• 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.

Key Infor­ma­tion:

  • UNC Chapel Hill and Ore­gon Tech are two schools with a top bach­e­lor’s degree in coun­sel­ing.
  • A vari­ety of spe­cial­iza­tions are avail­able with­in coun­sel­ing degrees, such as sub­stance abuse, fam­i­ly coun­sel­ing, and school coun­sel­ing.
  • Empha­sis is placed on pro­grams with strong accred­i­ta­tion and rep­u­ta­tions, ensur­ing grad­u­ates are well-regard­ed in the field.

There is no more com­plex object known to mod­ern sci­ence than the human brain. If that state­ment intrigues you, then seek­ing a coun­sel­ing bach­e­lor’s degree might be a great start on a career path that you will find provoca­tive and reward­ing. The fact is that men­tal health careers are always in high demand from entry-lev­el order­lies to high­ly trained and knowl­edge­able doc­tors of psy­chol­o­gy. By seek­ing a bach­e­lor’s in coun­sel­ing, you will begin your career in the psy­cho­log­i­cal field at a point that is an excel­lent mid­dle ground between the entry-lev­el posi­tions and the high-lev­el posi­tions of ther­a­pists and doc­tors. You will like­ly begin work­ing with patients as soon as you grad­u­ate from the school of your choice, and start mak­ing an impor­tant dif­fer­ence in the lives of peo­ple who need it.

If you are the type of per­son who takes sat­is­fac­tion from help­ing oth­ers, who has an apti­tude for deal­ing with peo­ple on a deeply inter­per­son­al lev­el, and who finds the human mind and the human con­di­tion end­less­ly fas­ci­nat­ing, then there is lit­tle doubt that earn­ing a degree in coun­sel­ing is right for you.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Counseling Degree Programs

For stu­dents who want to see a real career impact from their bachelor’s degree, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors fea­ture accred­it­ed, trust­ed insti­tu­tions. The best coun­sel­ing degree pro­grams in Amer­i­ca are ranked by their tuition cost, stu­dent sat­is­fac­tion, and poten­tial salary, using data from Niche and IPEDS.

1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na offers a bachelor’s degree in Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies (HDFS) that requires majors to com­plete 45 semes­ter units of cur­ricu­lum pulled from an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach to learn­ing. The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Carolina’s Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies bac­calau­re­ate degree is rec­og­nized among North Carolina’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from UNC’s pro­gram ready to enter the work­force in careers in health ser­vices, non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions, gov­ern­ment agen­cies, or social work com­pa­nies, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na (UNC-CH) is rec­og­nized as one of the first high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions in the coun­try and a pub­lic ivy league school. The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na is home to near­ly 31,000 stu­dents who attend class­es online and, on the school’s, icon­ic campus.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na is rec­og­nized as one of the nation’s colo­nial schools, found­ed pri­or to the Amer­i­can Revolution

Degree: Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies (HDFS)

Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Studies

2. Oregon Institute of Technology

The Ore­gon Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy offers a BS in Applied Psy­chol­o­gy that is ranked as one of Oregon’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. This bach­e­lor’s degree in coun­sel­ing is avail­able on either cam­pus in Kla­math or Port­land or entire­ly online. This degree from OIT pre­pares stu­dents for careers in research, teach­ing, busi­ness, pro­ba­tion or parole ser­vices, coun­sel­ing, or even grad­u­ate school, among oth­ers. Core class­es include abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, behav­ior mod­i­fi­ca­tion, biopsy­chol­o­gy, coun­sel­ing tech­niques, and social psy­chol­o­gy, to name a few.

Ore­gon Tech a pub­lic high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished in 1947. This poly­tech­nic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion is home to a stu­dent body that exceeds 4,900 students.

What We Like: The Ore­gon Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy main­tains two cam­pus­es and offers online degrees through its dis­tance learn­ing platform.

Degree: Applied Psy­chol­o­gy BS

Ore­gon Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy BS in Applied Psychology

3. University of North Dakota

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta offers a BS in Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Human Ser­vices that is among North Dakota’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. This Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in coun­sel­ing is avail­able on the Grand Forks cam­pus or online, with about four years typ­i­cal­ly need­ed to com­plete the degree. Stu­dents enrolled in UND’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in coun­sel­ing requires the com­ple­tion of 120 semes­ter units to meet pro­gram requirements.

UND — the Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta (North Dako­ta) was found­ed before North Dako­ta became a state in 1883. The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dakota’s cam­pus in Grand Forks serves more than 13,200 stu­dents and cov­ers more than 500 acres.

What We Like: The aver­age class size at the Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta is 24 stu­dents and is rec­og­nized as a top mil­i­tary high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in the country.

