• Find a bachelor's degree




    Bachelors Degree Center is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

If you are con­sid­er­ing pur­su­ing an addic­tion coun­sel­ing bach­e­lor’s degree, then it might be worth look­ing into an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree. There are sev­er­al advan­tages to pur­su­ing an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree, such as time, mon­ey, and the ben­e­fit of hav­ing more degree options. In many cas­es, accel­er­at­ed pro­grams are not only able to be com­plet­ed more quick­ly, but they also save time for oth­er course options for those enrolled in four-year pro­grams. It isn’t uncom­mon for grad­u­ates who enroll in accel­er­at­ed pro­grams to com­plete their school­ing with dual degrees.

Accel­er­at­ed cours­es also result in less trav­el time, class time, and many of these pro­grams require less mate­r­i­al expense. That also does­n’t include the fuel cost and food cost for any­one who dri­ves to a class or cam­pus. In addi­tion to sav­ing time and mon­ey, and the afore­men­tioned pos­si­bil­i­ty of dual degrees or spe­cial­ized stud­ies becomes more avail­able. Anoth­er advan­tage of tak­ing accel­er­at­ed class­es isn’t about sav­ing time or mon­ey, it is about being smart. This is the case for those who either already have a degree or who want to enhance their degree.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Accelerated Addiction Counseling Degree Programs

Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors know speed isn’t every­thing, so we start with accred­it­ed, rep­utable pro­grams that offer legit­i­mate ways to speed up a degree. From there, we rank pro­grams by their cost, stu­dent reviews, and salary poten­tial, using cur­rent IPEDS and Niche data.

1. Grand Canyon University

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty offers an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree that accepts up to 90 trans­ferred cred­its. This BS in coun­sel­ing addic­tion con­cen­trates on the impact of addic­tion, which tears apart fam­i­lies and harms whole com­mu­ni­ties. stu­dents learn what they need to know to become abuse coun­selors. Top­ics stud­ied include chem­i­cal depen­den­cy, sub­stance abuse and coun­sel­ing. This pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates to serve as coun­selors to indi­vid­u­als and families.

GCU offers more than 200 aca­d­e­m­ic majors, with 75% of them avail­able online. This large insti­tu­tion has 21,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents and offers online cours­es to 75,000 students.

What We Like: At 99%, almost all stu­dents receive some sort of finan­cial aid.

Degree: BS in Coun­sel­ing — Addiction

Grand Canyon Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Coun­sel­ing — Addiction

2. Eastern Kentucky University

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty has an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree which allows stu­dents to trans­fer up to 80 cred­its. the school offers a bac­calau­re­ate degree in psy­chol­o­gy focus­ing on addic­tion coun­sel­ing. The pro­gram pro­vides the skills need­ed for grad­u­ates to obtain entry-lev­el posi­tions in social ser­vices careers. Com­plet­ing this degree helps stu­dents pre­pare for the Psy­chi­atric Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Prac­ti­tion­er (CPRP) certification.

EKU accepts 94% of stu­dents who apply, mean­ing that those who want to attend have a fair shot at doing so. This mid­size school has 10,000 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents and is locat­ed in the Lex­ing­ton area. Among its many pop­u­lar majors, some stu­dents choose nurs­ing, crim­i­nal jus­tice and lib­er­al arts.

What We Like: The school’s 94% accep­tance rate com­bined with a finan­cial aid rate of 98% make EKU an attrac­tive choice for those seek­ing an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree.

Degree: BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Addic­tion Counseling

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Addic­tion Counseling

3. Alvernia University

Stu­dents can com­plete the accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree at Alver­nia Uni­ver­si­ty in two years. This online degree pro­gram focus­es on prepar­ing stu­dents to com­plete the cer­ti­fied alco­hol and drug coun­selor (CADC) cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. Stu­dents learn how to offer impact­ful lead­er­ship in the field of addic­tion, child wel­fare, crim­i­nal jus­tice and men­tal health. Alver­nia has turned out thought­ful grad­u­ates for 40 years and is one of the old­est and best online schools.

Alver­nia Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed by the Fran­cis­can sect and now has a diverse stu­dent body of 3,000 stu­dents from 14 coun­tries and 25 states. The school is locat­ed near Read­ing, PA, on a beau­ti­ful cam­pus with­in com­mut­ing dis­tance of urban areas. It also offers more than 50 majors and minors to students.

What We Like: Alver­nia Uni­ver­si­ty accepts 64% of stu­dents who apply. Although it’s dif­fi­cult to get into the school, 100% of stu­dents receive some form of finan­cial aid.

