2027 Best Online Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Missouri

National occupational medians offer a benchmark, not an expected starting salary in Missouri. The following U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures refer to occupations associated with different counseling paths; they cover workers at multiple experience levels, not graduates of particular degrees.

These BLS occupation-level figures make the career-path choice more consequential than a small difference in advertised tuition. They do not establish that one degree will earn more than another: Missouri employer type, location, experience, work schedule, and credential status all matter. For an investment decision, compare likely earnings after required supervised experience with your current pay and expected debt - not with a national median alone.

The programs below point toward different credentials and student priorities. Their degree titles are useful screening clues, but prospective students should confirm each program's current online delivery, placement arrangements, accreditation status, and Missouri credential alignment directly with the institution.

• University of Central Missouri - MS in Counseling: Its broadly titled counseling degree makes track selection especially important. Ask which curriculum and placements correspond to your intended Missouri credential before comparing it with a degree explicitly named for clinical or school counseling (University of Central Missouri, counseling program page).
• Truman State University - MA in Counseling, School Counseling: This is the school-focused option among Truman's listed counseling paths. It is the more relevant one to investigate if your goal is working with pupils rather than pursuing clinical mental health practice; verify certification alignment and school-placement logistics (Truman State University, school counseling program page).
• Truman State University - MA in Counseling, Mental Health Counseling: The mental health focus directs the comparison toward clinical roles rather than school certification. Ask how its supervised training and curriculum map to Missouri professional counselor requirements (Truman State University, mental health counseling program page).
• Missouri Baptist University - MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Its expressly clinical degree is worth comparing on placement support and total cost if licensure-oriented mental health work is your goal. Confirm the current delivery format and whether any required campus visits fit your schedule (Missouri Baptist University, program page).
• Evangel University - MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: This clinical option gives applicants a direct comparison with Evangel's separate school counseling degree. Choose the clinical route only if its training and intended credential match the clients and settings you want to serve (Evangel University, clinical mental health counseling program page).
• Central Methodist University-College of Graduate and Extended Studies - MS in Clinical Counseling: The clinical-counseling title warrants a careful curriculum check against Missouri's professional counselor education rules. It may fit a student seeking clinical training, but the title alone does not establish licensure eligibility (Central Methodist University, program page).
• Evangel University - MS in School Counseling: This is Evangel's school-oriented alternative to its clinical mental health degree. Ask how school-based field placements and Missouri certification preparation work for online students in your area (Evangel University, school counseling program page).

A program can be a strong academic fit and still be impractical if its required placement is unavailable near you. Request written answers about format, fieldwork, and credential eligibility before treating any shortlist as final.

A counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years of full-time study; part-time enrollment can take longer. Your actual timeline depends on course sequencing, placement availability, and whether a program permits you to begin fieldwork on your preferred schedule. An accelerated classroom sequence offers limited benefit if a required internship cannot be completed sooner.

If speed matters, compare the fastest counseling programs by their published completion plans, then ask for a realistic schedule that includes fieldwork. Confirm how often required courses run and whether working students can complete placements without leaving their jobs.

Online and campus programs can teach the same counseling subjects, but they may differ substantially in how students practice skills, meet supervisors, and secure placements. Online study is most useful when commuting is the obstacle; campus study may be preferable when a student needs regular in-person access to faculty or local placement networks. Neither format alone establishes professional quality or licensure eligibility.

Ask an online program which meetings are synchronous, whether skills assessments require travel, and who is responsible for finding an approved Missouri site. For a campus program, ask whether its class and fieldwork schedules are compatible with your employment. Compare the answers against your actual weekly availability, not just the word "flexible" on a program page.

There is no single reliable price for the degree options described here: schools set different graduate rates, and a quoted per-credit price does not capture the number of required credits or fieldwork expenses. Without a comparable, current Missouri counseling-program cost dataset, an "average program cost" would risk misleading readers. Request each school's current full-program estimate rather than applying a general undergraduate tuition average (National Center for Education Statistics; institution tuition schedules).

Include tuition, mandatory fees, books, travel for any campus sessions, background checks or other placement charges, and income you may give up during fieldwork. Ask whether residency changes the rate at a public institution and whether online students pay a separate rate. The most affordable counseling programs can help you build a shortlist, but compare final out-of-pocket cost after aid - not the lowest advertised tuition alone.

Start with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and confirm that both the institution and your enrollment qualify for the aid you intend to use. Eligible graduate students may be considered for federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans; grants commonly available to undergraduates should not be assumed to cover a counseling master's. Check current federal loan terms and limits with Federal Student Aid before committing (Federal Student Aid).

Then ask each school about graduate assistantships, institutional scholarships, employer tuition benefits, and payment plans. Missouri-specific aid programs can have residency, institution, or degree-level restrictions, so check eligibility rather than assuming an award available to undergraduates applies to graduate study (Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development). A lower-cost program is not necessarily the better financial choice if its schedule substantially delays completion or reduces your ability to work.

