2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Des Moines

The following figures are U.S. occupational medians for May 2025, not starting salaries or Des Moines wage estimates. They help compare career directions, but local offers will also reflect experience, employer, and licensure status (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook).

Use these as occupation-level context, not as an expected return on one school's tuition. A career changer should compare likely post-degree earnings with current earnings and include any period of reduced work during study or supervised practice.

The local options differ most clearly in the professional direction named by the degree. The program highlights below identify those distinctions without assuming that similar-sounding degrees have the same Iowa credential outcome; verify current credit, placement, and accreditation details directly with each school.

• Drake University, clinical mental health counseling: This is the Drake option directed toward clinical mental health counseling rather than rehabilitation practice. It is the more relevant Drake program to investigate if your goal is mental health treatment; ask how its current curriculum and supervised placements map to Iowa's clinical licensure requirements (Drake University).
• Drake University, rehabilitation counseling: Its rehabilitation focus distinguishes it from the two clinical mental health options. Students interested in disability-related counseling and employment support should compare the roles its graduates pursue before choosing a broader clinical mental health route instead (Drake University).
• Grand View University, M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Grand View offers another named clinical mental health master's option in the Des Moines area. For applicants comparing it with Drake's clinical program, the consequential differences to confirm are current total price, scheduling, field-placement support, and Iowa licensure alignment; the M.S. designation alone does not establish a better credential outcome (Grand View University).

If affordability is not your only priority, compare the best counseling programs alongside program-level costs and your intended credential.

A full-time bachelor's degree commonly takes about four years; a counseling-related master's commonly takes about two to three years after a bachelor's degree. Part-time study can take longer, particularly when required practicum or internship schedules limit how many courses a working student can take at once. These are planning ranges, not published completion times for a particular Des Moines program.

Ask each school for a term-by-term plan for your intended enrollment status. An accelerated schedule may reduce time away from higher-paid work, but only if you can complete required field hours alongside classes. Also distinguish degree completion from eligibility for independent practice, which may require additional supervised experience and an examination under Iowa rules (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

Online coursework can make a master's more manageable for someone employed in central Iowa, but counseling fieldwork still requires approved, supervised real-world experience. Campus study may make scheduled interaction and local placement coordination easier. Neither delivery format, by itself, establishes that a degree satisfies an Iowa licensing or school credential requirement.

For an online option, get written answers about where you may complete fieldwork, who secures and approves a site, how supervision works, and whether the program is designed to meet Iowa requirements. For a campus option, compare commuting and fixed class times with the flexibility you would actually use online. The most popular counseling programs offer another comparison point, but popularity does not resolve those practical questions.

There is no single Des Moines counseling-degree average that reliably describes what an applicant will pay. Prices depend on degree level, credits required, enrollment pace, fees, aid, and whether a school charges by credit or term. A national institutional tuition average would not isolate counseling programs or capture their placement-related expenses, so it would be a weak substitute for current program quotes (National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS).

Request a written total-to-completion estimate from each school: tuition for all required credits, mandatory fees, books, placement-related travel, and any likely extra terms. Then subtract grants or scholarships you are actually offered. The cheapest advertised credit price can lose its advantage if the program requires more credits, takes longer, or makes it harder to maintain paid work.

Start with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and each institution's aid office. Depending on eligibility and degree level, support may include institutional scholarships, assistantships, employer tuition benefits, and federal loans. Graduate students should not assume that undergraduate grant eligibility carries over; confirm current federal loan options and limits with Federal Student Aid before building a budget (Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education).

Ask whether an award continues during internship terms and whether it requires full-time enrollment. For a working professional, a smaller scholarship paired with a schedule that preserves employment may be worth more than a larger award tied to an impractical course load. Compare net cost and likely borrowing, not the headline tuition discount.

Master's applicants generally need a bachelor's degree; individual programs set their own expectations for prior coursework, grades, recommendations, statements, and interviews. An undergraduate major outside psychology or human services is not automatically disqualifying, but an applicant may need prerequisite coursework. Check each school's current admissions page rather than assuming requirements are identical (Drake University; Grand View University).

Before paying an application fee, ask admissions staff whether your transcript meets entry requirements and whether prior graduate credits could transfer. Then ask the program - not just admissions - whether its curriculum matches your intended Iowa credential. Admission, transfer-credit acceptance, graduation, and licensure eligibility are separate decisions.

Counseling master's curricula commonly cover counseling techniques, ethics, assessment, human development, research, and supervised practice. Clinical mental health study places greater emphasis on mental health assessment and treatment; rehabilitation study centers more on disability and vocational concerns; school counseling applies counseling skills within educational settings. Exact course titles and fieldwork requirements vary by program (Drake University; Grand View University).