Degree: Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Human Ser­vices B.S.

Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta BS in Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Human Services

4. LeTourneau University

LeTourneau University’s School of Psy­chol­o­gy and Coun­sel­ing (LETU) offers one of the Lone Star State’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy. LeTourneau University’s under­grad­u­ate degree in coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 120 semes­ter units to grad­u­ate. This bachelor’s degree in coun­sel­ing is avail­able on LeTourneau University’s Long View Texas cam­pus. Coun­sel­ing majors enrolled in LeTourneau University’s pro­gram must com­plete 45 hours from the coun­sel­ing cur­ricu­lum and then meet the bac­calau­re­ate degree require­ments as well.

LeTourneau Uni­ver­si­ty (LETU) is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished in 1946. As an inter­de­nom­i­na­tion­al Chris­t­ian uni­ver­si­ty, Letourneau is also con­sid­ered a poly­tech­nic school that serves more than 2,800 students.

What We Like: LeTourneau Uni­ver­si­ty offers small class sizes for the more than 125 aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­grams offered by the school.

Degree: BS in Coun­sel­ing Psychology

LeTourneau Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Coun­sel­ing Psychology

5. Eastern Kentucky University

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty offers a vari­ety of bac­calau­re­ate-lev­el degrees in coun­sel­ing and addic­tion that are rec­og­nized among the com­mon­wealth of Ken­tuck­y’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. East­ern Ken­tucky University’s BS in coun­sel­ing includes online and on-cam­pus con­cen­tra­tions in psy­chi­atric rehab, gen­er­al, work­place psy­chol­o­gy, brain/cognitive sci­ences, sub­stance abuse, devel­op­men­tal dis­abil­i­ty, and foren­sic psy­chol­o­gy. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from East­ern Ken­tucky University’s under­grad­u­ate degree pro­gram to find reward­ing careers as men­tal health coun­selors, case man­agers, or men­tal health asso­ciates, to name a few.

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty (East­ern Ken­tucky) is a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing that was found­ed in 1874. East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es through the state of Ken­tucky as well as robust dis­tance learn­ing options.

What We Like: the grad­u­ate degree pro­grams offered by East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty were approved in the mid-1930s.

Degree: many choic­es w/ focus­es on coun­sel­ing addiction

East­ern Ken­tucky Uni­ver­si­ty Coun­sel­ing Bachelor

6. Alaska Pacific University

Alas­ka Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of Alaska’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy that pre­pares grad­u­ates for careers in chem­i­cal depen­den­cy men­tal health coun­sel­ing, pro­gram super­vi­sion, behav­ioral health, or a more advanced degree in coun­sel­ing. The under­grad­u­ate degree from Alas­ka Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 32 semes­ter units from the coun­sel­ing cur­ricu­lum. Stu­dents are offered three aca­d­e­m­ic coun­sel­ing con­cen­tra­tions in com­mu­ni­ty psy­chol­o­gy, mind­ful­ness, or pos­i­tive psy­chol­o­gy. It is not­ed that course­work can be applied towards cred­it need to earn rel­e­vant pro­fes­sion­al certifications.

Alas­ka Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty (APU) is a pri­vate school that was found­ed in 1957 as a lib­er­al arts & sci­ences high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that is ded­i­cat­ed to hon­or­ing the state’s indige­nous her­itage. The uni­ver­si­ty’s cam­pus in Anchor­age serves more than 450 students.

What We Like: Alas­ka Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty offers excep­tion­al high school stu­dents the option to attend their senior year at Alas­ka Pacif­ic alternatively.

Degree: Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy (B.A.)

Alas­ka Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy BA

7. Maryville College (TN)

Maryville Col­lege offers one of Ten­nessee’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Psy­chol­o­gy that includes an aca­d­e­m­ic coun­sel­ing track. Class­es in Maryville Col­lege’s under­grad­u­ate degree in coun­sel­ing include abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, cog­ni­tive psy­chol­o­gy, exper­i­men­tal psy­chol­o­gy, fun­da­men­tals of biol­o­gy, the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, human lifes­pan devel­op­ment, the soci­ol­o­gy of the fam­i­ly, and coun­sel­ing, to name a few. In addi­tion, degree can­di­dates for the bachelor’s in coun­sel­ing degree pro­gram will com­plete a senior study or an intern­ship to meet pro­gram require­ments. Stu­dents are pre­pared for work in sub­stance abuse reha­bil­i­ta­tion cen­ters, men­tal health cen­ters, or fam­i­ly ser­vice cen­ters, among others.

