2027 Best Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Des Moines

The U.S. median annual wage for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors was $59,350 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook). The occupation combines several related roles, so its median is not a salary forecast for a newly graduated Des Moines counselor or a measure of pay attributable solely to one degree.

When comparing offers, ask about pay during supervised practice, benefits, client-contact expectations, and whether supervision has a cost. Those details can matter more to your early-career finances than a national median. For a longer-term comparison, include your current earnings, likely time to licensure, and debt payments rather than treating the median wage as a guaranteed return.

Drake University and Grand View University both identify clinical mental health counseling graduate programs in Des Moines. Their published program descriptions establish the degree options, but prospective students should obtain a current catalog and written answers about credits, clinical hours, delivery, outcomes, and total cost before treating either as the better fit. Neither school's degree title alone verifies an individual graduate's eligibility for Iowa licensure.

These are the clearest program-specific starting points for comparing the options:

• Drake University: Drake presents a dedicated clinical mental health counseling degree program (Drake University). Ask how its current curriculum and field-placement process connect students with central Iowa clinical sites; this is especially important if you intend to keep working while completing supervised training.
• Grand View University: Grand View identifies its option as an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Grand View University). Request its current degree plan and placement policies alongside Drake's so you can compare the actual sequence and scheduling of clinical work, not just the shared counseling focus.

Neither published outcome rates nor comparable current program-level cost figures are established here. Do not interpret an absent figure as a poor outcome: ask each school for its latest completion, licensure-exam, and graduate-employment reporting, including the reporting period and cohort size.

Plan for about two to three years of full-time master's study as a working estimate, with part-time study potentially taking longer. Your actual timeline depends on the program's course sequence, when practicum and internship are offered, placement availability, and any permitted transfer credits. Obtain a term-by-term plan from each school rather than assuming that credits can be taken in any order.

Graduation is not the end of an Iowa licensure timeline: qualifying supervised experience and examination requirements are separate steps (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing). An accelerated academic schedule may therefore reduce time in school without eliminating the later supervised-practice period.

Online delivery can make academic coursework easier to schedule around a job, while campus attendance may simplify in-person practice, faculty contact, and local networking. Neither format removes the need for supervised clinical training. For a Des Moines resident, the decisive issue is often whether a program can support an approved placement close enough to make required hours feasible.

Ask an online program where in-person skills work occurs, whether there are campus visits, and how it verifies Iowa placement and supervision requirements. Ask an on-campus program whether required courses or placements conflict with your working hours. The same licensure questions apply to both formats; "online" and "on-campus" are delivery descriptions, not assurances of state approval (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

A reliable Des Moines-wide average program price cannot be inferred from two degree pages or from undergraduate tuition figures. Graduate prices may be quoted per credit or term, while the amount a student pays also depends on required credits, fees, books, clinical-site travel, and financial aid. Request a written full-program cost estimate from each school for your intended enrollment pace.

Use the most affordable clinical mental health counseling programs to identify prices worth investigating, then compare like with like: the same degree completion point, anticipated fees, and aid assumptions. A lower tuition quote may not be cheaper overall if a longer schedule reduces earnings or adds commuting and placement costs.

Eligible graduate students may consider federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, institutional scholarships or assistantships, employer tuition assistance, and school-specific payment arrangements. Complete the FAFSA and ask each financial aid office for a graduate-level offer; an undergraduate aid estimate is not a dependable guide to master's funding (Federal Student Aid).

For a 2027 start, do not assume Graduate PLUS will fill every financing gap. Federal Student Aid describes restrictions on new graduate borrowing beginning July 1, 2026, with limited transition provisions for qualifying previously enrolled borrowers. Ask the school to verify your individual eligibility and loan limits under the rules in force for your entry term (Federal Student Aid).

Before accepting loans, compare the net amount you would borrow under each offer and ask whether scholarships renew during internship terms. Clinical scheduling can limit paid-work hours, so a workable aid package must cover the period when your earnings may be most constrained.

Expect to need a completed bachelor's degree and an application that lets faculty assess readiness for graduate study and client-facing work. Schools set their own requirements for transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, interviews, prerequisite courses, and any background checks tied to clinical placement. Check Drake's and Grand View's current admissions pages for the entry term you want rather than assuming their requirements match (Drake University; Grand View University).

A psychology major is not necessarily the only route in. Career changers should ask whether prior coursework meets any prerequisites and whether previously earned graduate credits can transfer. Get a written transfer-credit decision before enrolling: accepted credits must also fit the program's sequence and Iowa's educational expectations for licensure.

