2027 Best Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Jackson

Pay depends on the occupation, employer, experience, and license - not the degree title by itself. 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). That national occupational median is a benchmark for comparing career paths, not a Jackson starting salary or a forecast of your earnings.

If your goal is school or rehabilitation counseling, use the matching occupation when evaluating pay rather than applying the mental health figure to every role. For a personal return-on-investment estimate, compare realistic post-degree earnings with what you already earn and subtract tuition, borrowing costs, and income you may give up during fieldwork.

The most useful differences are the kind of counseling each curriculum prepares you to practice and how that preparation fits your intended credential. These program-level distinctions are more informative than treating every counseling master's as interchangeable:

• Jackson State University counseling department: The department presents distinct counseling pathways rather than one undifferentiated degree (Jackson State University). Start here if you want to compare specialties within the same university before reviewing their separate course plans.
• Reformed Theological Seminary, Master of Arts in Counseling: This option places counselor preparation in a seminary context (Reformed Theological Seminary). It may appeal to applicants seeking that educational environment, but those pursuing Mississippi licensure should verify how its current coursework and placements satisfy board requirements.
• Jackson State University, clinical mental health counseling: The university publishes a dedicated master's curriculum for this specialty (Jackson State University). It is the more directly relevant JSU plan to examine if your goal is clinical mental health practice rather than rehabilitation counseling.
• Jackson State University, rehabilitation counseling: Its separately documented Master of Science pathway focuses the comparison on rehabilitation counseling (Jackson State University). Applicants interested in disability-related counseling and vocational goals should inspect this plan instead of assuming a clinical mental health curriculum covers the same preparation.

Published plans establish a program's intended focus, not its current licensure results. Request the latest catalog, fieldwork handbook, accreditation status, and any program-specific completion or exam outcomes before deciding.

A full-time bachelor's commonly takes about four years; a counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years after a bachelor's. Part-time enrollment can extend the master's timeline, and a placement may be harder to schedule around full-time employment than classroom courses. These are planning ranges, not published completion promises for a particular Jackson program.

Ask for a term-by-term plan showing when prerequisites, practicum, and internship occur. If accelerating would require leaving a job or delaying required fieldwork, a lower-cost part-time route could be the better investment even if graduation takes longer.

Online delivery can reduce commuting and make coursework easier to combine with work, but it does not eliminate supervised practice. An on-campus option may make scheduled classes and local placement coordination more straightforward for some Jackson students. Neither format is inherently better for licensure; the deciding questions are whether the curriculum meets Mississippi requirements and whether you can complete approved fieldwork where you live.

For any online program based outside Mississippi, ask the school for a written determination about Mississippi educational requirements and placement support. Do not assume that admitting Mississippi residents means the degree meets the state's licensing rules. Compare delivery formats on travel, placement availability, schedule, and total cost - not flexibility claims alone.

There is no single reliable Jackson-wide price for a counseling degree: bachelor's and master's programs, public and private nonprofit institutions, residency categories, and course loads have different charges. An advertised tuition rate is not the full cost. Budget for required fees, books, transportation, placement-related expenses, and any income lost when supervised work limits paid hours.

Ask each school for a current estimate covering the entire program, including the fieldwork terms, and compare that with your expected aid. Public-university applicants should confirm whether Mississippi residency changes their rate; seminary applicants should request the applicable program-specific schedule. Research.com's most affordable counseling programs can help form a cost-conscious shortlist, but verify current charges with each institution.

Start with each school's financial aid office and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Eligible students may have access to federal loans, institutional grants or scholarships, and, where available, assistantships; eligibility and amounts depend on the student and institution (Federal Student Aid; U.S. Department of Education). Ask whether an award continues during internship terms and whether part-time enrollment changes it.

Mississippi residents should also check current state-aid eligibility rather than assuming every award covers graduate study. Compare net cost and likely debt, not the largest scholarship headline. A useful follow-up is whether the program can document completion and career outcomes for students with a work schedule like yours.

A counseling master's generally requires a completed bachelor's degree; schools may also request transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, and an interview. Specific undergraduate coursework, admission thresholds, and application requirements vary, so use the current program admissions page rather than a general university checklist (Jackson State University; Reformed Theological Seminary).

Admissions eligibility is separate from eventual licensure eligibility. Before applying, send the program your intended career goal and ask how its curriculum aligns with the current Mississippi State Board of Examiners for Licensed Professional Counselors rules - or Mississippi Department of Education rules if you intend to work as a school counselor. Applicants with prior graduate coursework should also ask which credits may transfer and whether transferred courses satisfy specialty requirements.