Maryville Col­lege was estab­lished as a lib­er­al arts high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in 1819 by the Pres­by­ter­ian Church. The college’s sub­ur­ban cam­pus serves more than 1,100 stu­dents and cov­ers more than 300 acres, and is locat­ed between Knoxville, Ten­nessee, and the nation­al park known as the Great Smoky Mountains.

What We Like: Maryville Col­lege was ini­tial­ly found­ed as a the­o­log­i­cal seminary.

Degree: B.A. in Psy­chol­o­gy Coun­sel­ing Track

Maryville Col­lege B.A. in Psy­chol­o­gy Coun­sel­ing Track

8. Washington Adventist University

Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy is con­sid­ered one of Mary­land’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist University’s pro­fes­sion­al degree pro­gram in coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy includes class­es like the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, dynam­ics of group coun­sel­ing, social psy­chol­o­gy, stress man­age­ment, and psy­cho­log­i­cal test­ing, plus a rel­e­vant coun­sel­ing practicum expe­ri­ence, among oth­ers. Coun­sel­ing majors must com­plete 36 cred­it units from the coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy core curriculum.

Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist Uni­ver­si­ty (WAU) was estab­lished in 1904 as a sem­i­nary and pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing. Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist University’s stu­dent enroll­ment exceeds 1,350 stu­dents annu­al­ly. Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into three college/schools – School of Health Pro­fes­sions, School of Arts & Social Sci­ences, and the Grad­u­ate and Pro­fes­sion­al Stud­ies School.

What We Like: Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist Uni­ver­si­ty is autho­rized by fed­er­al rule to train veterans.

Degree: BS in Coun­sel­ing Psychology

Wash­ing­ton Adven­tist Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Coun­sel­ing Psychology

9. Oklahoma Baptist University

Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of Okla­homa’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Psy­chol­o­gy that includes an aca­d­e­m­ic track in pre-coun­sel­ing. Okla­homa Bap­tist University’s under­grad­u­ate coun­sel­ing degree requires degree can­di­dates to com­plete 128 cred­it units to meet pro­gram require­ments. Coun­sel­ing majors are required to com­plete 37 semes­ter units in class that include psy­chother­a­py, abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, sta­tis­tics for social sci­en­tists, research meth­ods in psy­chol­o­gy, and basic coun­sel­ing skills, to name a few. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Okla­homa Bap­tist University’s bac­calau­re­ate coun­sel­ing degree and enter the work­force as fam­i­ly edu­ca­tors, con­sumer researchers, fam­i­ly ther­a­pists, or coun­selors, to name a few.

Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty (OBU) is a Bap­tist insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished in 1910. The university’s cam­pus in Shawnee serves near­ly 2,000 stu­dents and cov­ers more than 200 urban acres.

What We Like: Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty is locat­ed about one-half hour from Okla­homa City and a few hours from the Fort Worth & Dal­las, Texas metro area.

Degree: BA in Psy­chol­o­gy — Pre-Counseling

Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Psy­chol­o­gy — Pre-Counseling

10. Liberty University

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Psy­chol­o­gy with an aca­d­e­m­ic empha­sis in cri­sis coun­sel­ing that ranked among Virginia’s best coun­sel­ing degrees that is avail­able entire­ly online. Lib­er­ty University’s under­grad­u­ate degree in cri­sis coun­sel­ing typ­i­cal­ly takes 3.5 years to com­plete the required 120 semes­ter units. Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty offers appli­cants a gen­er­ous trans­fer cred­it pol­i­cy that allows for up 90 eli­gi­ble cred­its to be trans­ferred upon approval. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty’s bac­calau­re­ate coun­sel­ing degree pro­gram to find reward­ing work in com­mu­ni­ty rela­tions, cri­sis care, and admin­is­tra­tion or cri­sis coun­sel­ing, among others.

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty (Lib­er­ty) is a pri­vate evan­gel­i­cal high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished in 1971 by Jer­ry Fal­well, Sr. Vet­er­ans and qual­i­fied mil­i­tary ser­vice mem­bers are offered tuition dis­counts from Lib­er­ty University.

What We Like: Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty requires no stan­dard­ized test­ing when apply­ing for enroll­ment in any of the university’s aca­d­e­m­ic offerings.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Psy­chol­o­gy w/ con­cen­tra­tions in counseling

Lib­er­ty Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Psychology

11. Morningside College (Iowa)

Morn­ing­side Col­lege offers one of Iowa’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy with an aver­age stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio of only 13 to 1. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from Morn­ing­side Col­lege’s under­grad­u­ate degree in coun­sel­ing find reward­ing careers as social work­ers, men­tal health coun­selors, grief coun­selors, sub­stance abuse coun­selors, or fam­i­ly ther­a­pist, to name a few. Class­es for Morn­ing­side Col­lege’s coun­sel­ing major include gen­er­al psy­chol­o­gy, the psy­chol­o­gy of test­ing, research meth­ods in psy­chol­o­gy, group coun­sel­ing, and abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, plus a coun­sel­ing practicum, to name a few.