Degree: BA in Addic­tions and Men­tal Health Treatment

Alver­nia Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Addic­tions and Men­tal Health Treatment

4. Liberty University

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty has an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree that allows stu­dents to trans­fer up to 75% of cred­its earned else­where. This gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy makes this one of the most flex­i­ble accel­er­at­ed addic­tion pro­grams stu­dents can take online. Most stu­dents com­plete the pro­gram with­in 3.5 years and choose their own study sched­ule and venue.

At Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty, stu­dents can choose from 300 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate pro­grams. The school offers many schol­ar­ships and oppor­tu­ni­ties for finan­cial aid and also hosts 20 NCAA Divi­sion 1 sports teams. Lib­er­ty strives to set stu­dents up for suc­cess in local, nation­al or inter­na­tion­al careers.

What We Like: Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty ranks num­ber six among the coun­try’s best online colleges.

Degree: BS in Psy­chol­o­gy – Addic­tions and Recovery

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Psy­chol­o­gy – Addic­tions and Recovery

5. Walden University

Walden Uni­ver­si­ty accepts up to 135 trans­fer cred­its for its unique accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree. This online pro­gram teach­es stu­dents about the many forms that addic­tion can take. The course­work lays a foun­da­tion for coun­selors who help indi­vid­u­als deal with drug and alco­hol sub­stance use dis­or­ders, process addic­tions such as gam­bling, drugs and pornog­ra­phy, and oth­er men­tal health dis­or­ders. Research holds the key to learn­ing the inter­nal and exter­nal fac­tors that influ­ence addic­tion. Stu­dents focus on sub­stance abuse edu­ca­tion, work­ing with indi­vid­u­als and fur­ther­ing treat­ment research and methodology.

Walden Uni­ver­si­ty accepts 100% of stu­dents who apply. Of stu­dents sur­veyed, 90% said they could get the class­es that they want­ed eas­i­ly and 80% thought the work­load was man­age­able. This is good news for stu­dents who need to jug­gle their school­work with jobs and fam­i­ly obligations.

What We Like: All stu­dents who attend Walden Uni­ver­si­ty receive some sort of finan­cial aid. Addi­tion­al­ly, 83% of stu­dents felt con­fi­dent they could get jobs in the field with­in six months of graduation.

Degree: BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Addic­tion Coun­sel­ing or BS in Human Ser­vices — Addictions

Walden Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Addic­tion Coun­sel­ing or BS in Human Ser­vices — Addictions

6. Ottawa University

Many stu­dents choose Ottawa University’s accel­er­at­ed online addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree. Stu­dents earn their degree from the com­fort of home. This flex­i­bil­i­ty gives stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to decide when and where they can com­plete their online course­work in addic­tion coun­sel­ing. Cours­es include a wide vari­ety of top­ics includ­ing alco­hol and sub­stance abuse dis­or­ders, addic­tion, chem­i­cal depen­den­cy, harm reduc­tion and dual diag­no­sis. Dual diag­no­sis focus­es on both addic­tion and under­ly­ing men­tal health dis­or­ders that influ­ence depen­den­cy and recovery.

Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty is a pri­vate Chris­t­ian col­lege. It’s locat­ed in Ottawa, Kansas, and, with just 700 under­grad­u­ate stu­dents, the school is extreme­ly selec­tive about which stu­dents it will admit. It has an accep­tance rate of just 15% of those who apply. Nonethe­less, there are sev­er­al pop­u­lar majors such as kine­si­ol­o­gy and psychology.

What We Like: All stu­dents who attend Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty receive some form of finan­cial aid.

Degree: BS in Addic­tions Counseling

Ottawa Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Addic­tions Counseling

7. Southern New Hampshire University

The accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree at South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty allows up to 90 trans­fer cred­its. This ful­ly online degree allows stu­dents to pur­sue their pas­sion to help oth­ers while con­tin­u­ing to work to sup­port their fam­i­lies. While the online envi­ron­ment pos­es unique chal­lenges, it gives stu­dents who wish to become drug and alco­hol coun­selors an oppor­tu­ni­ty to do so in remote loca­tions. Stu­dents receive tools and train­ing need­ed to help those liv­ing with alco­hol and sub­stance use dis­or­ders. Grad­u­ates become coun­selors who endeav­or to help those wish­ing to make amends and live pro­duc­tive lives.