Practice-oriented counseling curricula commonly cover helping relationships, human development, assessment, ethics, multicultural counseling, and supervised clinical skills. The specialty changes the emphasis: clinical mental health study centers on behavioral health practice, while rehabilitation counseling addresses disability and vocational concerns (Jackson State University program curricula). Compare required courses - not electives alone - against the work you want to do.

Request the latest course sequence and fieldwork handbook. They will show whether needed classes are offered often enough for your timeline and whether supervised placements can match your preferred client population.

The clearest documented distinction among the Jackson options discussed here is between clinical mental health and rehabilitation counseling at Jackson State University, alongside the Master of Arts in Counseling at Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson State University; Reformed Theological Seminary). School counseling, addiction counseling, and marriage and family therapy are related career directions, but do not assume every local counseling degree offers each as a formal track or meets its separate credential rules.

Choose a specialty by working backward from the client group and job title you want. If those are still uncertain, examine required placements and speak with program staff before committing to a narrow pathway.

The best choice is the program that credibly supports your intended work at a cost and pace you can sustain. Use rankings to identify candidates, then ask each school for evidence on these decision points:

1. Credential fit: Confirm the current degree, coursework, accreditation status, examinations, and post-degree supervision required by the relevant Mississippi authority; ask the school to identify any gaps.
2. Placement fit: Request recent examples of approved sites serving the population you hope to counsel and ask who secures and supervises placements.
3. Financial fit: Get an all-in program estimate, aid terms, expected completion schedule, and any effect fieldwork could have on your income.
4. Outcome evidence: Ask for program-level completion and relevant licensure-exam results, including the reporting period and number of students represented.

A common mistake is choosing the lowest tuition or highest rank without checking whether the degree supports the desired credential. Research.com's most valuable counseling programs offer another comparison lens, but your own return depends on completion probability, debt, foregone earnings, likely post-degree income, and how long you expect to work in the field.

Clinical mental health counseling is a path for readers who want to work with people experiencing mental health concerns; rehabilitation counseling suits those drawn to disability-related and vocational support. School counseling is oriented toward students' academic and personal development. These roles can require different graduate preparation and credentials, even when their job titles sound similar (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Mississippi State Board of Examiners for Licensed Professional Counselors; Mississippi Department of Education).

A bachelor's graduate considering a related support role should not assume it has the same scope as licensed counseling. Conversely, someone who wants a counseling career but cannot accommodate supervised fieldwork should investigate that scheduling constraint before enrolling in a practice-focused master's. The most popular counseling programs may show where students are enrolling, but popularity cannot establish fit for a particular career.

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 national demand for the occupation, not a count of Jackson openings. Local opportunities will depend on employers' hiring needs, your specialty, supervised-experience status, and willingness to work across settings.

For a Jackson-specific reality check, review current postings at the types of healthcare, school, and community organizations where you hope to work. Record which credentials they actually require. If postings consistently specify a license or school credential you will not hold at graduation, include the additional supervision or certification period in your career and financial plan.

Investing in a counseling education is a consequential decision. Research.com designed this ranking to help readers compare programs using documented outcomes, accreditation, and cost rather than reputation alone. The team checks the quality and applicability of its data; readers should still confirm current program details directly with each school.

The Best ranking begins with a graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score: program completion carries 40%, employment or doctoral admission 20%, licensure exam pass rate 20% where applicable, CACREP programmatic accreditation 16%, and federal Title IV institutional eligibility 4%. Weights are renormalized when a measure does not apply. Program cost contributes a smaller component - about 7% of the final score. The same approach applies to online and campus programs; other Research.com rankings order programs by the dimension named in their titles.

The ranking draws on these sources to evaluate programs and cross-check institutional information:

• IPEDS database: institutional enrollment, completions, and cost information.
• 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.

Use the ranking to build a shortlist, then test each option against your intended license, field-placement needs, and likely net cost. Research.com explains its broader ranking practices on its methodology page.

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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
• Jackson State University - Master of Science in Education: School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.jsums.edu/commcounseling/
• Reformed Theological Seminary - Master of Arts in Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://rts.edu/degree/mac/
• Jackson State University - Counseling (M.S.) Concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.jsums.edu/commcounseling/files/2021/04/Masters-in-Clinical-Mental-Health-Counseling.pdf
• Jackson State University - Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.jsums.edu/commcounseling/files/2021/04/Master-of-Science-Rehabilitation-Counseling-CURRENT.pdf