Morn­ing­side Col­lege (Morn­ing­side) is a pri­vate lib­er­al arts insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was found­ed in 1894. Morn­ing­side Col­lege’s urban cam­pus cov­ers more than 100 acres and serves more than 1,900 students.

What We Like: Morn­ing­side Col­lege main­tains an ongo­ing reli­gious affil­i­a­tion with the Unit­ed Methodist Church.

Degree: Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy BA

Morn­ing­side Col­lege Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy BA

12. Averett University

Averett Uni­ver­si­ty offers a bach­e­lor’s degree in psy­chol­o­gy that pro­vides an aca­d­e­m­ic empha­sis in clin­i­cal and coun­sel­ing that is ranked among Vir­gini­a’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in Averett University’s under­grad­u­ate coun­sel­ing degrees com­plete course­work in sta­tis­tics, health psy­chol­o­gy, com­ple­men­tary health­care, the psy­chol­o­gy of learn­ing, effec­tive behav­ior, research design in psy­chol­o­gy, and a rel­e­vant research practicum in coun­sel­ing. In addi­tion, degree can­di­dates will sub­mit a senior cul­mi­nat­ing inte­gra­tive pro­gram to reflect their coun­sel­ing learn­ing expe­ri­ence at Averett University.

Averett Uni­ver­si­ty (Averett) is a pri­vate high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was ini­tial­ly estab­lished as a woman’s school in 1859. Estab­lished as a Bap­tist Col­lege, this pri­vate uni­ver­si­ty serves more than 2,000 stu­dents that hail from more than twelve coun­tries and more than two dozen states.

What We Like: Averett Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates as a school that accepts appli­ca­tions all year on a rolling basis.

Degree: Clin­i­cal and Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy Concentrations

Averett Uni­ver­si­ty Clin­i­cal and Coun­sel­ing Psychology

13. Georgian Court University

Geor­gian Court University’s Depart­ment of Psy­chol­o­gy & Coun­sel­ing (GCU), in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Rut­gers School of Health Pro­fes­sions (SHP), offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Psy­chi­atric Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Psy­chol­o­gy that is ranked among the Gar­den State’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Geor­gian Court Uni­ver­si­ty boasts a fac­ul­ty-to-stu­dent ratio of 1 to 13. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in Geor­gian Court University’s under­grad­u­ate must com­plete 120 semes­ter units, with 37 cred­its earned in class­es in coun­sel­ing. The coun­sel­ing cur­ricu­lum includes adult devel­op­ment, the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, cog­ni­tive psy­chol­o­gy, exper­i­men­tal psy­chol­o­gy, and research meth­ods for behav­ioral sci­en­tists, to name a few.

Geor­gian Court Uni­ver­si­ty (GCU) is a pri­vate high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was found­ed by the Sis­ters of Mer­cy in 1908. As a Roman Catholic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion, Geor­gian Court Uni­ver­si­ty serves more than 1,400 coed­u­ca­tion­al students.

What We Like: When found­ed, Geor­gian Court Uni­ver­si­ty was an all-girls school.

Degree: B.S. in Psy­chi­atric Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Psychology

Geor­gian Court Uni­ver­si­ty B.S. in Psy­chi­atric Reha­bil­i­ta­tion and Psychology

14. Clarks Summit University

Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Coun­sel­ing that is con­sid­ered among Pennsylvania’s best coun­sel­ing degrees that is an on-cam­pus degree pro­gram. Degree can­di­dates grad­u­ate from Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty pre­pared for reward­ing careers as social work­ers, guid­ance coun­selors, sub­stance abuse spe­cial­ists, school coun­selors, or ther­a­peu­tic sup­port work­ers, to name a few. Class­es for this bac­calau­re­ate coun­sel­ing degree include social psy­chol­o­gy, ethics, and pro­fes­sion­al­ism for coun­selors, per­son­al­i­ty the­o­ry, child & ado­les­cent devel­op­ment, tests & mea­sure­ments, women coun­sel­ing women, phys­i­o­log­i­cal psy­chol­o­gy, and the­o­log­i­cal dis­tinc­tives, among others.

Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty (Clarks Sum­mit) was estab­lished as a pri­vate bible col­lege in 1932. Estab­lished ini­tial­ly as a bible school, Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty now serves more than 490 stu­dents each year.

