2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in North Carolina

A doctorate does not carry a single salary. The closest comparison depends on whether a graduate becomes a counselor educator, practices clinically, or moves into another role. These U.S. occupational medians use May 2025 pay data, not North Carolina doctoral-alumni salaries (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections).

The counselor-education figure is more relevant to an aspiring faculty member than the clinical figure, but it should not be treated as a post-Ph.D. starting salary. Compare any credible pay increase with your current earnings, foregone income during study, and the jobs available where you are willing to live.

The clearest first comparison is each doctorate's stated academic focus and delivery information. The distinctions below identify which program warrants a closer look for a particular goal; applicants should confirm current curricula, faculty availability, funding, and outcomes directly with each department.

• University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Its Ph.D. is titled Counseling and Counselor Education (UNC Greensboro program information). That combined framing makes it a useful starting point for applicants who want to examine both advanced counseling scholarship and preparation to teach counselors; ask which current faculty can supervise your proposed dissertation.
• North Carolina A&T State University: Its doctorate is specifically identified as Counselor Education and Supervision (NC A&T graduate-program information). Applicants targeting supervision or counselor-educator work should compare its required supervised teaching and supervision experiences with their existing professional background.
• East Carolina University: Its Ph.D. is titled Counselor Preparation and Research (East Carolina University degree information). The explicit research emphasis makes dissertation mentoring and opportunities to join faculty projects especially important questions for an applicant pursuing a research-oriented career.
• North Carolina State University at Raleigh: Its doctoral program is identified as Counseling and Counselor Education within the university's graduate education offerings (NC State College of Education program information). Applicants interested in an education-school setting should investigate how doctoral teaching and research assignments connect to their intended faculty or leadership role.
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte: The university explicitly identifies its Counselor Education and Supervision Ph.D. as on campus (UNC Charlotte academic-program information). That stated format is a practical distinction for working counselors: confirm required campus attendance and whether employment can fit around it before comparing price.

A program name or format is not an outcome measure. Request recent doctoral completion information, typical funding terms, and graduate destinations in comparable formats before deciding that one option offers better value.

Plan for roughly three to five years of full-time doctoral study after a relevant master's degree, with longer timelines possible for part-time enrollment or extended dissertation work. This is a planning range, not a promised completion time: required credits, transfer policies, field experiences, and dissertation milestones are program-specific.

Ask each department for its published course sequence and recent time-to-degree information. An apparently shorter program may cost more if it requires leaving paid work; a longer, funded route may be more manageable financially.

Online coursework can reduce commuting or relocation, but a counseling doctorate may still require scheduled meetings, supervision activities, campus visits, or locally arranged experiences. An on-campus program can simplify access to faculty projects and teaching assignments but may require a work or housing change. Verify the actual attendance schedule rather than relying on an "online" label.

For anyone seeking clinical licensure, format is a separate question from eligibility: North Carolina's licensing board evaluates applicable education and other requirements, not whether a degree was earned on campus. Ask a prospective program to document how its coursework and supervised experiences align with the license you want (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).

There is no single reliable average price that describes these doctorates: published tuition may be quoted per credit or term, and it does not show how many funded years a student receives. For a useful comparison, request each program's current tuition and mandatory fees, required credits, expected enrollment period, and written assistantship or tuition-remission terms. Check North Carolina resident and nonresident rates separately where applicable (institutional tuition schedules; NCES/IPEDS).

Total cost matters more than sticker tuition. Add travel or relocation, books, unpaid professional activities, and income you would give up. The most affordable counseling programs can help narrow a price-focused search, but compare net costs under offers you are actually eligible to receive.

Departmental teaching or research assistantships, fellowships, tuition remission, employer assistance, and eligible federal graduate loans are potential funding sources. Availability and renewal conditions vary by program and student; federal loan eligibility depends on the current rules and the student's circumstances (Federal Student Aid; individual graduate schools).

Ask for a written offer showing stipend, tuition coverage, fees, workload, duration, and summer support. Before borrowing, compare the full projected debt with your current salary and a realistic target job - not a national occupational median treated as a guaranteed outcome. Check award eligibility carefully: a North Carolina aid program that supports undergraduates should not be assumed to fund doctoral study.

Applicants commonly need a relevant master's degree, graduate transcripts, recommendations, a statement of research and career interests, and evidence of counseling-related preparation. Departments may also request interviews, writing samples, or particular professional experience; their published admissions pages, rather than a statewide rule, determine the requirements.

Check whether your master's coursework meets a program's prerequisites and whether any prior graduate credits can transfer. Admission is not clinical licensure: if becoming a licensed clinical mental health counselor is your goal, compare your education separately against North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors requirements, including applicable supervised experience and examinations.

