The short answer: Campus counseling needs no reimbursement; no separate outside-copay fund was verified.¹
Start with the Student Wellness Center, Career & Counseling Center
Book it: Call the Career & Counseling Center on (707) 965-7080 to schedule. Counsellors are available 9am–5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to noon on Friday, and a scheduled session is 45 minutes. Open the official service page →¹
Who can use it: Any registered or continuing PUC student — the page sets no undergraduate-only rule. What it costs: Nothing. PUC says individual sessions are provided "at no cost."¹
The limit that matters
PUC publishes one: "Since we must meet the needs of all students, we may limit the number of sessions to 10 per academic year."¹ It is a may, not a will, and the page also says most students finish in one to six sessions — but ask at intake where you stand against the ten, because the limit is the college’s to apply.
The page is equally plain about what happens past it: "Long term or chronic problems may be referred to an off-campus counselor at a cost to the student," and any fee charged by an outside referral is the student’s alone.¹ That is the sentence to plan around, not the ten.
If you need help today
Call the Career & Counseling Center on (707) 965-7080. After hours: PUC publishes (707) 965-6789 to reach its on-call mental health staff.¹
Medication and longer-term therapy
Psychiatry: Routine campus psychiatry is not published on the counselling pages and was not verified. When campus care is too short: PUC states that long-term or chronic problems may be referred to an off-campus counsellor at the student’s own cost, so ask what a referral would mean for you before you reach the limit.¹
If you use a parent’s insurance, billing paperwork can disclose that care was used. Read the student privacy and EOB route →. If money is the obstacle, compare Medi-Cal →, sliding-scale care →, and California-wide telehealth →.
Choose the right Pacific Union College door
| What you need | Start here | What to say or ask |
|---|---|---|
| Help today | Call the Career & Counseling Center on (707) 965-7080. | “I need urgent support today.” If you may be in immediate danger, call 911. |
| A first counseling visit | Call (707) 965-7080. Sessions are 45 minutes. | Ask whether intake counts toward the ten sessions a year PUC says it may limit you to, and when the first clinical visit can happen. |
| Evening or weekend support | Call (707) 965-6789, PUC’s after-hours line to its on-call mental health staff. | Ask whether this is crisis-only, one-time support or a route that can schedule recurring care. |
| Medication | Routine campus psychiatry was not verified. | Ask whether a referral is required, what a visit costs and who handles refills between terms. |
| Weekly, specialized or longer-term therapy | PUC refers long-term or chronic problems off campus, at the student’s cost. | Say what matters: specialty, identity, location, telehealth, language, insurance and maximum price. |
Before you spend money outside campus
Campus counseling and outside insurance are separate. Before booking an outside therapist, ask:
- Is this clinician in-network for my exact plan—not just the insurance company?
- What will I owe before and after my deductible?
- Does the plan require a campus referral or prior authorization?
- If the clinician is out-of-network, will they provide a superbill and where do I submit it?
If you use a parent’s plan, ask the insurer how to request confidential communications before the first claim. An explanation of benefits can otherwise show that care was used.
What to ask in the first appointment
- PUC says it may limit me to ten sessions an academic year — is that being applied this year, and does intake count toward it?
- If I need weekly or specialized care, who starts the outside referral?
- Is psychiatry separate, and does it require a campus or insurance referral?
- What can I use while I am waiting: a group, same-day consultation, or virtual care?
- Will any charge or insurance explanation be sent to someone else?
Verification record
Every campus-specific statement above was read on an official Pacific Union College page, re-read on 23 September 2026 after PUC moved the page. Core access facts are due for re-check by 2027-03-23. A missing number is reported as “not published,” never filled from an old catalog or another campus.
Sources
- PUC — Counseling process, Student Wellness Center, read 2026-08-25 at its previous address and re-read 2026-09-23 at this one — "Professional counselors are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday for confidential individual sessions with students at no cost," "Scheduled counseling appointments are forty-five minutes long," "Since we must meet the needs of all students, we may limit the number of sessions to 10 per academic year," "Long term or chronic problems may be referred to an off-campus counselor at a cost to the student," "Any fees charged by outside referrals are at the sole expense of the student," "Your eligibility for counseling is contingent upon your status as a registered or continuing PUC student," and "After-Hours Emergency line: (707) 965-6789 to reach our on-call mental health staff."
- PUC — Student mental-health resource, read 2026-08-25. No longer relied on for any access fact: the after-hours number and the off-campus-referral rule it was carrying are now published on the counselling page itself, at source 1.
Correction, 23 September 2026: this page said “No current numerical session cap is published.” PUC publishes one — it may limit a student to ten sessions an academic year — and the page now says so, along with what PUC says happens past the limit: a referral off campus at the student’s own cost. The college also renamed the office from the Student Well-being Center to the Student Wellness Center and moved the page; the old address returns a Page Not Found, and this row now points at the new one. Two facts that had been resting on a 2023 blog post — the after-hours number and the off-campus referral — are now cited to the counselling page itself. Eligibility was narrowed to undergraduates here; PUC’s page sets no such rule and says any registered or continuing student.