What We Like: Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized to be the sec­ond safest col­lege across the Unit­ed States.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Counseling

Clarks Sum­mit Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Counseling

15. Emmanuel College

Emmanuel College’s Psy­chol­o­gy Depart­ment (EC) offers one of Massachusetts’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its BA degree in Psy­chol­o­gy that has a con­cen­tra­tion in Coun­sel­ing & Health Psy­chol­o­gy. Emmanuel College’s bachelor’s psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­gram includes class­es in child psy­chol­o­gy, phi­los­o­phy of mind and psy­chi­a­try, social psy­chol­o­gy, adult­hood and aging, the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, race, gen­der and sex­u­al­i­ty, and rela­tion­ships, mar­riage and the fam­i­ly. Emmanuel Col­lege boasts a fac­ul­ty-to-stu­dent ratio of only 13 to 1. Each stu­dent is required to com­plete a rel­e­vant intern­ship in coun­sel­ing pri­or to graduation.

Emmanuel Col­lege (EC) was estab­lished by the Sis­ters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1919. Emmanuel Col­lege serves more than 2,100 stu­dents each semes­ter from its 15+ acre urban Boston campus.

What We Like: Emmanuel Col­lege holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first all-women’s high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion in New England

Degree: B.A. in Psy­chol­o­gy with Con­cen­tra­tion in Coun­sel­ing & Health Psychology

Emmanuel Col­lege Coun­sel­ing & Health Psychology

16. Life Pacific University

Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of California’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Human Devel­op­ment & Psy­chol­o­gy that offers four aca­d­e­m­ic tracks – social psy­chol­o­gy, foren­sic psy­chol­o­gy, edu­ca­tion­al psy­chol­o­gy, or coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty’s under­grad­u­ate psy­chol­o­gy degree in coun­sel­ing enter the work­force as case man­agers, school coun­selors, social work­ers, sub­stance abuse coun­selors, or fam­i­ly ther­a­pists, to name a few.

Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty (LPU) was estab­lished in 1923 and is endorsed by the Four Square Gospel Inter­na­tion­al Church. More than 650 stu­dents attend class­es offered by Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty. Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty is rec­og­nized as the most afford­able Chris­t­ian school that is accred­it­ed in the state of Cal­i­for­nia. More than half of LPU’s stu­dents are from defined under-rep­re­sent­ed stu­dent pop­u­la­tions – pri­mar­i­ly His­pan­ic or Latino.

What We Like: Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty boasts an impres­sive fac­ul­ty-to-stu­dent ratio of 1 to 16.

Degree: BA in Human Devel­op­ment & Psychology

Life Pacif­ic Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Human Devel­op­ment & Psychology

17. Kentucky Christian University

Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty Social Work & Behav­ioral Health School offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy that is con­sid­ered among Kentucky’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in the under­grad­u­ate coun­sel­ing degree offered by Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty must com­plete class­es that total 120 semes­ter units to grad­u­ate. In addi­tion, this Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy degree requires can­di­dates to fin­ish a 400-hour intern­ship in a rel­e­vant posi­tion with­in a human ser­vice organization.

Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty (Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian) is a pri­vate high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished as a nor­mal school in 1919. The school oper­ates under the affil­i­a­tion with the Chris­t­ian Church­es of Christ, with more than 650 students.

What We Like: Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates on a semes­ter fee basis, dur­ing which a stu­dent can take as many cred­its as they feel they can han­dle for the same fee.

Degree: BS, Coun­sel­ing Psychology

Ken­tucky Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty BS, Coun­sel­ing Psychology

18. Delaware Valley University

Delaware Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BA in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy that is con­sid­ered ranked as one of the best coun­sel­ing degrees in the mar­ket­place. Class­es in Delaware Val­ley University’s BA degree in coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy include pro­fes­sion­al psy­chol­o­gy, the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, intro­duc­tion to behav­ior mod­i­fi­ca­tion, coun­sel­ing tech­niques, and mul­ti­cul­tur­al issues in psy­chol­o­gy, to name a few. Many stu­dents enrolled in Delaware Val­ley University’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in coun­sel­ing choose to earn their grad­u­ate degree before enter­ing the work­force. Bach­e­lor of Arts degree coun­sel­ing grads can find reward­ing careers as men­tal health tech­ni­cians, school coun­selors, com­mu­ni­ty resource direc­tors, to name a few.

Delaware Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty (Delaware Val­ley) is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished as a farm school in 1896. Delaware Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty began as an agri­cul­tur­al school to edu­cate using the con­cept of sci­ence with practice.

What We Like: Delaware Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty proud­ly boasts that its fac­ul­ty to stu­dent ratio is an impres­sive 1 to 13.

