2027 Most Affordable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Scranton

National wages offer a benchmark, not a Scranton salary forecast. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a May 2025 median annual wage of $59,350 for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors and $64,330 for school and career counselors and advisors. These occupational groups do not isolate new master's graduates, Pennsylvania license holders, or Scranton jobs.

Compare offers by setting as well as salary. A school position, agency role, and private-practice path can differ in benefits, supervision access, hours, and the time it takes to become independently licensed. If a program costs more, ask what documented support or outcomes justify that difference rather than assuming its graduates will earn more.

The local choices are easiest to distinguish by the work they prepare students to pursue. These program-level differences matter more than a university-wide reputation; confirm current credits, placement arrangements, and credential alignment directly with each school before applying.

• University of Scranton - school counseling: This is the university's school-focused master's rather than its clinical or rehabilitation route, according to University of Scranton Graduate Admissions. It fits applicants who want to work with pupils and should compare its Pennsylvania certification preparation and placement arrangements with Marywood's explicitly PK-12 option.
• University of Scranton - clinical mental health counseling: This program centers clinical mental health practice rather than school or rehabilitation counseling, according to University of Scranton Graduate Admissions. It is the more relevant Scranton option for applicants targeting the professional counselor route; ask the program to document how its current curriculum and supervision support Pennsylvania licensure preparation.
• University of Scranton - clinical rehabilitation counseling: Its distinguishing focus is counseling in a rehabilitation and disability context, according to University of Scranton Graduate Admissions. Choose it over a general mental health route if that client population and type of work match your goal, after confirming which credentials its current curriculum supports.
• Marywood University - counselor education PK-12: The program explicitly identifies the PK-12 school setting in its title, according to Marywood University. That defined audience makes it a useful comparison for aspiring school counselors; request its current certification guidance and school-placement requirements before comparing total costs.
• Marywood University - mental health counseling: This is Marywood's mental-health-focused option rather than its PK-12 counselor education program, according to Marywood University. Applicants interested in clinical work should compare its current course sequence, fieldwork support, and Pennsylvania licensure guidance directly with Scranton's clinical mental health program instead of treating the two degrees as interchangeable.

For comparisons emphasizing criteria beyond price, see the best counseling programs. A ranking can narrow a search, but only the school can confirm the terms that will apply to your entering class.

Plan on roughly two to three years for a counseling master's, with the actual schedule determined by credits, course rotation, fieldwork, and whether you attend full time or part time. Pennsylvania's professional counselor education requirements make curriculum length particularly important; verify the applicable requirements with the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors rather than assuming any counseling master's qualifies.

An accelerated schedule may reduce time away from full-time earnings but leave less room for paid work during internship. Part-time study may be easier to finance month to month while extending tuition payments and delaying eligibility to pursue the next credential step. Ask each Scranton program for a term-by-term plan that includes practicum and internship - not just classroom courses.

Online coursework can reduce commuting, but it does not make clinical or school fieldwork virtual by default. A campus program may simplify access to local faculty and placement contacts; an online program may better fit an established work schedule. Neither format is automatically cheaper or more suitable for Pennsylvania credentialing.

Before choosing an online option, obtain written answers about required campus visits, where you may complete supervised hours, who approves sites, and whether the curriculum meets the educational requirements for the credential you intend to seek. Compare the most popular counseling programs only after those practical requirements are clear: popularity cannot resolve a placement or licensure mismatch.

There is no reliable single average that represents the full price of the distinct Scranton counseling tracks. Published graduate tuition may be quoted per credit, while program length, fees, insurance or background-check requirements, and unpaid fieldwork change what a student ultimately pays. A school-level average from NCES/IPEDS is not necessarily the price of a particular counseling master's.

Request a current written estimate for all required credits and fees, then add books, travel to placement sites, and income you may give up during supervised training. Subtract aid you can actually use. For a working applicant, a slower program with manageable placement hours may cost less in lost income than a seemingly cheaper accelerated option. The most valuable counseling programs provide another comparison, but value for you also depends on completion likelihood, borrowing, current earnings, expected career change, and how long you expect to use the degree.

Start with the FAFSA and each university's graduate aid office. Eligible students may be offered federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans; assistantships, employer tuition benefits, scholarships, and payment plans depend on the school or employer. Ask whether aid continues during internship terms and whether a required placement limits your paid work.

Do not build a 2027 budget on an assumption that Graduate PLUS will be available. Under federal changes affecting graduate borrowing, new graduate students beginning after the transition generally cannot take out new Graduate PLUS loans; certain students who were already enrolled and had qualifying prior borrowing may retain limited transitional eligibility. Federal Student Aid is the authority for your individual eligibility. Obtain an aid offer and confirm any remaining funding gap before paying a deposit.

Expect to document a bachelor's degree and meet each program's admissions requirements, which may include transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, and an interview. Specific prerequisite courses, GPA thresholds, and application deadlines must be checked on the University of Scranton or Marywood University's current admissions page; they should not be assumed to be the same across tracks.

