2027 Easiest Online Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in North Carolina

There is no single "counseling master's salary." These latest national occupational figures pair May 2025 median wages with 2025-2035 employment projections. They describe occupations - not starting pay, North Carolina pay, or the return on a particular degree (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections).

A school-counseling applicant should therefore compare school jobs with school jobs, not use the mental health figure as an expected salary. Evaluate local postings for the credential you plan to earn, and account for any period of supervised post-degree work before full licensure.

The programs below differ most usefully by career destination and training design, not by a claim that one is universally easier. Check current delivery, credit requirements, accreditation status, and placement rules directly with each school before applying; a program listing alone does not establish that every requirement can be completed remotely.

• University of North Carolina at Pembroke: Its professional school counseling pathway is the more targeted option for someone seeking a school role rather than clinical mental health practice. Compare the program's school-based fieldwork and North Carolina educator-licensure alignment with a clinical track before choosing it (UNC Pembroke program and catalog).
• East Carolina University: Its counselor education department offers a way to compare counseling career directions within one academic home, while the M.S. degree listing identifies the specific program to investigate. This is useful if you are still deciding between school and clinical work, but verify which concentration and courses are available online in your intended term (ECU counselor education department and degree listing).
• Winston-Salem State University: The M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling stands apart by centering rehabilitation rather than a general clinical or school pathway. It deserves particular attention if disability-related counseling and vocational participation are your goals; check how its field experiences connect to your intended credential (Winston-Salem State University program page).
• Catawba College: Its clinical mental health counseling program offers a specifically clinical route rather than a school-counseling degree. Compare its published course sequence, supervised-training expectations, and delivery format against public-university alternatives if you need to keep working (Catawba College program page).
• University of Mount Olive: Its counseling master's is another clinical-pathway option to test against your work schedule. Request a term-by-term plan showing when supervised practice begins; that detail may matter more than whether classroom instruction is online (University of Mount Olive program page).
• Montreat College: Its online clinical mental health counseling program explicitly targets students seeking remote academic study. For applicants outside a major campus area, the decisive comparison is whether its residency, placement, and supervision arrangements work where they live (Montreat College program page).
• North Carolina State University at Raleigh: Its online clinical mental health counseling offering combines a named clinical pathway with distance delivery. Ask which activities require attendance at specified times or locations, particularly if you are comparing it with a program advertised as more asynchronous (NC State Online program page).

These are program distinctions, not placement or licensure guarantees. For a wider quality comparison, consult the best counseling programs alongside each school's current disclosures.

Plan on roughly two to three years for a full-time counseling master's; part-time study can take longer. The actual calendar depends on course sequencing, the number of terms offered each year, and when you can complete supervised practice. An accelerated academic schedule will not necessarily accelerate placement approval or post-degree supervised experience.

Ask for a term-by-term schedule rather than relying on an advertised minimum. If speed is your main constraint, compare the fastest counseling programs, then confirm whether their timelines are realistic for a working student in your area.

Delivery format changes where and when you study, but not the need to develop counseling skills under supervision. This comparison identifies the practical trade-off for students who must also arrange North Carolina fieldwork.

Neither format is inherently easier to complete or better for licensure. Request written details about synchronous classes, campus visits, technology requirements, and who is responsible for finding a supervisor.

A dependable statewide average for the complete cost of an online counseling master's cannot be inferred from general graduate tuition figures: programs differ in credit requirements, resident pricing, fees, and clinical expenses. NCES/IPEDS institutional tuition figures are useful starting points, but they are not necessarily the price of a specific counseling degree.

Request a written total based on your residency and expected enrollment pace. Include tuition for every required credit, distance-learning and technology fees, books, possible campus travel, background checks, professional liability coverage, and travel to placements. North Carolina public-university resident rates may change the comparison with private nonprofit colleges; neither institution type alone establishes better value.

Use the most affordable counseling programs to identify candidates, then compare personalized totals. A shorter program can still cost more if its per-credit price is higher or if its schedule reduces your ability to work.

Eligible students can investigate federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, institutional scholarships, assistantships where offered, employer tuition assistance, and aid programs whose rules cover graduate study. Federal aid eligibility depends on factors including the school, program, and student's enrollment status; verify terms through the school's financial aid office and Federal Student Aid. Do not assume that a state grant available to undergraduates covers a master's.

Graduate PLUS rules changed for new borrowers beginning July 1, 2026. Students newly entering a graduate program generally should not budget on obtaining a new Graduate PLUS loan; limited transitional eligibility may apply to students who meet federal conditions tied to earlier enrollment and borrowing in the same program (Federal Student Aid). Ask your aid office which rules apply to your start date and borrowing history before accepting an offer.

Compare the amount you must borrow with a conservative career plan, not a national median wage alone. The most valuable counseling programs can help frame that comparison, but your return also depends on aid, debt, completion, earnings before and after the degree, time to licensure, and how long you expect to work in the field.

