Choosing an online counseling master's degree means comparing more than tuition: the program must also fit your schedule, clinical placement needs, and Minnesota licensure plans. This guide is for prospective students and working professionals weighing that investment. It accompanies the 2027 Most Valuable Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Minnesota, created by the Research.com team of data scientists to help students make an informed choice about programs worth considering. You'll learn how to compare costs, training, timelines, and career outcomes before applying.
Key findings about online Clinical Mental Health Counseling degrees in Minnesota
For Minnesota LPCC planning, check whether a program meets the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy's graduate education and supervised-training requirements; an online format alone does not establish eligibility.
The U.S. median annual wage for 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 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Neither figure predicts an individual graduate's pay or hiring prospects.
Compare total program cost and clinical-placement support alongside tuition. Required in-person training can change the time and expense of an otherwise online master's degree.
What can I expect from an online Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in Minnesota?
An online clinical mental health counseling degree is generally a graduate program combining remote academic coursework with supervised, in-person clinical training. It is designed for people seeking to assess mental health concerns and provide counseling, often with a goal of state licensure. "Online" describes how much of the coursework is delivered - not whether clinical experience can be completed remotely.
For a Minnesota resident, the crucial distinction is between earning a master's degree and qualifying for a license. The Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy sets requirements for licensed professional counselors (LPCs) and licensed professional clinical counselors (LPCCs), including education, examinations, and supervised experience. If your goal is clinical practice as an LPCC, ask the program for a written explanation of how its curriculum and placements align with the board's current requirements. A general counseling degree, certificate, or school-counseling track may serve a different career goal.
This path is most compelling if you want direct client work and can make room for clinical hours alongside classes. Someone primarily interested in organizational wellness, research, or a nonclinical support role should compare less clinically intensive credentials before committing to a licensure-oriented master's.
Where can I work with an online Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in Minnesota?
Clinical mental health counselors may work in outpatient practices, community mental health organizations, hospitals, substance-use treatment settings, and other health or social-service agencies. The employer and duties available to you depend on your license, supervision status, experience, and the position's requirements - not simply on the degree title (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy).
Location matters when choosing a program. A student outside the Twin Cities may value online coursework but still need an approved placement near home; a metro-area student may have more potential sites yet face competition for convenient supervision. Ask prospective programs whether they help secure placements in your part of Minnesota, what happens if a site falls through, and whether their placement rules permit your current workplace to serve as a training site.
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). This national occupational median is a benchmark, not a Minnesota starting salary or a guaranteed return from a particular master's program. Pay can differ by employer, location, licensure status, specialty, and experience.
When estimating whether a degree is worth the cost, compare your likely earnings before enrollment with realistic opportunities after graduation and licensure. Account for the time spent completing coursework and supervised experience, not just the first job after receiving the diploma. Ask schools for program-specific completion and employment results with the reporting period and the number of students included; broad institution-wide averages may say little about counseling graduates.
Program labels can conceal important differences in curriculum and career fit. These examples illustrate distinct questions to investigate before treating any online counseling option as interchangeable with another.
Crown College: Crown's M.A. in Counseling presents counseling education within its Christian institutional context (Crown College). That makes its curriculum worth examining if faith integration is important to your professional approach; ask how the program prepares students to counsel clients with different beliefs and how its coursework maps to your intended Minnesota license.
Minnesota State University Moorhead: Its graduate counseling catalog provides a course-by-course basis for evaluating the clinical mental health pathway (Minnesota State University Moorhead). Students who want a Minnesota-based public university should use that curriculum to check required clinical courses, placement expectations, and which components - if any - require campus attendance before assuming the whole pathway is online.
Walden University: Walden offers an addiction counseling specialization within its M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Walden University). That is a more targeted option for someone interested in co-occurring mental health and substance-use concerns; confirm whether the specialization changes placement requirements or supports any additional credential you intend to pursue.
