Choosing a counseling master's program means choosing a path toward licensure - not just a campus or tuition price. This guide is for prospective students and career changers comparing New York programs in 2027. It explains clinical training, state licensing requirements, costs, financial aid, and career prospects. The Research.com team of data scientists created the 2027 Best Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in New York to help students make an informed choice about which programs are worth considering. Use the guide to identify programs that fit both your career goal and your budget.
Key findings about Clinical Mental Health Counseling degrees in New York
For New York's licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) pathway, prioritize a qualifying graduate curriculum of at least 60 semester hours and plan for supervised experience and an examination after graduation; a degree alone is not a license (New York State Education Department).
The U.S. median annual wage for the broader occupation of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors was $59,350 in May 2025, and employment is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035. Neither figure predicts an individual New York graduate's earnings or job prospects (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Compare total tuition, placement support, and time away from work - not sticker price alone. Students starting graduate study under the rules effective July 2026 should not assume Graduate PLUS loans will cover a funding gap (Federal Student Aid).
What can I expect from a Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in New York?
A clinical mental health counseling degree is generally a graduate-level route into assessment, psychotherapy, treatment planning, and referral for people experiencing mental health concerns. New York calls the professional license licensed mental health counselor, or LMHC. The degree builds academic and supervised clinical skills; the state separately determines whether an applicant qualifies for licensure (New York State Education Department).
Expect counseling theory, diagnosis, ethics, multicultural practice, research, and supervised practicum or internship work. A counseling certificate or short course may develop a skill, but it is not a substitute for a qualifying master's degree if LMHC licensure is your goal. Likewise, a school counseling degree should not be assumed to satisfy the educational requirements for mental health counseling: check the specific curriculum against New York's rules before enrolling.
This route best fits people who want sustained, client-facing clinical work and can accommodate training and post-degree supervision. If your goal is primarily school-based guidance, social-work practice, or research without psychotherapy, compare the corresponding credential before committing to a counseling program.
Where can I work with a Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in New York?
Potential settings include community mental health clinics, hospitals, outpatient practices, substance-use treatment programs, and private practices. The work available to a graduate depends on the position and licensing status: a new graduate accruing supervised experience should not assume they can practice independently (New York State Education Department).
Location can shape training as well as employment. Students considering New York City or its suburbs may have access to a different mix of clinics and specialty placements than students in less densely populated areas, but travel time and site schedules can make a nominally nearby placement impractical. Ask each program where recent students completed internships, whether sites accept students who work full time, and who is responsible for securing a placement.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a $59,350 national median annual wage in May 2025 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. That is the latest wage reference period used here, not a New York LMHC starting salary: the occupational group includes workers with different roles, credentials, and levels of experience.
Use the figure as a broad earnings benchmark, then compare local job postings by setting and required license. An independently licensed role and a supervised post-degree role may have different pay and responsibilities. For an investment decision, estimate take-home pay under a realistic first job - not a future private-practice rate - and weigh it against borrowing, foregone work hours, and the time needed to qualify for licensure.
A program is a stronger fit when its curriculum, clinical training, and delivery match the student's licensing plan and daily constraints. The following program examples highlight different questions worth testing with admissions staff; confirm current credits, placement arrangements, and licensure disclosures before applying.
Touro University: Touro's mental health counseling program provides a graduate route designed around preparation for counseling practice. Its most important comparison point is how its required clinical training and course schedule would fit your availability; request the current curriculum and internship-site process if you need to keep working while enrolled (Touro University, School of Health Sciences).
Pace University: Pace offers an M.S. in Mental Health Counseling with a clinical training component. For a student comparing metropolitan-area options, its practical differentiator to investigate is access to suitable supervised placements - not simply the campus name. Ask Pace for the current credit plan, placement expectations, and recent student outcomes before assigning value to that access (Pace University).
Neither school's name substitutes for confirmation that the specific program, as delivered to you, meets New York's educational requirements. Published outcomes should also be checked for their reporting year and the number of students represented.