SNHU has edu­cat­ed stu­dents for near­ly 90 years. There are over 300 majors avail­able at the grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate lev­els, giv­ing stu­dents access to the infor­ma­tion need­ed to com­plete their under­grad­u­ate degree. The school has been rec­og­nized as a most inno­v­a­tive region­al uni­ver­si­ty, accord­ing to U.S. News and World Report.

What We Like: South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty is the 5th rank­ing best col­lege in the state.

Degree: BA in Human Ser­vices — Sub­stance Abuse

South­ern New Hamp­shire Uni­ver­si­ty Ser­vices — Sub­stance Abuse

8. Crown College

Crown Col­lege also offers an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree. This online pro­gram gives stu­dents the knowl­edge and skills need­ed to help those with sub­stance use dis­or­ders. Stu­dents take a close look at the effects of sub­stance abuse on sev­er­al lay­ers of soci­ety, includ­ing indi­vid­u­als, fam­i­lies, and the entire com­mu­ni­ty. The sci­ence-based part of the cur­ricu­lum focus­es on the emo­tion­al, cul­tur­al, and finan­cial con­se­quences of addic­tion. Grad­u­ates emerge pre­pared to com­plete the require­ments to become Licensed Alco­hol and Drug Coun­selors (LADC).

Crown Col­lege is equipped to help stu­dents become part of the work­force while retain­ing their Chris­t­ian val­ues. The school offers numer­ous advan­tages such as the bib­li­cal world­view, small class sizes and a long his­to­ry of edu­cat­ing stu­dents since its found­ing in 1916.

What We Like: Stu­dents who attend Crown Col­lege typ­i­cal­ly receive some sort of finan­cial aid. In fact, 97% of stu­dents receive some form of finan­cial assistance.

Degree: BS in Alco­hol and Drug Counseling

Crown Col­lege BS in Alco­hol and Drug Counseling

9. Aspen University

Full-time stu­dents can com­plete Aspen University’s accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree with­in three years online. The school offers a Bach­e­lor of Arts degree in psy­chol­o­gy and addic­tion stud­ies designed to help stu­dents who wish to become addic­tion coun­selors. Grad­u­ates suc­cess­ful­ly mas­ter essen­tial con­cepts in soci­ol­o­gy, addic­tion the­o­ry, and psy­chol­o­gy. They typ­i­cal­ly require more train­ing to pre­pare for their licens­ing exams and oth­er credentials.

This above-aver­age uni­ver­si­ty is locat­ed in the Den­ver area and enrolls under 1,000 stu­dents. Aspen has a gen­er­ous accep­tance pol­i­cy, invit­ing 100% of those who apply to become students.

What We Like: Of those sur­veyed, four out of five stu­dents say it’s easy to get the class­es they want and that they have a man­age­able workload.

Degree: BA in Psy­chol­o­gy and Addic­tion Studies

10. CSU Global

CSU Glob­al offers a BS in Human Ser­vices that con­cen­trates on addic­tion stud­ies. This accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing degree can be com­plet­ed online and is geared for those who want to find a career in addic­tion ther­a­py. Stu­dents study key con­cepts in a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­gram that includes soci­ol­o­gy, psy­chol­o­gy and addic­tion treat­ment con­cepts. In order to pre­pare for state licen­sure, stu­dents often require addi­tion­al prepa­ra­tion. How­ev­er, this pro­gram gives them a wide back­ground in alco­hol and drug use dis­or­der treatment.

CSU Glob­al is a ful­ly-online mem­ber of the Col­orado State Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem and one of the first insti­tu­tions of its kind — a ded­i­cat­ed, online pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty. The school’s flex­i­ble for­mat pro­vides a num­ber of ben­e­fits to stu­dents who live in remote areas or need flex­i­bil­i­ty due to work and fam­i­ly obligations.

What We Like: The school has a gen­er­ous accep­tance pol­i­cy of 99%, mean­ing that almost every stu­dent who applies gets the green light to attend the university.

Degree: Human Ser­vices BS

CSU Glob­al BS in Human Services

What If I Already Have a Bachelor’s?

For those who already have a bachelor’s degree, either in a relat­ed or affil­i­at­ed field or course of study, accel­er­ate pro­grams are smart options for sev­er­al rea­sons. For many addic­tion coun­sel­ing qual­i­fi­ca­tions, the com­ple­tion of a bachelor’s degree in a vari­ety of fields com­bined with an online sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate online meets the requirements.

