2020 Most Affordable Online Colleges for Counseling Degrees

Students today have access to a wide range of online bachelor's programs in counseling, psychology, sociology, and related fields. If you're considering a career in counseling, earning a bachelor's degree online or in-person is the first step toward achieving your professional goals. Most professional counseling positions will require a master's degree for state licensure, and a bachelor's degree in one of these fields will provide a solid foundation of knowledge to build on in a master's in counseling program. Some bachelor's programs offer specializations in addiction counseling and substance use, marriage and family, Christian counseling, offender rehabilitation, and victim advocacy. These options prepare students to meet the unique needs of specific populations in a counseling setting.

Counselors typically follow a few different career paths depending on their interests:

• Some people pursue roles as school counselors working with children and teenagers in K-12 school settings or adults in higher education.
• Others become mental health counselors and work in clinical settings, sometimes with specific populations such as older adults, children, couples, or families.
• Substance use and addiction counselors work with individuals to help them overcome addictions to drugs, alcohol, and other substances that negatively impact their health and wellbeing.
• Some counselors work with people who are incarcerated to support them while in prison and as they transition after their release.

Online programs follow the same curriculum and degree path as campus-based programs do. Many students prefer to take online classes due to the convenience and flexibility they offer, as well as their affordability. Some online programs include live video classes held at set times, while others allow students to watch pre-recorded lectures on their own time. They also are often available as accelerated part-time or full-time courses of study. Online degrees are appealing to many students because they can provide more affordable options than students have access to in their local area and don't include costs such as room and board or transportation to campus.

Students interested in pursuing a counseling degree online should always seek an accredited program. Accreditation ensures colleges and universities are held to universal academic standards and indicates to other schools and employers that graduates have received a quality education. All of the programs on this page are offered through accredited colleges and universities.

Tuition costs at the universities included in this list of affordable online counseling degrees range from $4,500 to $13,500 per year. The cost of your degree will depend on where you enroll and how many credits a program requires to graduate. For the 2020-21 school year, average tuition rates for all online degree programs at public universities were $12,570 per year, while private colleges charged an average of $14,068 per year for online programs. Generally speaking, online programs are more affordable than campus-based degree programs. On average, public universities are also more affordable than private ones, although schools may offer institutional grants and scholarships to help reduce your education cost.

The cost of your degree will also depend on if you have credits from a prior college experience you can transfer and apply to your degree. Online programs often have flexible transfer policies that allow students to reduce the number of credits they'll have to take to finish their degree. Many students attend community college to earn credits at a lower cost that they can then apply to their bachelor's degree. However, it can be difficult to transfer all previously earned credits depending on individual school transfer policies. A case study done by the Community College Research Center found that even when students weren't able to transfer all of their credits, most still saved money on their undergraduate degree by attending community college and transferring those credits.

Many people who are passionate about helping others will find a career in counseling extremely rewarding. Professional counselors work directly with patients to help them overcome emotional, psychological, social, and physical difficulties that impact their personal life. They also connect people with resources and tools to help them improve their overall health and wellbeing. If you feel compelled to work as a counselor, you'll likely need to earn a bachelor's and master's degree to become licensed.

A graduate degree in counseling is a requirement for licensure and certification, which students will need to practice as a counselor in many cases. However, students do not need a bachelor's degree in counseling to enter a master's program or even to enter the field. There are opportunities to work in counseling without a degree, such as working with nonprofits, working as an aid or another supporting role with a counselor, or roles as a peer counselor or case manager. Those who earn their bachelor's degree in another field are still eligible to apply to a master's in counseling program, but may need to complete additional prerequisite classes.

When considering whether or not an online counseling degree will be worth it, students should think about their professional and personal goals, why they're interested in the field, how much time and money they can put into their education, and what they'll get out of it.

Another important consideration is how much your degree will cost, how much money you'll make after you graduate, and employment rates for your chosen career path. The following salary data and job growth outlooks provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) can give prospective students a clearer picture of how their financial future might look in each career path. From the list of counseling careers below, school and career counselors tend to earn the highest median salaries while rehabilitation counselors earn the lowest. Projected growth in jobs is highest for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors and lowest for correctional treatment specialists.

Correctional Treatment Specialists

Some counselors train to work specifically with people who are in prison or have been recently released. They provide direct support to people as they transition out of correctional facilities, creating rehabilitation plans that may include substance abuse counseling, job training, securing safe housing, and other resources and services. These counselors also administer drug testing and help people comply with other requirements for their release from prison.

• Job Outlook: The BLS includes probation offers and correctional treatment specialists in one category, with a projected growth rate of 4% in line with the national average for all occupations.
• Salary: Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn median salaries of $54,290 per year, or $26.10 per hour, according to the BLS.

Marriage and Family Therapists

These therapists help couples and families work through a variety of issues to improve interpersonal relationships in the family.

• Job Outlook: The BLS projects a rapid growth rate of 22% from 2019 to 2029 for marriage and family therapists.
• Salary: Professionals in the field earn median salaries of $49,610 per year or $23.85 per hour. Counselors who work for state governments earn significantly higher median salaries of $72,230 per year. Those who work in outpatient care centers earn $52,140 per year.

Rehabilitation Counselors

Rehabilitation counselors work with patients who have physical, mental, developmental, or emotional disabilities to help them overcome any setbacks or limitations they may experience. This can include coordinating care, accessing resources or services, working with employers to help them understand employee needs, and helping clients work through any issues they experience in their life due to their disability.

• Job Outlook: The need for rehabilitation counselors is projected to grow by 10% from 2019 to 2029.
• Salary: Rehabilitation counselors earn median salaries of $35,950 per year, or $17.28 per hour, according to the BLS. Those employed by state governments, excluding education and hospital employees, earn the highest average salaries for this job at $51,260 per year.

School and Career Counselors

School counselors work with students in K-12 or college settings to help them navigate the academic, social, and emotional landscapes while in school. Career counselors work with individuals in various stages in their professional life to help them shape their careers by determining professional goals and setting steps to achieve them.

• Job Outlook: The need for school and career counselors is projected to grow by 8% from 2019 to 2029, twice as fast as the national average of 4% for all occupations.
• Salary: School and career counselors have the highest median salary rates for counseling occupations at $57,040 per year, or $27.42 an hour.

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

The BLS combines these three roles into one occupation, and while they can be distinct, there is often crossover between the positions.

• Job Outlook: The job outlook for counselors in these three areas is very high. The need for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow by 25% from 2019 to 2029 as people continue to seek treatment for mental health issues and drug and alcohol addiction. This role is expected to grow as it becomes more common for states to shift away from incarcerating people who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction in favor of court-ordered treatment and counseling services. Compared to the national average of 4% for all jobs, this area of counseling will have significantly higher employment rates than many other occupations.
• Salary: Counselors in this field earn a median salary of $46,240 per year or $22.23 per hour. Those who work for government agencies earn the highest wages, at $52,720 per year. Hospitals are also a top industry for counselors in this field, with hospital employees earning median salaries of $49,100 per year.