A New York LMHC-qualifying graduate curriculum must include at least 60 semester hours of specified education (New York State Education Department). A full-time student might plan on roughly two to three years for the degree; part-time attendance generally takes longer. These are planning ranges, not promises: internship sequencing, summer availability, and a school's course rotation can change the finish date.
Graduation is not the end of the licensing timeline. New York also requires supervised post-degree experience and an approved examination, with limited-permit rules governing eligible supervised practice (New York State Education Department). An accelerated curriculum may shorten classroom time without shortening those separate licensing steps. Ask for a term-by-term plan showing when you can start fieldwork and how many days each placement requires.
Online coursework can reduce commuting and widen a working student's choices, but it does not remove the need for supervised clinical training. An on-campus program may make face-to-face practice activities easier to schedule, while requiring more travel. Neither format is automatically better for licensure: what matters is the curriculum and whether the program can support acceptable clinical training where you intend to work (New York State Education Department).
For an online program based outside New York, obtain written confirmation of how its coursework addresses New York's LMHC education requirements and how placements are arranged in your area. Check live-attendance requirements, travel for any residencies, and whether your employer's hours conflict with internship work. A flexible lecture schedule has limited value if required placement hours cannot fit your week.
There is no single reliable statewide price for a clinical mental health counseling degree: institutions publish tuition under different per-credit, per-term, and fee structures. A meaningful comparison starts with the price of the complete required curriculum, not one semester's advertised tuition. Public-university resident rates may differ from nonresident rates; private nonprofit universities may have different aid packages. Check the school's current published schedule and your residency classification (institutional tuition schedules; NCES IPEDS).
Add mandatory fees, books, travel to clinical sites, and any reduction in paid work during internship. Then subtract grants and scholarships you can reasonably expect to receive. The most affordable clinical mental health counseling programs can help form a shortlist, but ask each school for a written, program-length cost estimate before deciding.
Start with each school's graduate scholarships, assistantships, and payment plans, then submit the FAFSA to establish eligibility for applicable federal aid. Eligible graduate students may use Direct Unsubsidized Loans, subject to federal limits; scholarships, employer tuition assistance, and approved service-based repayment programs may reduce the amount they need to borrow. Confirm eligibility and service obligations with the program administrator rather than treating an advertised award as assured (Federal Student Aid; institutional financial aid offices).
Graduate PLUS requires special attention for 2027 applicants. Under federal rules effective July 2026, new graduate borrowers generally cannot begin using that loan program. A limited transition provision may apply to students who met the pre-change enrollment and borrowing conditions; confirm your individual status with Federal Student Aid and the school. Do not accept an admission offer on the assumption that Graduate PLUS will fill any remaining cost gap (Federal Student Aid).
Compare net cost with likely borrowing and repayment, not aid eligibility alone. New York undergraduate aid programs should not be assumed to cover a counseling master's degree. If price is decisive, use the most valuable clinical mental health counseling programs as another comparison point, then verify each program's actual aid offer.
View the chart data as a table
Best score by program (Source: Research.com)
Category
Value
Pace University
85.02
Touro University
87.69
Applicants generally need a bachelor's degree, transcripts, recommendations, and a statement explaining their interest in counseling; schools may also request an interview, résumé, or particular undergraduate coursework. Requirements differ by program, so a psychology major is not necessarily required - and related work experience does not automatically waive academic prerequisites (institutional admissions policies).
Before paying an application fee, ask whether any missing prerequisite can be taken after admission, whether prior graduate coursework can transfer, and whether transferred credits would still satisfy the program's clinical sequence. Transfer acceptance is an institutional decision; New York's licensing review remains a separate question. Ask the program to document how its degree meets the state's education requirements rather than relying on a broad claim that it is "licensure-focused" (New York State Education Department).
