2027 Best Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Greensboro

National wages provide a benchmark, not a Greensboro starting-salary estimate. The latest BLS figures used here refer to May 2025 median annual pay; growth figures describe projected national employment change from 2025 to 2035. These are occupational categories, not earnings reports for graduates of particular programs.

These differences make specialization consequential, but they do not establish that one Greensboro program has a better return. Compare the occupation you can realistically enter after completing the required credential steps, then ask schools for recent, program-specific employment and licensure-exam results (BLS; relevant North Carolina licensing boards).

The Greensboro programs below differ most clearly in the professional direction they name. Their published descriptions help identify a fit; applicants should still request current credit, fieldwork, cost, completion, and exam-outcome information before treating any option as the stronger investment.

• UNCG - M.S. in Counseling, school counseling concentration: This concentration identifies school counseling within the broader counseling master's. It is a focused option for someone seeking a school-based role rather than clinical practice; confirm its current North Carolina school-licensure pathway with the program (UNCG).
• UNCG - M.S. in Counseling, couple and family counseling concentration: Its explicit couple-and-family focus distinguishes it from the school and clinical mental health options in this group. It merits closer review if relationship and family work is your goal, particularly because eligibility for clinical mental health licensure and marriage and family therapy licensure must be checked separately (UNCG; relevant North Carolina licensing boards).
• UNCG - Ph.D. in Counseling and Counselor Education: This is a doctoral route rather than an entry-level practice master's. It fits applicants whose plans center on counseling research or educating future counselors; compare its faculty interests and doctoral requirements with your intended area of study (UNCG).
• North Carolina A&T - counselor education and supervision doctoral program: Supervision is explicit in this program's focus. That makes it particularly relevant to an experienced counselor planning to develop other practitioners, rather than someone seeking their first practice credential (North Carolina A&T State University).
• North Carolina A&T - mental health counseling program: Its stated mental health focus offers a more direct subject match for prospective clinical counselors than the school-focused options. Before applying, verify the current curriculum, supervised training, and North Carolina clinical licensure alignment (North Carolina A&T State University; North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).
• North Carolina A&T - school counseling program: This provides another local school-focused route to compare with UNCG's concentration. For a useful head-to-head decision, request each program's current field-placement arrangements, total cost, and confirmation of its North Carolina school-licensure pathway rather than assuming their structures are identical (North Carolina A&T State University; UNCG).

A full-time counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years; part-time study can take longer, especially when practicum and internship schedules must fit around work. A doctorate generally takes several additional years, with timing influenced by research and dissertation progress. Treat these as planning ranges, not promised completion times, and ask each Greensboro program for its current full-time and part-time course sequence.

For working adults, the critical scheduling question is often not when lectures meet but when supervised fieldwork must occur. Ask whether placements require weekday availability and whether you may arrange an approved site near your home or workplace.

Online study can reduce commuting and make scheduled coursework easier to manage; campus study can simplify access to in-person faculty, peers, and nearby placement contacts. Neither format removes supervised practice requirements. The better choice is the one whose teaching schedule and approved field placements you can actually complete.

For an online program outside Greensboro, check whether it accepts North Carolina students and documents how its curriculum and placements relate to your intended North Carolina credential. Do not assume an online degree qualifies you for licensure because the institution is accredited or accepts your application (relevant North Carolina licensing boards; institution admissions and licensure disclosures).

There is no single reliable price for a counseling degree in Greensboro: the relevant figure is your program's total cost over the time you expect to attend. Request a current estimate covering graduate tuition, mandatory fees, books, travel to placements, and any costs associated with required training. At a public university, confirm the residency classification used in the quote; the posted rate may not be your rate (UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

Use the most affordable counseling programs as a shortlist, then compare written net-cost estimates after aid. An apparently cheaper program can cost more overall if its schedule extends enrollment or requires you to reduce paid work. Published tuition is not a verified average for all local counseling programs.

Start with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and each university's graduate funding office. Eligible graduate students may be considered for federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans; assistantships, scholarships, and employer tuition support depend on the program and applicant. Ask whether an award renews and whether an assistantship's work hours conflict with clinical placements (Federal Student Aid; UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

Borrow against the full cost, not just first-year tuition. Before accepting aid, map expected borrowing and foregone earnings across the entire course and fieldwork schedule. North Carolina residency may affect public-university tuition, but it should not be assumed from a Greensboro mailing address alone (UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

Master's applicants generally need a bachelor's degree and must meet the program's current graduate admissions requirements; doctoral applicants should expect the school to evaluate prior graduate preparation and fit with its faculty and research aims. Requirements such as prerequisite coursework, references, interviews, or background checks vary, so use the current admissions page for the exact program and entry term (UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

Before applying, send the program your transcript and intended career credential. Ask which prior courses can transfer, whether transfer credit changes the graduation schedule, and whether the completed program - not merely an individual course - aligns with the relevant North Carolina board or school-licensure requirements.

