2027 Best Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Denver

Pay depends on occupation, credential, employer, and experience. The table shows U.S. occupational medians for May 2025, not Denver starting salaries or earnings attributable to a particular degree. It is most useful for comparing career directions before assessing a program's price (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook).

A higher occupational median does not necessarily mean a better return on tuition. Compare the occupation you can realistically enter, the time until you can practice independently, and the earnings you would give up while studying. Request current Denver-area placement and employment information from each program rather than applying national medians to an individual job offer.

The clearest distinction between these options is the career setting each degree is designed around. Check current catalogs and Colorado credential rules before treating either program's curriculum as a complete licensure determination (University of Colorado Denver; Regis University; Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

• University of Colorado Denver - MA in School Counseling: This is the more directly school-focused option of the two. Its named school counseling pathway is worth examining first if your goal is to serve K-12 students; ask how its coursework and placements map to Colorado school counselor authorization.
• Regis University - Master of Arts in Counseling: Regis presents a broader counseling degree rather than the school-specific MA identified above. That makes its current track and course requirements especially important to verify if your goal is clinical practice: ask which Colorado credential its chosen pathway is designed to support and how the required supervised training is arranged.

Neither program should be selected on its title alone. Obtain the current credit requirements, total price, fieldwork details, accreditation status, and applicable graduate outcomes directly from both schools before comparing value.

Plan on roughly 2-3 years of full-time study for a counseling master's, with part-time study generally taking longer. The meaningful comparison is not just total credits: course sequencing, when students can enter practicum, and the availability of internship sites can determine the actual graduation date.

Working applicants should ask for a term-by-term plan that includes fieldwork hours and whether required courses run every term. An accelerated classroom schedule offers little benefit if it leaves too little time for supervised placement or conflicts with paid work.

Online delivery can reduce commuting to class, while campus study may make scheduled skills practice and local peer connections easier. Neither format removes supervised fieldwork. An online student still needs suitable placements and supervision, and a program serving students in several states may not automatically satisfy Colorado's credential requirements (Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

Compare the practical requirements: live-session times, any in-person intensives, who finds a Denver-area placement, and whether the school confirms in writing that the curriculum is designed for your intended Colorado credential. Choose the format that lets you complete both coursework and fieldwork, not merely the one with the most convenient lectures.

There is no single reliable Denver-wide price for a counseling master's: schools charge by credit or term, and total cost changes with the required credit load, residency classification where applicable, fees, and time to completion. National graduate tuition averages also do not describe a particular counseling program's bill. Use each school's current published charges and financial aid offer for a decision-specific estimate (National Center for Education Statistics; institutional tuition schedules).

Compare total program cost, not advertised per-credit tuition alone. Include required summer enrollment, books, placement travel, and income lost if fieldwork reduces paid hours. The most affordable counseling programs can provide a cost-focused shortlist; confirm what each published price includes before deciding which option costs less for you.

Eligible graduate students can investigate federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, institutional scholarships or assistantships, employer tuition support, and any aid for which they qualify through their school. Submit the FAFSA and ask each financial aid office for a program-length estimate, including how summer fieldwork affects enrollment and aid eligibility (Federal Student Aid; institutional financial aid offices).

Do not assume a new graduate student can use a Graduate PLUS Loan. Under rules taking effect July 1, 2026, new graduate borrowers generally cannot receive new Graduate PLUS Loans. A limited transition applies to qualifying students who were enrolled in the same program and had received a Direct Loan for it before that date; continued eligibility is time-limited. Ask the aid office to verify your own borrowing status and current limits before accepting an offer (Federal Student Aid).

Programs generally require a bachelor's degree and may request transcripts, references, a statement of purpose, an interview, or relevant prerequisite coursework. Requirements differ by school and can change by admission cycle, so consult the current program application rather than assuming that experience in education or behavioral health substitutes for an academic requirement (University of Colorado Denver; Regis University).

If you have previous graduate credit, request a written transfer-credit evaluation before committing. A transferred class may reduce tuition without replacing a required counseling course or supervised experience. Applicants changing careers should also ask whether placements require background checks or schedules they can realistically meet.