A specialization, local campus, or stated online delivery model is not itself evidence of better outcomes. Compare each school's current accreditation status, published program requirements, itemized costs, and documented placement assistance. The best clinical mental health counseling programs ranking offers another comparison lens, but your licensing goal and placement access should remain decisive.
A licensure-oriented counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years of full-time study; part-time study can take longer. The exact timeline depends on the school's course sequence, how often required classes run, and when you can complete supervised fieldwork. Finishing the degree is also not necessarily the end of the licensure timeline: Minnesota's licensing board separately evaluates applicable examination and supervised-experience requirements (Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy).
An accelerated schedule may reduce time away from full-time earnings, but it can be difficult if internship hours conflict with work or caregiving. Before selecting one of the fastest clinical mental health counseling programs, request a term-by-term plan showing when placements start and how many hours per week they demand. A realistic completion date is more useful than an advertised minimum.
The meaningful difference is usually where academic instruction takes place, not whether students need supervised practice. Use the comparison below to identify which format fits your work schedule and access to clinical sites.
Decision factor
Online program
On-campus program
Course attendance
Remote classes may reduce commuting; live sessions or occasional visits may still be required.
Scheduled campus attendance can provide regular in-person contact but limits geographic flexibility.
Clinical training
Supervised work still takes place at an approved site; local placement support is critical.
Supervised work still requires an approved site, which may be connected to campus-area networks.
Best fit
Students who need remote coursework and can arrange suitable local clinical hours.
Students who prefer regular face-to-face instruction or want a campus-centered schedule.
The common mistake is equating "online" with "never travel." Ask about residencies, synchronous meetings, placement travel, and supervision arrangements in writing. Whichever format you choose, assess its curriculum against Minnesota licensure rules rather than assuming delivery mode determines eligibility (Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy).
There is no single reliable statewide average that captures the full price of an online, licensure-oriented clinical mental health counseling master's. Published graduate tuition may cover coursework but omit fees, travel for any required visits, books, and expenses associated with clinical placement. Public and private institutions may also use different tuition structures; an online student should not assume that Minnesota residency automatically brings an in-state rate.
For a useful comparison, obtain each school's current per-credit or program tuition, required credits, mandatory fees, and estimated clinical-related expenses. Then compare the net amount you expect to pay after aid. The most affordable clinical mental health counseling programs can help build a shortlist, but the lowest advertised tuition is not necessarily the lowest total cost if a program takes longer or requires substantial travel.
Start with the FAFSA and each school's graduate financial aid office. Eligible students may be considered for federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans; institutions may also offer scholarships, assistantships, or other graduate funding. Federal aid depends on the student's eligibility and enrollment in an eligible program at a participating institution (Federal Student Aid). Ask whether employer tuition assistance can apply to the degree and whether any clinical placement will reduce your paid working hours.
Graduate PLUS rules require particular care for students starting in 2027. Under federal changes taking effect in 2026, new graduate borrowers generally cannot rely on Graduate PLUS as a financing option; certain students who previously borrowed for the same program may qualify under transition rules (Federal Student Aid). Confirm your own status with the financial aid office before building a budget around that loan. Avoid accepting an aid offer without checking the total borrowing required through graduation and the likely repayment burden relative to your current income.
Programs generally require a completed bachelor's degree and an application that may include transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, or an interview. Specific GPA rules, prerequisite courses, and admissions deadlines belong to the individual institution; confirm them on its current admissions page. Having an unrelated undergraduate major does not necessarily rule out counseling, but a program may expect preparation in areas such as psychology or statistics.
Admission is only the first screening question. Before applying, ask whether the degree's coursework and supervised training are designed to satisfy the Minnesota license you want, whether the institution and program hold the accreditation relevant to your plans, and whether transfer credits can replace any required courses. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredits eligible counseling programs; institutional accreditation is a separate matter (CACREP; U.S. Department of Education). If you are exploring the easiest clinical mental health counseling programs to enter, do not mistake a simpler admissions process for an easier route to licensure.