A completed bachelor's degree is the usual starting point for a counseling master's application. Schools set their own rules for prior psychology coursework, grades, recommendations, essays, interviews, and any prerequisite classes; a psychology major is not automatically required. Check the current admissions page for each program rather than treating another school's checklist as universal (institution admissions requirements).

Admission is also a poor proxy for credential eligibility. Before applying, send the program your intended career and state of practice and ask how its curriculum, accreditation, and supervised training relate to that state's rules. If you already hold graduate credits, request a written transfer-credit evaluation: accepted credits may reduce classroom time without replacing required program-specific fieldwork. The easiest counseling programs may help you explore admissions options, but the right choice must still meet your career requirements.

Clinical counseling study commonly covers counseling techniques, ethics, assessment, human development, research, and supervised practice. School counseling adds preparation tied to student development and school settings. The precise course titles matter less than whether the full curriculum - and its fieldwork - fits the credential you plan to pursue (Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors; Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

Ask for a degree plan showing when practicum and internship occur. If you work full time, identify the first term in which daytime placement hours could conflict with your job. That check often reveals a more important scheduling constraint than the online class timetable.

The most important distinction in this set of options is between clinical mental health and school counseling. Programs may also offer electives or training related to substance use, couples and families, or particular client populations, but an elective is not the same as a separate degree, professional certification, or license.

Choose a specialization by working backward from the position you want. Read Missouri job postings for that role, identify the credential employers request, and ask programs to show where the required coursework and supervised experience appear in their degree plan. If your goal is marriage and family therapy or another separately regulated profession, verify that pathway with its relevant licensing authority rather than assuming a general counseling concentration will suffice.

The best program is the one you can complete at a defensible cost while preparing for your intended credential. Use the ranking to identify candidates, then ask each school for written answers to the checks that can change your decision:

1. Confirm whether the degree prepares students for Missouri professional counselor licensure, school counselor certification, or another stated goal; ask what requirements remain after graduation (Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors; Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).
2. Check institutional accreditation and any claimed programmatic accreditation with the accreditor, including the status of the specific program and delivery option (U.S. Department of Education; Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs).
3. Get the complete cost, realistic completion schedule, transfer-credit decision, and a description of who secures and approves local placements.
4. Ask for recent program-level completion and applicable exam outcomes, with their reporting periods, and request clarification if a school offers only institution-wide figures.

A useful return-on-investment comparison considers aid, debt, the chance of finishing, time away from paid work, your current earnings, possible earnings after credentialing, and how long you expect to work in the field. The most valuable counseling programs offer another comparison point, but no ranking can know your placement options or finances. Treat unverified licensure claims and vague fieldwork support as red flags.

A clinical mental health path may begin with supervised counseling work and progress as the graduate satisfies the state's requirements for professional licensure. A school counseling path targets school-based positions and Missouri educator certification. Related work in addiction services or community programs may have role-specific hiring and credential requirements (Missouri Committee for Professional Counselors; Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Graduation, certification, and licensure are separate milestones. A degree can establish part of an education requirement without completing required supervised experience or examinations. If you expect to move after graduation, check the destination state's board before enrolling; an online degree taken while living in Missouri does not make state rules interchangeable.

The national outlook is stronger for some counseling occupations than others: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% growth for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in 2025-2035, compared with 3% for school counselors over the same period. These are U.S. projections, not forecasts of openings in a particular Missouri county. They suggest that students should evaluate the market for their chosen specialty rather than treating "counseling" as one job category.

For a local reality check, review current Missouri postings in the places you are willing to work. Note whether employers require certification, full licensure, or a supervised-entry credential, and whether schedules include evenings or travel. A rural student should also check the availability of both training sites and future employers; national growth cannot compensate for a placement or job market that is inaccessible from home.

Investing in a counseling degree is a significant decision. Research.com designed this ranking to help readers compare programs using evidence about outcomes, credentials, and cost rather than relying on a school's description alone. Its team reviews multiple education datasets to improve the ranking's quality, credibility, and accuracy.

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 federal Title IV eligibility (4%). Inapplicable criteria are removed and the remaining shares renormalized. Program cost then contributes about 7% of the final score. The method applies to online and on-campus programs; rankings named for a single dimension order programs by that dimension.

The team used these data sources to build the ranking and cross-check institutional information:

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

The result is a starting point for a shortlist, not a substitute for checking a program's current licensure alignment, delivery format, placement support, and personal cost. See Research.com's methodology for more information about how its 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/
• O*NET OnLine - Mental Health Counselors (21-1014)
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00
• University of Central Missouri - Master of Science in Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.ucmo.edu/academics/programs/masters-degrees/coe/counseling-and-educational-leadership/counseling-ms/
• Truman State University - Master of Arts in Counseling: School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.truman.edu/majors-programs/graduate-studies/ma-counseling/school-counseling/
• Truman State University - Master of Arts in Counseling: Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.truman.edu/majors-programs/graduate-studies/ma-counseling/mental-health-counseling/
• Missouri Baptist University - Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.mobap.edu/majors-programs/master-of-arts-in-clinical-mental-health-counseling/
• Evangel University - Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.evangel.edu/programs/master-of-science-in-clinical-mental-health-counseling-grad/