Degree: Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy (B.A.)

Delaware Val­ley Uni­ver­si­ty BA in Coun­sel­ing Psychology

19. Mid-Atlantic Christian University

Mid-Atlantic Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty offers two of North Carolina’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree or its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree pro­gram in Psy­chol­o­gy and Coun­sel­ing that requires stu­dents to com­plete 120 semes­ter units. The Bach­e­lor of Arts degree in coun­sel­ing from Mid-Atlantic Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty has a lan­guage require­ment, where­as the Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree is more expe­ri­en­tial in terms of coun­sel­ing edu­ca­tion. Core coun­sel­ing cur­ricu­lum includes human sex­u­al­i­ty, devel­op­men­tal psy­chol­o­gy, social psy­chol­o­gy, exper­i­men­tal psy­chol­o­gy, abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy coun­sel­ing the­o­ries, and fam­i­ly coun­sel­ing, plus an intern­ship in coun­sel­ing, among others.

Mid-Atlantic Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty (MACU) was estab­lished by the Church­es of Christ in 1948 as a bible col­lege in Roanoke. The school’s cam­pus in east­ern North Car­oli­na is home to more than 210 students.

What We Like: Mid-Atlantic Chris­t­ian University’s cam­pus sits along­side the Pasquotank Riv­er, only a few miles from down­town Eliz­a­beth City.

Degree: Coun­sel­ing and Psy­chol­o­gy Major — BA or BS

Mid-Atlantic Chris­t­ian Uni­ver­si­ty Coun­sel­ing and Psy­chol­o­gy Major — BA or BS

20. Oak Hills Christian College

Oak Hills Chris­t­ian Col­lege offers two of Minnesota’s best coun­sel­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor’s degree in Applied Psy­chol­o­gy and its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Addic­tions Coun­sel­ing that requires stu­dents to com­plete 120 semes­ter units to meet pro­gram require­ments. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from the applied psy­chol­o­gy degree find reward­ing work in schools, com­mu­ni­ty out­reach cen­ters, or gov­ern­ment agen­cies, among oth­ers. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from the Addic­tions Coun­sel­ing degree pro­gram will have met the require­ments to become a Min­neso­ta licensed Drug & alco­hol counselor.

Oak Hills Chris­t­ian Col­lege (Oak Hills) is a Chris­t­ian inter­de­nom­i­na­tion­al high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished in 1927. First found­ed as a bible col­lege, Oak Hills Chris­t­ian Col­lege is affil­i­at­ed with the Protes­tant Church.

What We Like: Oak Hills Chris­t­ian Col­lege boasts an impres­sive fac­ul­ty to stu­dent ratio of 1 to 11.

Degree: Bach­e­lor’s in Applied Psy­chol­o­gy and Addic­tions Counseling

Oak Hills Chris­t­ian Col­lege Bach­e­lor’s in Applied Psy­chol­o­gy and Addic­tions Counseling

21. Toccoa Falls College

Toc­coa Falls College’s Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy that is con­sid­ered among Georgia’s best coun­sel­ing degrees that is avail­able online or on the school’s Toc­coa Falls cam­pus. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Toc­coa Falls Col­lege’s under­grad­u­ate degree in coun­sel­ing psy­chol­o­gy to find reward­ing careers as men­tal health assis­tants, career coun­selors, vic­tim’s advo­cates, pro­fes­sion­al coun­selors, fam­i­ly ther­a­pists, or child devel­op­ment spe­cial­ists, to name a few.

Toc­coa Falls Col­lege (Toc­coa Falls) was estab­lished in 1907 as a Chris­t­ian insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion ded­i­cat­ed to lib­er­al arts edu­ca­tion. The college’s cam­pus in Toc­coa Falls that serves more than 1,500 stu­dents on its rur­al 1,000-acre loca­tion. Toc­coa Falls Col­lege is a mem­ber school of the Chris­t­ian & Mis­sion­ary Alliance.

What We Like: Toc­coa Falls Col­lege was ini­tial­ly estab­lished as Gold­en Val­ley Institute.

Degree: B.S. Coun­sel­ing Psychology

Toc­coa Falls Col­lege B.S. Coun­sel­ing Psychology

22. Curry College

Cur­ry Col­lege offers a bachelor’s degree in Psy­chol­o­gy with an aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tion in Sub­stance Use Coun­sel­ing that is con­sid­ered as one of New England’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in Cur­ry Col­lege’s under­grad­u­ate psy­chol­o­gy in coun­sel­ing of sub­stance abuse sat­is­fies a por­tion of the require­ment for cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in Mass­a­chu­setts Sub­stance Abuse cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. Class­es for this Cur­ry Col­lege bac­calau­re­ate degree in sub­stance abuse coun­sel­ing includes coun­sel­ing the­o­ry, the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty health psy­chol­o­gy, drugs and behav­ior, foun­da­tions of com­mu­ni­ty health, and abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, plus an intern­ship relat­ed to sub­stance abuse counseling.