Clinical mental health counseling curricula commonly cover counseling theories and techniques, assessment and diagnosis, ethics, research, group counseling, multicultural counseling, and supervised fieldwork. The sequence matters: programs may require foundational and skills courses before a student can enter practicum or internship.

Compare catalog descriptions against your goal rather than counting course titles alone. If you want to work with people experiencing substance-use disorders, for example, ask how that content appears in coursework and approved placements. For Iowa licensure planning, have the program explain how its current curriculum maps to the state's educational rules (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

Students may be able to shape training through electives and clinical placements involving areas such as substance use, trauma, children and adolescents, or community mental health. Availability depends on the school and on placement capacity; an interest area is not necessarily a named concentration or a separate professional credential.

Choose a program for its core licensure preparation first, then ask whether its electives, supervisors, and local sites support your intended population. Someone seeking school counseling or marriage and family therapy licensure should check the distinct educational and licensing pathway for that profession rather than assuming a clinical mental health counseling emphasis substitutes for it (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

The best choice is the program you can finish and finance that prepares you for the credential and work you actually want. The most valuable clinical mental health counseling programs provide another comparison point, but a personal return-on-investment estimate also needs your aid offer, borrowing, forgone earnings, completion likelihood, expected pay, and the time over which you assess the investment.

Use the same questions with every school so attractive descriptions do not obscure a practical obstacle:

1. Ask for the current degree plan and written explanation of how it aligns with Iowa mental health counselor licensure requirements, including the program's accreditation status.
2. Confirm who secures practicum and internship placements, where central Iowa students typically train, and what hours those sites require.
3. Request the full-program cost and aid estimate for your enrollment pace, plus the school's policy on transfer credits.
4. Ask for recent program-level completion, exam, and employment outcomes, with cohort sizes and reporting periods.

A common mistake is choosing on tuition or format alone and checking licensure eligibility only after enrolling. Verify the institution and program's current accreditation directly with the relevant accreditor, and confirm educational eligibility with Iowa's licensing authority; institutional accreditation, programmatic CACREP recognition, and an individual license are different things (CACREP; Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

The most direct path is supervised counseling work followed, if requirements are met, by Iowa mental health counselor licensure. Depending on the employer and additional preparation, related work may involve integrated behavioral health, crisis services, or substance-use treatment. Job title, permissible duties, and supervision needs can differ before and after licensure (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

A master's also does not automatically qualify someone to supervise other clinicians, teach in a university counseling program, or practice under a different license. If those are your long-term goals, compare the additional experience or education they require before deciding how much to invest in this degree.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% employment growth from 2025 to 2035 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. This is a national projection for a combined occupation, not a count of openings in Des Moines or a guarantee that a new graduate will obtain a particular job.

Use that outlook as a reason to investigate local opportunities, not as a substitute for doing so. Review central Iowa postings for the license level required, whether supervised-practice candidates are accepted, and which clinical skills employers request. A program with placements relevant to those roles may be a better fit than one whose timetable or sites make the local transition difficult.

Investing in graduate education is a consequential decision. Research.com created the ranking to give prospective counselors a more consistent way to assess programs, using multiple data sources and checking outcomes, accreditation, eligibility for federal aid, and cost rather than relying on reputation alone.

For the Best ranking, a graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score combines completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), licensure exam pass rates where applicable (20%), CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Inapplicable criteria are excluded and the remaining shares renormalized. Program cost contributes a smaller component - about 7% of the final score. The method applies to online and on-campus programs alike; other Research.com rankings order programs by the dimension named in their titles.

The ranking draws on these sources, which help readers compare programs using evidence beyond a school's own description:

• IPEDS database - institutional reporting on programs and education costs.
• Peterson's database - program and institutional information.
• College Scorecard database - federal institutional and student-outcome information.
• National Center for Education Statistics - federal education data and definitions.

A ranking is a starting point, not a substitute for confirming current program requirements, clinical placement arrangements, and the price quoted to you. See Research.com's methodology for more about how the rankings are created.

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• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Counselors
  Used to verify salary, employment outlook, and typical education requirements.
  https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/
• CACREP - Directory of Accredited Programs
  Used to verify CACREP accreditation status of specific programs.
  https://www.cacrep.org/directory/
• NBCC - NCE / NCMHCE
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.nbcc.org/exams
• Drake University - M.S. in Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.drake.edu/degree-programs/clinical-mental-health-counseling
• Grand View University - Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.grandview.edu/academics/programs/ms-clinical-mental-health-counseling