Licensure-oriented curricula commonly cover counseling theories, ethics, assessment, diagnosis, human development, group counseling, research, and supervised practicum and internship work. These subjects build different abilities: assessment and diagnosis support clinical decisions, while ethics and supervised practice help students apply them responsibly with clients. Actual course titles and required experiences vary by program (CACREP; Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy).
Read the course sequence rather than just the catalog summary. A program that schedules key clinical courses infrequently could extend a part-time student's degree, while an internship scheduled during standard working hours could affect employment. Ask an advisor to identify which courses address each Minnesota education requirement and whether any transferred course must meet a specific content or recency standard.
Specializations may focus on addiction counseling, trauma, child and adolescent counseling, or other clinical populations, depending on the school. For example, Walden University identifies an addiction counseling specialization within its clinical mental health counseling master's. Such options can help you select electives and placements that match a career interest, but a specialization name is not an additional license or certification (Walden University; Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy).
Choose the core licensure pathway first. Then ask whether a specialization changes required credits, tuition, time to completion, or available placements. If you primarily want to work in schools rather than clinical mental health settings, compare a school-counseling pathway and its separate credential requirements instead of assuming that a clinical elective will prepare you for the same role.
The best choice is the program you can complete at a manageable net cost that also supports your intended license and clinical training location. Use the ranking to narrow options, then ask each finalist for evidence that addresses your own circumstances.
These checks turn a general comparison into a practical enrollment decision:
Identify the Minnesota license you intend to pursue and compare the program's written curriculum and training plan with current board requirements.
Verify institutional accreditation, any claimed CACREP program accreditation, and whether the school participates in the federal aid programs you may need.
Request an itemized total-cost estimate and a realistic full-time or part-time course sequence, including fieldwork and any required travel.
Ask who finds clinical sites, which sites are approved near you, and what support is available if a placement is delayed.
Request recent program-specific completion and employment outcomes, including their reporting period, and compare them with your current earnings and likely borrowing.
For return on investment, consider aid, debt, the probability of finishing, lost earnings or reduced work hours, and the time between graduation and licensure. A program that appears cheaper on tuition alone may be a poor fit if you cannot complete its clinical requirements locally.
View the chart data as a table
Annual earnings-to-program-cost ratio by program (Source: Research.com)
Category
Value
Walden University
0.844
Minnesota State Universi
1.176
Crown College
1.216
A clinical mental health counseling master's can support a path toward supervised counseling practice and, after meeting applicable requirements, independent clinical work under the relevant Minnesota license. Potential areas of practice include outpatient mental health care, community-based services, and substance-use counseling. Job titles and permitted activities depend on the credential held and the employer's requirements (Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
A prospective student should work backward from the desired role. If your goal is psychotherapy, investigate the LPCC education and post-degree pathway before enrolling. If you want an addiction-focused role, examine both clinical mental health preparation and any separate substance-use credential requirements. If you do not want to provide counseling or complete supervised clinical training, a different graduate degree or a shorter nonclinical credential may offer a better fit.
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 points to expanding demand in the occupation, but it is a U.S. projection - not a forecast for each Minnesota community or a guarantee of a job after graduation.
For a local search, look at actual postings in the area where you plan to practice and note the license, supervision status, schedule, and population each employer requests. Compare opportunities near your intended clinical placement as well as near home: a placement can help you understand the local market, while a degree completed online does not remove location-specific hiring or licensing requirements. Demand is a reason to investigate the field, not a reason to overlook program cost or the time required to become eligible for your preferred role.
2027 Most Valuable Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Minnesota
Investing in a counseling degree is a consequential decision, particularly when tuition and unpaid clinical training may affect a student's finances. Research.com's team uses education and program data to make its rankings more consistent, credible, and useful for comparing options. Its counseling rankings consider graduate outcomes, applicable licensure exam results, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and cost; readers should still confirm current details with each school.