Expect coursework in counseling theories and techniques, assessment and diagnosis, ethics, human development, group counseling, research, and culturally responsive practice, followed by supervised clinical training. These subjects matter because New York evaluates the qualifying degree against specified content areas, not just a total credit count (New York State Education Department).
Read the course sequence closely. If a specialty elective displaces a required licensing subject, the apparent flexibility may create a problem later. Ask for a curriculum map that identifies the courses satisfying New York's requirements and shows when practicum and internship begin.
Depending on the school, students may be able to focus electives or placements on substance-use treatment, trauma, work with children and adolescents, or another population or clinical approach. A concentration is usually a way to shape training within the master's degree; it is not automatically a separate state license or professional certification (institutional program descriptions; New York State Education Department).
Choose a focus by working backward from the clients and setting you hope to serve. Compare the actual electives, faculty supervision, and available placement sites - not the concentration label alone. If your intended job requires an additional credential, verify that credential's requirements with its issuing authority before selecting electives.
The best program is the one you can complete, afford, and use toward your intended credential. A ranking helps narrow the field; a licensing and cost check should make the final decision. Use this sequence to compare finalists:
Confirm the exact degree and delivery format against New York State Education Department LMHC education requirements; check CACREP accreditation status directly with CACREP if it matters to your goals.
Request a term-by-term course and placement plan, including who finds clinical sites and whether working students can meet site hours.
Compare written estimates for total tuition, fees, placement travel, aid, and lost earnings, then test repayment against a conservative entry-level job scenario.
Ask for program-level completion, examination, and employment outcomes with reporting years and cohort sizes; investigate missing or broadly stated results.
New York licensure does not follow automatically from CACREP accreditation or graduation; the state evaluates applicants against its own requirements (New York State Education Department; CACREP). It is also a mistake to treat a lower sticker price as a better return without considering completion probability, debt, baseline and post-degree earnings, opportunity cost, and the years over which you expect to recover the investment. The most popular clinical mental health counseling programs may broaden your search, but popularity is not evidence of personal fit.
The direct path is supervised counseling work followed, if requirements are met, by LMHC licensure. Over time, a counselor may pursue roles in outpatient mental health care, hospital or community programs, substance-use services, clinical supervision where qualified, or private practice. Employers and roles can impose additional experience or credential requirements (New York State Education Department; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Distinguish that path from adjacent professions. School counselor, marriage and family therapist, and social worker are not interchangeable New York licenses; each has its own education and authorization rules (New York State Education Department). If the role you want consistently asks for another credential, investigate that degree before investing in an LMHC-oriented curriculum.
View the chart data as a table
Median wage by U.S. state - Mental Health Counselors (BLS OEWS, May 2025) (Source: BLS)
State
Value
AK
80,770
AL
47,310
AR
51,580
AZ
65,300
CA
59,250
CO
62,390
CT
63,590
DC
60,450
DE
56,020
FL
56,790
GA
58,960
HI
60,090
IA
60,880
ID
63,360
IL
60,730
IN
53,760
KS
59,470
KY
54,190
LA
37,910
MA
59,890
MD
59,530
ME
59,970
MI
61,690
MN
58,780
MO
56,910
MS
46,990
MT
59,000
NC
55,490
ND
68,630
NE
63,770
NH
54,840
NJ
62,820
NM
74,100
NV
57,210
NY
59,450
OH
58,360
OK
59,350
OR
74,590
PA
52,010
PR
46,790
RI
65,120
SC
52,370
SD
53,650
TN
49,580
TX
62,630
UT
63,890
VA
59,880
VT
61,810
WA
68,910
WI
62,220
WV
49,430
WY
62,980
National employment for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections). That indicates projected growth for a broad U.S. occupation, not a forecast of openings for newly licensed counselors in a particular New York county.
For a local decision, compare current postings in the area where you can realistically work. Note which require an LMHC, accept a limited permit and supervision, offer clinical supervision, or expect evening availability. Demand alone does not make a program worthwhile if its placement schedule or debt load prevents you from reaching the roles you want.
