GW’s doctoral degree program in counseling will move to the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the Board of Trustees unanimously decided Friday.

The Ph.D. program – which enrolled five students last year, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning – was formally housed in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, but all of its faculty and students have been based in GW’s education school.

Richard Lanthier, an associate professor of human development, said a past policy required the doctoral degree to be awarded through the Columbian College. GW’s education school offers other doctoral degrees in education and philosophy.

“Both GSEHD and CCAS support the movement of the administrative aspects of the degree from the CCAS to GSEHD,” he said in an email.

Ken Hergenrather, the counseling department’s chair, declined to comment on the change.