What that means for many stu­dents is that it doesn’t nec­es­sar­i­ly require an addic­tion coun­sel­ing bachelor’s degree to become an addic­tion coun­selor. An online abuse coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate from an accred­it­ed pro­gram in cor­re­la­tion with a bachelor’s degree in a field such as Arts and Human­i­ties or Social Sci­ences will qual­i­fy most graduates.

The most impor­tant aspect of adding an online sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate is the accred­i­ta­tion aspect. Any accred­it­ed cer­tifi­cate in addic­tion coun­sel­ing online will typ­i­cal­ly suf­fice and deem a can­di­date with a bachelor’s in a relat­ed field as qual­i­fied. This aspect of any addic­tion coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate online is impor­tant for sev­er­al reasons.

Accred­i­ta­tion of a sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate online ver­i­fies that the pro­gram is approved by the nec­es­sary and appro­pri­ate gov­ern­ing boards and or com­mit­tees. These are most often war­rant­ed from orga­ni­za­tions on either the state or gov­ern­ment level.

Earn­ing an accred­it­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate online also ensures that your cre­den­tials will be rec­og­nized. This is a vital aspect and advan­tage of hav­ing an accred­it­ed online sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate. Even with the most respect­ed and hon­ored degree, most addic­tion coun­sel­ing roles require an accred­it­ed sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing certificate.

The oth­er impor­tant aspect of earn­ing an accred­it­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing cer­tifi­cate, aside from the con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty of course options, is the oppor­tu­ni­ties it will avail. Becom­ing a cer­ti­fied addic­tion coun­selor means step­ping into more than a job but also a very impor­tant and some­times even life-sav­ing role.

Beyond cer­tifi­cate pro­grams, social work­ers and men­tal health coun­selors who want to go into sub­stance coun­sel­ing can get an online mas­ter or doc­tor­ate in that spe­cial­iza­tion. A master’s degree pro­gram may also accept work expe­ri­ence for cred­it hours, mak­ing the enroll­ment process more stream­lined. There may be no need for a practicum for a grad­u­ate degree either if you have men­tal health coun­sel­ing experience.

If you have an asso­ciate degree, high school diplo­ma, or GED, the edu­ca­tion­al require­ments for online sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing degrees vary. Online require­ments are usu­al­ly less than on-cam­pus, but may include a high GPA, let­ters of rec­om­men­da­tion, and oth­er credentials.

What Does a Substance Abuse Counselor Do?

The sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing job descrip­tion only defines in part the role of the posi­tion of sub­stance abuse coun­selor. While there are many defin­i­tive and com­mon aspects to most every sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing job descrip­tion, there will always be variations.

Some of the sta­ples of the sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing job descrip­tion include assess­ing clients, pro­vid­ing a vari­ety of ther­a­py ser­vices (e.g. psy­chother­a­py, dialec­tal, behav­ioral, etc.), coun­sel­ing, pro­vid­ing a sup­port sys­tem, and devel­op­ing recov­ery plans. These are com­mon traits and respon­si­bil­i­ties that are found in near­ly every sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing job description.

Some tasks that addic­tion pro­fes­sion­als per­form include:

  • treat­ment planning
  • case man­age­ment
  • group coun­sel­ing
  • social work
  • cri­sis intervention
  • sub­stance abuse treatment
  • iden­ti­fy­ing addic­tive behaviors

Where the job details can get dra­mat­i­cal­ly diverse are with­in the type of facil­i­ty and the type of con­di­tions being treat­ed. The job descrip­tion for a coun­selor in pri­vate prac­tice, for exam­ple, may look far dif­fer­ent than the duties and job descrip­tion of a coun­selor work­ing in a busy clinic.

In anoth­er sce­nario, an addic­tion coun­selor treat­ing a client who is suf­fer­ing from sub­stance abuse will like­ly have a far dif­fer­ent set of client instruc­tions when treat­ing a client with sex addic­tion or an eat­ing dis­or­der. Coun­sel­ing is a per­son­al and often inti­mate process, and it is unlike almost any oth­er field or practice.

What is very much the same, how­ev­er, is that those who become addic­tion coun­selors make a dif­fer­ence in people’s lives. It might be that an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing pro­gram gets you into the busi­ness of help­ing peo­ple soon­er, or maybe it is just a smart move both pro­fes­sion­al­ly and finan­cial­ly? The Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics sees increas­ing need for sub­stance abuse coun­selors. What­ev­er the rea­son for choos­ing an accel­er­at­ed addic­tion coun­sel­ing pro­gram, it is a career path that makes sense and that can make a difference.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Addic­tion Counseling

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Addic­tion Counseling

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Addic­tion Counseling