Read the required-course sequence rather than selecting by degree title alone. If a course or placement needed for your intended Iowa credential is missing, an otherwise affordable program could require additional study later. Ask for the current catalog and written guidance on how the program addresses the credential you plan to pursue.

Among the Des Moines options considered here, the clearest distinction is between clinical mental health counseling and rehabilitation counseling. School counseling and addiction counseling are additional career directions, but a school should not be assumed to offer either as a named track without confirming its current catalog.

Choose by the work you want to do and the credential that work requires. Clinical mental health is a better program focus to investigate for psychotherapy-oriented goals; rehabilitation is more directly aligned with disability and vocational-support interests. If you are undecided, compare required field placements and ask which roles the curriculum is expressly designed to prepare students for.

First identify a target role, then compare programs against the requirements and full cost of reaching it. An affordable degree is a sound investment only if its likely benefits justify tuition, borrowing, time out of work, and the risk that you may need further coursework or supervised experience.

Use these checks before committing a deposit:

1. Identify the Iowa license or school credential associated with your target job, and ask the relevant state authority and program how the curriculum aligns with its current rules (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing; Iowa Board of Educational Examiners).
2. Confirm institutional accreditation, applicable programmatic accreditation, and whether any accreditation claim applies to the exact degree and campus or delivery format you will enter (U.S. Department of Education; CACREP).
3. Compare written total-cost and completion plans, including fieldwork travel, aid, transferable credits, and how each schedule affects your earnings.
4. Request program-specific completion and credential-exam outcomes where applicable; ask what reporting period and student group each figure covers.

A common mistake is treating a low sticker price, a ranking position, or an online label as proof of value. Compare the most valuable counseling programs as a further perspective, then make your own decision using your aid offer, career goal, and likely time to completion.

A clinical mental health path can lead toward counseling work in behavioral health settings, subject to Iowa licensure rules. A school counseling path leads toward work with students and requires the appropriate educator credential. Rehabilitation counseling can lead to disability- and employment-related services; requirements depend on the role and employer (Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing; Iowa Board of Educational Examiners; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

For students not ready to commit to graduate study, human-services roles can provide exposure to clients and agencies, but they should not be confused with independently licensed counseling. If your intended job description requires a master's degree and license, evaluate the full education-to-credential pathway before deciding whether a shorter certificate or bachelor's degree is enough.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% employment growth from 2025 to 2035 for the occupation encompassing mental health and substance use counselors. That national projection supports investigating clinical and addiction-related pathways, but it does not measure openings in Des Moines or guarantee work for a new graduate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections).

For a local decision, examine current central Iowa postings for your target role and note which require a full license, a provisional credential, or particular experience. Ask programs where students complete placements and whether those sites match the employers you hope to approach. This matters more than applying a national growth rate to one metro area.

Investing in education is a consequential decision, so Research.com evaluates counseling programs using outcomes, credentials, and cost rather than tuition alone. The Most Affordable ranking orders programs by its cost dimension; affordability should still be weighed against the qualifications needed for a student's intended career.

Research.com's broader counseling methodology evaluates program completion, employment or doctoral admission, applicable licensure-exam pass rates, CACREP programmatic accreditation, federal Title IV eligibility, and cost. For its Best ranking, the graduate-outcomes-and-accreditation score weights completion at 40%, employment or doctoral admission at 20%, an applicable licensure exam at 20%, CACREP accreditation at 16%, and Title IV eligibility at 4%. Inapplicable criteria are removed and the remaining weights renormalized; cost contributes about 7% of the final Best score. The same approach applies to online and on-campus programs. Readers can review Research.com's methodology for more detail.

The Research.com team draws on the following sources to check program and institutional information:

• IPEDS database - institutional enrollment, completion, and cost reporting.
• Peterson's database - program and institutional information.
• College Scorecard database - federal institutional cost and outcome information.
• National Center for Education Statistics - education data and definitions used to interpret comparisons.

These sources make the ranking a useful starting point, not a substitute for a current offer of admission, an individual aid package, or confirmation that a particular degree meets Iowa's requirements for the credential you seek.

• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Mankato
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Saint Louis
• 2027 Most Affordable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Milwaukee
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Chicago
• 2027 Most Affordable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Louisville
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Dayton
• 2027 Most Affordable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Nashville
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Detroit
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Columbus
• 2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Denver

• 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
• Drake University - M.S. in Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.drake.edu/degree-programs/clinical-mental-health-counseling
• Drake University - MS in Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.drake.edu/degree-programs/rehabilitation-counseling
• Grand View University - Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.grandview.edu/academics/programs/ms-clinical-mental-health-counseling