2027 Best Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in New York
Investing in graduate education is a consequential decision. Research.com's team designed the ranking to help readers compare programs using documented measures rather than reputation alone, and reviews the underlying data for quality, credibility, and accuracy. The Best ranking first combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), licensure-exam pass rate where applicable (20%), CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Applicable weights are renormalized when a measure does not apply; program cost then contributes about 7% of the final score. The same approach applies to online and on-campus programs.
The ranking draws on these data sources; readers should still confirm current program details directly with each school:
IPEDS database - institutional reporting on enrollment, completions, and costs.
Other Research.com rankings order programs by the single dimension named in each ranking. No composite score can establish that a program meets an individual student's licensing, scheduling, or financial needs. See Research.com's methodology for more about how the rankings are created.
# 1 position
Touro University
Master
MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Delivery mode: campus
87.69
/ 100
Final score
Program length
2-year or 3-year plan of study available
Specialization
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Required credits
60 semester credits
GPA range
3.00 - 4.00
Program completion rate
83% (2025-26)
Licensure exam pass rate
83% (2025-26)
Application deadline
Fall: Feb 8 (priority), Mar 25 (final); Spring: Dec 8 (limited to those who completed MNHN 600 or transfer applicants)
Application process
direct
GRE
optional
Prerequisites
Baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution; minimum of 12 semester hours of psychology or related social science courses; an undergraduate course in statistics.
Additional requirements
Baccalaureate degree, min 3.0 GPA, 12 semester hours of psychology/social science coursework, statistics course, an interview with faculty (individual or group) including a brief spontaneous writing sample; English proficiency exam if applicable.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Touro University earned a Research.com Counseling Program Score of 87.69/100, supported by 83% licensure exam pass rate and 83% program completion rate. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2031-10-31.
# 2 position
Pace University
Master
Mental Health Counseling, MS
Delivery mode: campus
85.02
/ 100
Final score
Program length
30–36 months (full-time and part-time)
Specialization
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Required credits
60 semester credits
GPA range
3.00 - 4.00
Program completion rate
98% (2024-25)
Licensure exam pass rate
60% (2024-25)
Application deadline
Fall: January 1, then space available until April 15; Spring: April 1, then space available until July 15
Application process
direct
GRE
no
Prerequisites
Bachelor's in psychology or a related field; others may need two undergraduate psychology courses. Minimum undergraduate GPA 3.0 (3.3 for a completed graduate degree). Provisional acceptance possible with counseling experience.
Additional requirements
Personal statement; resume or outline covering at least five years of employment and significant activities; two academic or professional recommendation letters; official transcripts from every college or university attended.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Pace University earned a Research.com Counseling Program Score of 85.02/100, supported by 60% licensure exam pass rate and 98% program completion rate. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2027-10-31.
Frequently asked questions about Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in New York
Do I need a master's degree to become an LMHC in New York?
Yes. New York requires qualifying graduate education, along with supervised experience, an approved examination, and other licensing conditions. Check your proposed program against the state's current requirements before enrolling (New York State Education Department).
Does graduation make me eligible to practice independently?
No. Graduation and licensure are separate steps. New York has rules for supervised post-degree practice and limited permits while applicants complete licensing requirements (New York State Education Department).
Is an online counseling master's degree acceptable?
The format alone is not the deciding factor. Confirm that the specific curriculum meets New York's education requirements and that you can complete acceptable supervised clinical training where you live (New York State Education Department).
Is CACREP accreditation required for New York LMHC licensure?
Do not treat CACREP status as a substitute for checking New York's rules. Compare the program's documented curriculum with state requirements and confirm any accreditation claim directly with CACREP (New York State Education Department; CACREP).
Is this degree worth the cost?
It may be if you want clinical counseling work and can finance the full path through supervised experience. Compare realistic job options, total borrowing, lost work time, and the likelihood of completing the program; the national median wage is not a personal earnings forecast.