Expect foundational work in counseling theories, human development, ethics, assessment, multicultural counseling, and research, followed by supervised practicum or internship. School-focused study adds preparation for work with pupils and school systems; clinical mental health study emphasizes clinical assessment and treatment; couple-and-family study centers relationship and family processes. Exact course titles and required field experiences vary by program (UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

Read the course sequence rather than relying on a concentration label. A required placement or course offered only at certain times can determine whether a program fits your work schedule and intended credential.

Greensboro's named options include school counseling and couple and family counseling at UNCG, mental health and school counseling at North Carolina A&T, and doctoral study in counselor education or supervision (UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University). These are different professional preparations, not simply elective bundles.

Choose school counseling if your goal is serving students in schools; choose a clinical mental health route if your goal is mental health practice. Explore the family-focused route if relationship work is central, but verify which license you seek. Doctoral study makes more sense after you have a clear reason to pursue research, teaching, or supervision.

Begin with the job and state credential you want, then work backward to the degree. Request written answers from each finalist on accreditation, credential alignment, supervised-placement availability, total cost, program length, and recent completion and exam outcomes. Verify any licensure claim with the appropriate North Carolina authority; institutional accreditation, CACREP programmatic recognition, certification, and state licensure are different things (CACREP; relevant North Carolina licensing boards; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction).

Use the most valuable counseling programs to broaden the comparison, but assess return on investment for your circumstances: aid, likely debt, time away from work, probability of completion, current earnings, possible post-degree earnings, and how long you expect to use the credential. A common mistake is choosing the lowest posted tuition without checking fieldwork feasibility - or choosing a highly ranked program whose pathway does not match the license you need.

At the master's level, possible paths include school counselor, clinical mental health counselor, and relationship- or family-focused practitioner, subject to the applicable education and credential rules. Some graduates instead work in related human-services roles while completing supervised experience. Doctoral study can support counselor education, research, and supervision, but it should not be treated as a required upgrade for every practicing counselor (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; relevant North Carolina licensing boards; UNCG; North Carolina A&T State University).

If you want to start helping clients without committing immediately to a graduate program, compare entry-level human-services roles first. They can help you test the setting, but they are not a substitute for the graduate education and other steps required for a licensed counseling role.

Nationally, BLS projects 18% employment growth from 2025 to 2035 for the occupation covering mental health and substance use counselors, compared with 3% for school counselors. That contrast supports researching clinical mental health demand, but national growth does not measure Greensboro openings or guarantee that a new graduate will find work locally (BLS).

For a local reality check, ask programs where recent students completed placements and where graduates found work. Review current openings for the exact credential you plan to earn, including whether employers require full licensure or accept an associate-level credential. If your desired placements or roles are scarce within a workable commute, that constraint should influence your program choice before you enroll.

Investing in a counseling degree is a consequential decision. Research.com designed its ranking to help readers compare programs using outcomes, credential-related measures, and cost rather than reputation alone. Its team checks multiple education datasets to improve the quality, credibility, and accuracy of those comparisons.

The ranking draws on these data sources:

• IPEDS database, for institution-reported education data.
• Peterson's database, for program and institution information.
• College Scorecard database, for federal institution-level information.
• National Center for Education Statistics, for federal education data and definitions.

For the Best ranking, a graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), applicable licensure exam pass rates (20%), applicable CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Shares are renormalized when a measure does not apply. Program cost contributes a smaller component - about 7% of the final score. The method applies to online and campus programs alike; other counseling rankings order programs by the dimension in their names. A ranking is a starting point, not a substitute for checking current tuition and credential eligibility with a school. See Research.com's methodology for more detail.

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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/
• Counseling Compact - Participating States
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://counselingcompact.org/
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - Counseling, M.S.
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.uncg.edu/degrees/counseling-m-s-school-counseling-concentration/
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - Counseling, M.S.
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.uncg.edu/degrees/counseling-m-s-couple-and-family-counseling-concentration/
• 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
• North Carolina A & T State University - M.S. in Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.ncat.edu/academics/graduate-programs/ced/mental-health-counseling.php