Cur­ry Col­lege (Cur­ry) is a pri­vate insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was found­ed as a high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion for expres­sion & elo­cu­tion in 1879. The stu­dent enroll­ment at Cur­ry Col­lege exceeds 4,500 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Cur­ry Col­lege, when first estab­lished, includ­ed famous alum­ni like Alexan­der Gra­ham Bell and his father, among others.

Degree: Sub­stance Use Counseling

Cur­ry Col­lege Psy­chol­o­gy Sub­stance Use Counseling

23. Johnson & Wales — Denver

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty offers a bachelor’s degree in Coun­sel­ing Psy­chol­o­gy that is rec­og­nized as one of the best coun­sel­ing degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty’s enter the work­force as pro­fes­sion­al case­work­ers, reha­bil­i­ta­tion coun­selors, school coun­selors, men­tal health coun­selors, fam­i­ly ther­a­pists, or sub­stance abuse or behav­ioral dis­or­der ther­a­pists, to name a few. This bac­calau­re­ate degree is avail­able on the John­son & Wales University’s Den­ver campus.

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1913 by two women pro­fes­sion­al teach­ers who want­ed to train oth­er women in the field of busi­ness. The school’s cam­pus­es across four dif­fer­ent states (RI, NC, FL, CO) serves near­ly 13,000 students.

What We Like: John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty out­grew its orig­i­nal site as it was now train­ing ser­vice mem­bers return­ing from World War I.

Degree: Coun­sel­ing Psychology

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty Coun­sel­ing Psychology

24. Paine College

Paine College’s Psy­chol­o­gy and Social Sci­ences Depart­ment (PC) offers a Bach­e­lor of Arts (BA) degree in Psy­chol­o­gy with an aca­d­e­m­ic empha­sis in Coun­sel­ing that is con­sid­ered as one of Georgia’s best coun­sel­ing degrees. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from Paine College’s coun­sel­ing con­cen­tra­tion in psy­chol­o­gy are pre­pared for careers in coun­sel­ing men­tal health acad­e­mia, research, or clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gy, to name a few. The bac­calau­re­ate degree from Paine Col­lege offers two oth­er aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions as a gen­er­al psy­chol­o­gy track or an exper­i­men­tal psy­chol­o­gy track.

Paine Col­lege (Paine) is a pri­vate HBCU (His­tor­i­cal­ly Black Col­lege & Uni­ver­si­ty) high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion that was estab­lished in 1882. Estab­lished by mem­bers of the Methodist Church, the school’s Augus­ta cam­pus serves more than 400 stu­dents on its 50+ acre campus.

What We Like: Paine Col­lege is a high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion acknowl­edged for its incred­i­ble con­tri­bu­tions to the edu­ca­tion of African Amer­i­cans since the ear­ly 1880s.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Arts in Psy­chol­o­gy — Coun­sel­ing Emphasis

Paine Col­lege BA in Psy­chol­o­gy — Coun­sel­ing Emphasis

25. Lesley University

Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Coun­sel­ing that requires the com­ple­tion of 121 semes­ter units. Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty’s best coun­sel­ing degrees include course­work in coun­sel­ing chil­dren and young adults, con­tem­po­rary issues in coun­sel­ing, abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, fam­i­ly inter­ven­tions, applied group dynam­ics, and the­o­ries of per­son­al­i­ty, plus two coun­sel­ing intern­ships, to name a few. Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty offers a dual degree option for stu­dents to earn a BS plus a Mas­ter of Arts in Coun­sel­ing, which allows for the com­ple­tion of two degrees in less time and for less money.

Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1909 as a pri­vate high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion ded­i­cat­ed to train­ing women teach­ers. Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into six colleges/schools that offers more than 100 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate degree pro­grams. The first class­es held at this teacher’s train­ing school were in the founder’s home. Les­ley University’s cam­pus across the Charles Riv­er from down­town Boston serves more than 6,400 students.

What We Like: Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty was cre­at­ed when Les­ley Col­lege com­bined with the Boston Art Insti­tute in 2001.

Degree: BS in Counseling

Les­ley Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Counseling

How Do I Choose a School for a Counseling Degree?

