Best Online Master’s in Counseling 2026

Badge for BEST ONLINE MASTER'S IN COUNSELING

By Dr. James Barham
Reviewed By Chloe Dembski

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Find top-ranked online master’s in counseling degree programs to help students prepare for careers as hospital mental health program directors, marriage and family therapists, private practice counselors, or licensed school counselors.

Key Takeaways

Top online master’s in counseling programs often offer flexible practicum and internship placements, allowing students to gain real-world experience in their local areas while completing coursework online.
Many programs in our ranking provide tracks such as school counseling, clinical mental health, or marriage and family therapy, enabling students to tailor their studies to specific career goals.
The best programs are accredited by CACREP or similar organizations, ensuring the curriculum meets high industry standards, which is crucial for licensure and professional credibility.

Table of Contents

Top 10 Online Master's in Counseling Degree Programs in 2026

Florida State University
University of Alabama
University at Buffalo
+1
University of Kentucky
–1
North Carolina State University
Wake Forest University
San Diego State University
Virginia Commonwealth University
University of North Texas
Winston-Salem State University
+1

Featured Programs

50 Best Online Master’s in Counseling Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Students with Counseling Degree

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Counseling Psychology

Degree Level: Master's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
Avg. Cost of Degree*: $9,656
Avg. Expenses*: $16,911
Avg. Starting Salary*: $54,120
Avg. Salary after 4 Years*: $57,583
Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 6 years
Job Growth: 6.08%
Number of Jobs: 1,467,000
* denotes ‘annually’
** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists	5.81%	$147,420
Human Resources Managers	6.51%	$136,350
Managers, All Other	5.75%	$133,560
Training and Development Managers	7.41%	$125,040
Psychologists, All Other	4.95%	$117,750
Management Analysts	10.60%	$99,410
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	13.28%	$96,100
School Psychologists	0.76%	$84,940
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	4.89%	$82,140
Human Resources Specialists	7.95%	$67,650

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists	$147,420
Human Resources Managers	$136,350
Managers, All Other	$133,560
Training and Development Managers	$125,040
Psychologists, All Other	$117,750
Management Analysts	$99,410
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$96,100
School Psychologists	$84,940
Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary	$82,140
Human Resources Specialists	$67,650

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

Frequently Asked Questions About Counseling Degrees

Why get a master’s in counseling?

After earning a counseling-related undergraduate degree, most students continue on to earn a master’s degree in counseling either online or on campus.

What areas of expertise are there?

Students will likely choose a focused path in areas such as substance abuse counseling, school counseling, mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, or pastoral counseling. Depending on the chosen track, students can expect to explore areas such as abnormal psychology, mental health disorders, counseling techniques, and developmental psychology.

What are the credentials for getting a master’s in counseling?

A master’s in counseling program is typically 60 credits, and students must also complete comprehensive exams.

What can I do with a master’s in counseling?

Graduates can then go on to earn licensure and gain employment as hospital mental health program directors, marriage and family therapists, private practice counselors, or licensed school counselors.

How do we determine the best online counseling master's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require some adjustment. While you’ll generally learn the same content and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, the medium will likely require you to manage much of this experience independently. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, your ability to harness the technology at your fingertips, and your ability to focus on the lectures, lessons, and assignments at hand. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take it upon yourself to build relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier is actually getting there. Taking the commute out of the equation means getting to class should be a lot more manageable. But that’s where it ends. In general, your online courses will incorporate the very same materials, concepts, and testing methods as would a traditional classroom.

And in many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning or working with remote learning technology for the first time, online college may even be a little more challenging for you. For a few insights on how to manage this new experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable institutions and less-than-reputable for-profit schools. Accreditation gives you the power to differentiate between the two. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency which indicates that a college or university is meeting standards of quality, credibility, and currency. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university which is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. When seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that students opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited, you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer. In many cases, you will be required to navigate a bureaucracy in which some of your credits will be transferred and others will be jettisoned. However, provided that you have attended an online school with the proper regional accreditation, you should have plenty of options for transfer.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript or resume differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

While some employers may express concern about making the adjustment from online education to in-person workplace collaboration, many other employers will view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st Century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will require some adjustment.

While there is much that can be supplanted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing which can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual classroom setting. As you make the adjustment to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face is overcoming this difference in order to the get the most out of your classes. Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. First and foremost, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

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Best Online Master’s in Counseling 2026

Key Takeaways

Top 10 Online Master's in Counseling Degree Programs in 2026

Featured Programs

50 Best Online Master’s in Counseling Degree Programs

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