobs. That led us to start thinking about this online component a few years ago, and we ended up creating this online training to meet the needs of those individuals.”