Once you have decid­ed to pur­sue your coun­sel­ing degree, the next impor­tant step is to choose the best col­lege for a coun­sel­ing degree for your spe­cif­ic needs and sit­u­a­tion. To deter­mine what are the best schools for coun­sel­ing degrees for you, it will be impor­tant to con­sid­er schools that are close to home or close to where you want to be, schools with finan­cial aid pro­grams that cater to stu­dents like you, and schools that offer the type of class­room and learn­ing styles you pre­fer, and of course, you will need to choose a coun­sel­ing degree pro­gram that you can afford.

Find­ing a coun­sel­ing degree pro­gram in a school that suits you best among all these impor­tant points of con­sid­er­a­tion is no small task. It just might even be the most chal­leng­ing part of your aca­d­e­m­ic career. How­ev­er, you will find that there are plen­ty of aca­d­e­m­ic coun­sel­ing resources avail­able to help you nar­row down your choic­es to the best col­leges for coun­sel­ing degrees.

You should also con­sid­er whether the school has the spe­cial­iza­tion you want, such as:

  • fam­i­ly therapy
  • school coun­sel­ing
  • coun­selor education
  • clin­i­cal men­tal health counseling
  • career coun­sel­ing
  • spe­cial education

A good school will also pre­pare you for grad­u­ate pro­grams such as a master’s degree.

Many full-time pro­grams will require a clin­i­cal expe­ri­ence, espe­cial­ly if you want to become a licensed pro­fes­sion­al coun­selor (LPC).

Con­sult­ing an aca­d­e­m­ic coun­selor to help you find the best degree pro­gram for you is a smart move and one that you should con­sid­er mak­ing soon­er than later.

Is Accreditation Important for a Counseling Degree?

Many begin­ning coun­sel­ing stu­dents want to know, is CACREP accred­i­ta­tion impor­tant for edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams? The short answer is, “Yes, it is.” A more nuanced answer will be contextual.

When it comes to land­ing a good job in the field of psy­chol­o­gy, attend­ing a school with accred­i­ta­tion that meets CACREP stan­dards is not always nec­es­sary, but it will almost cer­tain­ly help- espe­cial­ly as you progress fur­ther along in your career. Some schools are accred­it­ed accord­ing to CACREP stan­dards, and some are accred­it­ed accord­ing to APA standards.

As you seek out the best school for you, the choice of CACREP vs APA will like­ly be a sec­ondary con­sid­er­a­tion. How­ev­er, keep in mind, if you know what city, state, and health­care sys­tem you want to work with­in, you would do well to find out which type of accred­i­ta­tion stan­dard is most read­i­ly accept­ed there. If you do not know where you hope to find employ­ment after grad­u­a­tion, then the type of coun­sel­ing pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion is not such a straight­for­ward choice.

At this point in your jour­ney, just know that accred­i­ta­tion is always prefer­able to a lack of it. In fact, many states will not allow licen­sure with an unac­cred­it­ed degree. But, if you are seek­ing to fur­ther your edu­ca­tion and are already in the field of psy­chol­o­gy, then it may not always be nec­es­sary. When­ev­er pos­si­ble, find out what employ­ers in the region you expect to work intend to demand from new hires.

What Kinds of Counseling Jobs are There?

There are dozens of dif­fer­ent types of ther­a­py careers and dif­fer­ent types of coun­sel­ing jobs for those look­ing to pur­sue a career in prac­ti­cal psy­chol­o­gy. It would be imprac­ti­cal to list them all here, but some of the most com­mon and pop­u­lar coun­sel­ing jobs include:

  • Fam­i­ly counselor
  • Drug and Alco­hol abuse counselor
  • Career coun­selor
  • Grief coun­selor
  • Child abuse counselor
  • Mar­riage counselor
  • Veteran’s coun­selor

Of course, this is just a small sam­pling of the many types of coun­sel­ing jobs you could obtain with your coun­sel­ing degree. You may have noticed that some of the coun­sel­ing jobs we have list­ed can be non-licensed coun­sel­ing jobs.

A giv­en coun­sel­ing posi­tion may be avail­able with or with­out a degree depend­ing on the hir­ing orga­ni­za­tion, local reg­u­la­tions, and oth­er con­sid­er­a­tions. These can be excel­lent places to start a career in psy­chol­o­gy, and can even be a great way to work part-time as you pur­sue fur­ther edu­ca­tion­al devel­op­ment in this field.

Some coun­sel­ing jobs only require per­son­al expe­ri­ence in the area of inter­est at hand, and a demon­strat­ed abil­i­ty to pro­vide mean­ing­ful coun­sel to those so affected.

The best coun­sel­ing job for you is well with­in your reach.

Relat­ed Rankings:

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Counseling

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Counseling

10 Most Affordable Bach­e­lor’s in Counseling