Ask two separate questions before applying: "Can I enter this program with my academic background?" and "Will this particular degree support the Pennsylvania credential I want?" If you have prior graduate coursework, request a written transfer-credit evaluation. Accepted credits may lower tuition without shortening the degree if required clinical courses or placements must still be completed in sequence.

Common coursework includes counseling theories, assessment, ethics, research, group counseling, and supervised practicum and internship. The consequential differences are track-specific: school counseling addresses pupils and school systems; clinical mental health emphasizes clinical assessment and treatment; rehabilitation counseling adds disability and vocational-rehabilitation perspectives.

Compare actual syllabi and course sequences, not just course titles. A useful check is to map required courses and fieldwork against the Pennsylvania credential requirements you intend to meet, then ask an advisor to explain any gap in writing. The Pennsylvania licensing board and Pennsylvania Department of Education, respectively, are the authorities for professional licensure and school certification requirements.

The clearest local choices are clinical mental health, school counseling, and clinical rehabilitation counseling at the University of Scranton, alongside Marywood University's mental health counseling and PK-12 counselor education programs, according to the universities' program descriptions. These are degree paths, not merely electives: each can shape fieldwork, employers, and the credential a graduate may pursue.

Choose a school-focused path if your intended work is with pupils in educational settings. Choose a clinical mental health path if your goal is counseling in clinical or community settings. Examine rehabilitation counseling if disability-related services are central to your interests. If you are undecided, compare each track's required placements before committing; changing direction late may add coursework or time.

Set your intended job and Pennsylvania credential first, then compare programs on the requirements that could prevent you from reaching them. A practical shortlist should answer these questions:

1. Ask the appropriate Pennsylvania board or education authority which degree content, supervised experience, examinations, and other steps apply to your intended credential; check programmatic accreditation claims against the accreditor's current directory.
2. Request each program's current credits, full tuition-and-fee estimate, required fieldwork schedule, and policy for arranging placements near Scranton.
3. Ask for program-specific completion, placement, and applicable exam results with their reporting years; distinguish missing data from a poor result.
4. Compare your likely debt and lost earnings with your current pay, realistic career options, and the time needed after graduation to meet credential requirements.

Common mistakes are choosing on per-credit price alone, assuming "online" means no local internship, and treating a master's degree as an automatic license. A program is a sound investment only when its verified pathway and total cost fit the work you actually want to do.

A counseling master's can support several paths, but the steps after graduation differ. Clinical graduates may seek supervised roles while working toward professional licensure; school-counseling graduates pursue the applicable Pennsylvania education credential; rehabilitation-focused graduates may pursue disability-services roles and should check any role-specific certification or licensing rules. Consult the Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors and the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the respective credential routes.

For someone already employed in education or human services, a track aligned with existing contacts and a feasible local placement may make the transition less disruptive. If you want a role that does not require graduate-level counseling training or supervised practice, compare its entry requirements first: a shorter credential or a different degree could be a better financial fit.

National demand is strongest among the counseling categories most closely associated with clinical mental health and addiction work: 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 and advisors is 3% over the same period. These are U.S. occupational projections, not forecasts of openings in Scranton or promises of employment.

Local opportunity depends on vacancies, employer setting, and whether you can meet credential and supervision requirements. Before choosing a track, review current Scranton-area postings for the job titles you want: note which credentials employers require, whether they accept provisionally qualified applicants, and whether supervision is offered. That check can reveal a mismatch between an attractive degree title and the roles actually available to you.

Investing in graduate education is a consequential decision. Research.com designed this ranking to help readers compare affordability without losing sight of program quality. Its counseling rankings consider graduate outcomes, applicable licensure exam pass rates, CACREP programmatic accreditation, federal Title IV eligibility, and program cost; each ranking orders programs according to the dimension named in its title.

For context, Research.com's Best counseling ranking first scores completion, employment or doctoral admission, applicable exam results, and accreditation or eligibility. Those measures receive weights of 40%, 20%, 20%, 16%, and 4%, respectively, with weights adjusted when a measure does not apply; cost then contributes about 7% of the final score. The same approach applies to online and campus programs. To support the rankings' credibility and accuracy, the team drew on these data sources:

• IPEDS database: institutional enrollment, completion, and cost reporting.
• 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.

These sources help make the ranking a starting point, not a substitute for checking a current tuition quote, program-specific outcomes, and Pennsylvania credential requirements. Read more about the approach on the Research.com 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/
• O*NET OnLine - Mental Health Counselors (21-1014)
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00
• University of Scranton - M.S. in School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-school-counseling/index.shtml
• University of Scranton - MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-mental-health-counseling/index.shtml
• University of Scranton - Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-rehabilitation-counseling/index.shtml
• Marywood University - Master of Science in School Counseling (MS)
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.marywood.edu/academics/psychology-counseling/programs/counselor-education-pk12
• Marywood University - Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.marywood.edu/academics/psychology-counseling/programs/mental-health-counseling