Expect training in counseling theory and techniques, ethics, multicultural counseling, human development, assessment, and research, followed by supervised practice. Clinical pathways may emphasize diagnosis and treatment planning; school pathways may emphasize student development and counseling within educational systems (University of Colorado Denver; Regis University).

Compare required courses, not just appealing electives. Colorado credential review may depend on the content of the completed degree, while an employer or placement site may expect particular skills. Ask the program for a curriculum-to-credential explanation if its catalog uses broad course titles (Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

Common directions include clinical mental health, school, addiction, marriage and family, and rehabilitation counseling. These are not interchangeable labels: marriage and family therapy, for example, has a distinct Colorado licensing pathway, while school counseling points toward education-sector authorization (Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

Start with the population and setting in which you want to work, then check the credential employers expect there. Someone seeking independent therapy practice should not choose a school-only curriculum solely because it is nearby; someone committed to K-12 schools should not assume a clinical mental health track covers school personnel requirements.

The best investment is the program that fits your intended credential, can be completed on your schedule, and leaves a manageable financial burden - not necessarily the highest-ranked or lowest-tuition option. Use the ranking to form a shortlist, then take these steps before applying.

1. Name the job and Colorado credential you want; check requirements with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies or Colorado Department of Education, as applicable.
2. Ask each program to document how its current curriculum, accreditation, and fieldwork support that credential. Check CACREP status at the program level if it matters to your goal (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs).
3. Request a term-by-term completion plan, placement process, full cost estimate, and available program-level completion and licensure-exam outcomes.
4. Compare net cost, likely debt, forgone earnings, completion probability, and plausible post-degree earnings over the same time horizon. Discounting future earnings makes a longer route or delayed licensure more consequential.

The most valuable counseling programs offer another comparison lens. A common mistake is treating a value ranking or salary median as a personal return-on-investment calculation; neither knows your aid offer, current salary, or intended job.

A graduate might pursue supervised clinical counseling work and later seek independent Colorado licensure, work toward school counselor authorization, or enter a specialty such as addiction counseling. The sequence differs by occupation: a relevant degree is one step, while supervised experience, examinations, and state approval may be separate steps (Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

For a career changer, it may make sense to work in a related human-services setting while exploring the field, but an entry-level support role is not the same as licensed counseling. If your goal is primarily case management, student support, or another role that does not require counselor credentials, compare its hiring requirements before paying for a licensure-oriented master's.

National demand is strongest among the counseling occupations aligned with mental health and addiction: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% employment growth from 2025 to 2035 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors. Its projection for school and career counselors is 3% over the same period. These are U.S. occupational projections, not forecasts of Denver openings or entry-level hiring.

For a local decision, ask programs where recent students completed placements and what types of employers hired them. Examine current openings for the credential, supervision status, and schedule you will actually have at graduation. Strong national growth cannot compensate for a program that does not lead toward the qualification your preferred Denver-area employers require (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies; Colorado Department of Education).

Education is a significant investment. Research.com created this ranking to help readers compare counseling programs using documented measures rather than reputation alone. Its team reviews data quality and applicability, including whether a measure concerns a particular program or its institution, before combining the measures.

The Best ranking first 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%). Weights are renormalized when a criterion does not apply. Program cost then contributes a smaller component, about 7% of the final score. The method is the same for online and on-campus programs; other Research.com rankings order programs by the dimension named in their titles. A score helps narrow a shortlist, but it cannot establish that a degree meets an individual student's licensure needs.

The ranking draws on these sources to assess programs and institutions:

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

Readers can use the ranking to identify programs for closer review, then compare their current catalogs, costs, and credential pathways. See Research.com's methodology for more information about how the rankings are created.

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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 Colorado at Denver - Master of Arts in Counseling, School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://education.ucdenver.edu/academics/graduate/counseling/detail/school-counseling-ma
• Regis University - Master of Arts in Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://catalog.regis.edu/rueckert-hartman-college-health-professions/school-of-mental-and-behavioral-health/master-arts-counseling-mac/