Typical doctoral work covers advanced counseling theory, counselor supervision, teaching and pedagogy, quantitative or qualitative research, professional ethics, and dissertation research. Programs may also require practicum, internship, or other supervised professional activities. The specific course map matters more than a familiar course title: compare who supervises the work and whether assignments produce teaching experience, publishable research, or preparation for the role you want.

Students may focus their research or supervised work on areas such as clinical mental health, school counseling, addiction, rehabilitation, or counselor supervision, depending on available faculty and approved program options. A dissertation topic or faculty interest is not necessarily a formal concentration. Ask whether a specialization appears on the transcript, changes required courses, or affects eligibility for a credential before using it to compare schools.

Start with the position you want after graduation, then work backward to the training it requires. A ranking can build a shortlist; the best personal fit depends on evidence a broad score cannot fully capture. The most valuable counseling programs provide another comparison lens, but value also depends on your funding and career starting point.

Use these checks when contacting departments:

1. Confirm the credential: distinguish a counselor-education doctorate from the master's-level preparation and separate steps needed for your intended North Carolina license.
2. Verify accreditation: check the current program listing with CACREP, the institution's recognized accreditation, and whether either is relevant to your intended credential (CACREP; U.S. Department of Education).
3. Test faculty fit: identify a potential dissertation mentor and ask whether they expect to take new doctoral students.
4. Compare complete offers: obtain required attendance, time-to-degree information, transferable-credit rules, fees, and guaranteed versus competitive funding in writing.
5. Request outcomes: ask where recent graduates work and how many completed the doctorate; treat missing or selectively reported results as a reason to investigate further.

A common mistake is choosing on tuition or ranking position alone while overlooking an unfunded dissertation period. Another is assuming that CACREP recognition, a doctorate, or online delivery automatically establishes state license eligibility; verify each claim against the relevant program and board.

The clearest doctorate-specific path is counselor education: teaching, supervising trainees, conducting research, and contributing to academic program administration. Other possibilities include clinical supervision and organizational leadership for appropriately credentialed counselors. Clinical practice itself generally calls for the applicable professional license; the doctorate does not replace that separate authorization (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).

Ask whether the role you want routinely requires a doctorate. If you chiefly want to begin counseling clients, a licensure-aligned master's may be the more direct route. If you already practice and want to teach or shape how counselors are trained, the doctorate may offer a better match.

The national outlook differs sharply by occupation: projected employment growth is 2.5% for counselor-education-related roles and 18% for clinical mental health counseling roles over 2025-2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections). Faster clinical growth does not mean that faculty openings will be plentiful, or that a doctorate is necessary to compete for clinical jobs.

For a North Carolina job search, compare actual faculty vacancies with clinical and supervisory postings in the communities where you would live. Check required licenses and teaching qualifications in each posting. The most popular counseling programs can show another way to explore schools, but enrollment interest should not be mistaken for local employer demand.

Investing in a doctorate is a consequential decision, so Research.com designed its counseling rankings to make program comparisons more transparent. The team evaluated graduate outcomes, applicable licensure-exam results, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and cost, while accounting for criteria that do not apply to every program.

For the Best ranking, a graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), licensure-exam pass rates where applicable (20%), CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Applicable shares are renormalized when a criterion does not apply. Program cost contributes a smaller component - about 7% of the final score. The same approach applies to online and on-campus programs; other Research.com counseling rankings order programs by the dimension named in their titles.

The ranking draws on the following data sources to check institutional characteristics, outcomes, and costs:

• IPEDS database - institutional enrollment, completion, and price information.
• Peterson's database - program and institutional information.
• College Scorecard database - federal institutional outcomes and aid information.
• National Center for Education Statistics - federal education data and definitions.

These measures offer a starting point, not a substitute for checking a department's current funding offer, faculty fit, and doctoral requirements. Readers can find further details on Research.com's methodology.

• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Virginia
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Georgia
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Tennessee
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Kentucky
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Florida
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Pennsylvania
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Ohio
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Mississippi
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in New Jersey
• 2027 Best Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in New York

• 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/
• Counseling Compact - Participating States
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://counselingcompact.org/
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - PhD in Counseling and Counselor Education
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.uncg.edu/degrees/counseling-and-counselor-education-ph-d/
• North Carolina A & T State University - Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.ncat.edu/academics/graduate-programs/ced/counselor-education-and-supervision.php
• East Carolina University - PhD in Counselor Preparation and Research
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://degrees.ecu.edu/degree/counselor-preparation-and-research-phd/
• North Carolina State University at Raleigh - Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development - Concentration in Counseling and Counselor Education
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://ced.ncsu.edu/graduate/programs/doctoral/counseling-and-counselor-education/
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://academics.charlotte.edu/program/counselor-education-and-supervision-ph-d-on-campus/