The ranking draws on these data sources:
IPEDS database - institutional reporting on enrollment, completion, and other education measures.
Peterson's database - program and institutional information used in school comparisons.
For the Best counseling ranking, a graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score weights program completion at 40%, employment or doctoral admission at 20%, an applicable licensure exam pass rate at 20%, CACREP programmatic accreditation at 16%, and institutional Title IV eligibility at 4%. Weights are redistributed when a criterion does not apply. Cost contributes about 7% of the final Best score; other named rankings emphasize the dimension their names describe. The same approach applies to online and on-campus programs. See Research.com's methodology for more detail. The practical benefit is a starting point for comparison - not a substitute for checking a program's current price, delivery requirements, and fit with your intended license.
# 1 position
Crown College
Master
Master of Arts in Counseling
Delivery mode: hybrid
28.90
/ 100
Final score
Program length
full time ... can complete the program in three years
Specialization
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Required credits
60 semester credits
GPA range
3.00 - 4.00
Application process
direct
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university with transcripts on file; minimum GPA of 3.0 for previous post-secondary coursework (case-by-case review below 3.0).
Additional requirements
3-4 page paper answering program prompts; 1.5-2 hour Virtual Group Interview with Faculty; 2 references (one pastoral, one from another category).
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Crown College earned a Research.com Value Score of 28.9/100, supported by $50,088 median earnings and $41,200 total cost (tuition and fees). The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2034-10-31.
# 2 position
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Master
Master of Science in Counseling – Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Delivery mode: online
27.60
/ 100
Final score
Program length
two years for full-time students
Specialization
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Required credits
60 semester credits
GPA range
3.00 - 4.00
Program completion rate
86% (2024-25)
Employment or doctoral admission
100% (2024-25)
Application deadline
Summer: February 1
Application process
GradCAS
Prerequisites
Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution; no specific major required.
Additional requirements
GradCAS application, resume, unofficial transcripts, three letters of recommendation, ~350-word career goals essay, criminal background check, $50 application fee.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Minnesota State University Moorhead earned a Research.com Value Score of 27.6/100, supported by $48,510 median earnings and 86% program completion rate. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2032-10-31.
# 3 position
Walden University
Master
MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Delivery mode: online
17.20
/ 100
Final score
Program length
Finish in as few as 33 months
Specialization
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Program completion rate
40%
Licensure exam pass rate
63% (2024-25)
Application deadline
rolling
Application process
direct
GRE
no
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in any area of study; applicant must be 21+ (or under 21 with at least 12 quarter credits, or an active military member/veteran).
Additional requirements
Completed online application and official transcripts; no application fee; no SAT/ACT/GRE required.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Walden University earned a Research.com Value Score of 17.2/100, supported by $48,538 median earnings and 63% licensure exam pass rate. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2033-10-31.
Frequently asked questions about online Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree in Minnesota
Can I become an LPCC in Minnesota with an online degree?
Possibly. Minnesota's licensing board evaluates the degree, required coursework, supervised experience, examinations, and other applicable criteria - not simply whether classes were online. Confirm the program's fit with the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy before enrolling.
Are online counseling master's degrees entirely remote?
Usually not. Coursework may be online, but supervised clinical training takes place at an approved practice site. Some programs also require scheduled live classes or visits.
Is CACREP accreditation the same as institutional accreditation?
No. CACREP accredits eligible counseling programs, while institutional accreditation applies to the institution. Check both statuses and ask how the program meets your intended state license's education rules.
Should I choose the cheapest or fastest program?
Not automatically. Compare net total cost, clinical placement access, a realistic completion schedule, and licensure fit. A low tuition quote or short advertised timeline may exclude expenses or assume a pace you cannot maintain.
Does a counseling master's degree automatically grant a Minnesota license?
No. The degree is one part of a licensing pathway. The Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy determines the applicable education, examination, and supervised-experience requirements.