Programs generally ask for a bachelor's degree, transcripts, and an application that explains your interest in counseling. Depending on the school, requirements may include recommendations, an interview, prerequisite coursework, or evidence that you can meet field-placement conditions. Check each institution's current admissions page rather than treating a ranking label as an acceptance-rate measure.

Transfer credit requires particular care. A school may accept graduate courses for academic credit yet still require its own clinical sequence or fieldwork. Before paying an application fee, ask admissions which prior courses can count, request the answer in writing, and confirm whether a transfer would affect credential eligibility or graduation timing.

Clinical programs commonly cover counseling theories, helping skills, ethics, assessment, diagnosis, group counseling, research, and supervised practicum and internship. School pathways add preparation for counseling in educational settings; rehabilitation pathways emphasize disability and related service systems. The course title alone does not show whether a degree satisfies a particular board's educational rules.

Review the actual catalog sequence for the year you would enter. Pay special attention to when clinical courses require live participation and whether prerequisite chains could delay an internship if you study part time.

The most consequential choice is usually the degree pathway: clinical mental health, school, or rehabilitation counseling. Addiction or other focused study may be offered through electives or a concentration, but that label does not by itself establish eligibility for a separate credential.

Choose based on the people and setting you want to serve. If your goal is K-12 counseling, examine school-counselor preparation and educator licensure; if you want outpatient therapy, examine clinical licensure preparation instead. Someone interested primarily in disability and vocational services should compare rehabilitation curricula rather than assume every clinical program provides that focus.

Start with the job title you want, then test each program against the credential, training logistics, and total cost required to reach it. This sequence prevents the common mistake of selecting a convenient online degree that does not match your intended practice.

1. Identify your target credential and check current education, examination, and supervised-experience rules with the relevant North Carolina board or education agency.
2. Confirm institutional accreditation, any relevant programmatic accreditation, and whether the school documents how its curriculum meets your target requirements.
3. Ask whether field placements can be completed near you, who secures a site, and what happens if a placement falls through.
4. Obtain a written credit, time, and total-cost estimate that reflects your residency, transfer credit, aid, and work schedule.
5. Compare published program-level completion, examination, and employment information where available, checking the reporting year and what each measure includes.

CACREP accreditation is a meaningful program-level quality and credential-planning signal, but it is distinct from institutional accreditation and from an individual license. Verify current status with the accreditor and confirm applicability with the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors or the Department of Public Instruction; graduation alone does not confer a license.

A clinical mental health graduate can pursue the steps toward licensed practice in mental health settings; a school-counseling graduate can pursue the applicable educator credential for K-12 roles; and a rehabilitation graduate can investigate disability and vocational counseling positions. These are distinct pathways, not interchangeable job titles (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Early-career plans should account for supervised experience and examinations where required. If independent clinical practice is your long-term goal, compare programs on how clearly they prepare you for that sequence - not simply on the first job a graduate might obtain.

Nationally, employment of 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 supports investigating clinical and addiction pathways, but it is not a North Carolina hiring forecast or a guarantee of openings near your preferred home or placement site.

Use current local job postings to check which license employers request and whether jobs are concentrated in the settings you want. A student committed to a particular county should also ask prospective field sites about supervision capacity: a workable training location may be as important to finishing the degree as the broader employment outlook.

Investing in a counseling degree is a consequential decision, so Research.com evaluates programs using multiple sources and checks that its measures are relevant to students' likely outcomes. Its counseling rankings consider completion, employment or doctoral admission, applicable licensure-exam results, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and cost. "Easiest" should not be interpreted as a promise of admission or an easier route to professional licensure; applicants should examine each program's current requirements.

The Best ranking first weights completion at 40%, employment or doctoral admission at 20%, applicable licensure-exam results at 20%, CACREP recognition at 16%, and Title IV eligibility at 4%. Inapplicable criteria are reweighted, and cost contributes about 7% of the final score. The same approach applies to online and campus programs; other rankings emphasize the dimension in their names. The following databases were used to create the rankings:

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

These measures help narrow a search, not replace a program-level check of admissions, delivery, placement support, and credential eligibility. 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/
• O*NET OnLine - Mental Health Counselors (21-1014)
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke - MAEd in Professional School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.uncp.edu/academics/all-majors-and-minors/professional-school-counseling.html
• East Carolina University - Master of Science in Counselor Education - School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://education.ecu.edu/counselor-education/
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke - Clinical Mental Health Counseling, M.A. Ed.
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://catalog.uncp.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=24&poid=10534
• East Carolina University - Master of Science in Counselor Education
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://degrees.ecu.edu/degree/counselor-education-ms/
• East Carolina University - Master of Science in Counselor Education
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://degrees.ecu.edu/degree/counselor-education-ms/