2027 Most Affordable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Norfolk

There is no single "counseling graduate" salary. The latest national BLS figures available for these occupations use May 2025 wages, with employment projections covering 2025-2035. They describe occupations across the United States - not starting salaries, Norfolk-specific offers, or returns from a particular school.

These occupation-level medians help compare career directions, but they should not be treated as program earnings outcomes. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections.

The school-counseling median is higher than the mental health figure, but that does not make school counseling the better financial choice for every student. Jobs differ in required credentials, schedules, and available openings. To evaluate an offer in Norfolk, compare its actual pay and benefits with your expected debt and the time needed to qualify for independent practice.

The local options differ most clearly by intended credential and degree level. The following program-specific distinctions from Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University are starting points for comparison, not claims that one school guarantees a better outcome; confirm current credit, placement, and tuition details directly with each program.

• Norfolk State University - M.A. in Counseling Education, Mental Health Counseling: Norfolk State publishes a mental health counseling course sequence, giving applicants a concrete document to compare against Virginia's education requirements and their own availability. This is especially useful if you need to plan how coursework and field training will fit around a job.
• Old Dominion University - master's in Mental Health Counseling: This is Old Dominion's practice-oriented mental health route, rather than its school-counseling or doctoral route. It warrants closer comparison for applicants planning clinical work and eventual Virginia professional counseling licensure.
• Old Dominion University - master's in School Counseling: The school-specific degree offers a clearer match for a K-12 goal than choosing a mental health program and assuming the credentials will transfer. Ask how its school placements and coursework align with Virginia endorsement requirements.
• Old Dominion University - Ph.D. in Education, Counseling concentration: Its doctoral level distinguishes it from the entry-level master's options. It makes more sense for applicants with an advanced research, teaching, or supervision goal than for someone seeking the least expensive first route into counseling practice.
• Norfolk State University - Professional School Counseling: Norfolk State identifies a dedicated professional school counseling program within its education offerings. Prospective K-12 counselors can compare its course sequence, placement arrangements, and total cost directly with Old Dominion's school-counseling route rather than comparing unlike specialties.

Program pages alone may not supply comparable completion rates, licensure results, or current net prices. Request those measures for the specific program and cohort before treating any qualitative distinction as evidence of better value.

A full-time counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years; part-time study can take longer. A research doctorate generally requires several additional years, with dissertation progress affecting the finish date. These are planning ranges, not published completion promises for either Norfolk university.

Ask each school for a term-by-term plan showing when practicum and internship occur. Those experiences can constrain paid work even when classroom courses are flexible. A shorter advertised timeline is only a savings if you can complete its sequence without delaying a required placement or reducing work income more than planned.

Online coursework can reduce commuting and make scheduled classes easier to fit around employment. It does not remove in-person supervised training or Virginia credential requirements. On-campus study may be preferable if regular access to classmates, faculty, and nearby placement contacts makes it easier for you to finish.

Compare delivery at the program level: which courses are online, whether any campus visits are required, and who secures and approves local field placements. Someone comparing the most popular counseling programs should still check these details; enrollment interest does not establish that a format meets their needs. For an out-of-state online program, obtain written confirmation about its preparation for the Virginia credential you want.

There is no reliable single Norfolk average that captures these distinct master's and doctoral programs. A useful comparison is the total cost to finish your chosen credential: current tuition multiplied by required credits, plus mandatory fees, books, travel to placements, and any living costs you must borrow. At a public university, confirm the graduate rate for your residency and delivery format rather than assuming an undergraduate or in-state advertised price applies.

Request a written program-level cost estimate and the latest tuition schedule from each school. Then compare the amount you expect to pay after grants or assistantships, not just the sticker price. The most valuable counseling programs offer another way to consider outcomes alongside price, but neither ranking can account for your individual aid package or forgone earnings.

Start with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and each university's graduate financial aid office. Ask about eligible federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, program or university scholarships, graduate assistantships, and any paid work compatible with clinical placements. Aid and assistantship availability vary by student and term; the Federal Student Aid office and the institution determine eligibility.

Check graduate borrowing rules before building a budget. Under rules taking effect in 2026, Graduate PLUS is not a general new-borrower option; limited transitional eligibility may apply to qualifying existing borrowers. Ask your aid office to review your specific eligibility under current Federal Student Aid guidance rather than assuming a funding gap can be covered by that loan.

A practical borrowing target is your estimated cost to complete - not the maximum offered each year. Include interest, time spent in placements, and the period between graduation and any required post-degree supervised experience when testing whether the investment is manageable.

A counseling master's generally requires a bachelor's degree and a graduate application; schools may also request transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, an interview, or specific prerequisite coursework. A counseling doctorate can have different expectations for prior graduate study and research interests. Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University set their own current admissions criteria, so confirm them for the exact program and entry term.

Admissions and credential eligibility are separate checks. Before paying an application fee, send the program your intended Virginia career - licensed professional counselor or school counselor - and ask which requirements its degree is designed to address. Also ask whether previous graduate coursework can transfer and whether transferred credits may satisfy a required sequence or simply count as electives.

Expect graduate coursework in counseling skills, ethics, assessment, human development, multicultural counseling, and research, followed by supervised practice. A clinical mental health route may emphasize diagnosis and treatment planning, while a school route focuses on counseling in educational settings. The exact curriculum and required field hours belong to the individual program; consult its current catalog and sequence.

Read beyond course titles. Ask whether an assessment or clinical course covers the content Virginia requires for your intended credential, when prerequisites must be finished, and whether a delayed course is offered again soon enough to keep you on schedule. Those answers can matter more to affordability than a small difference in per-credit tuition.

The clearest locally identified choices are mental health counseling and school counseling, offered through the Norfolk programs discussed above; Old Dominion also has a counseling-focused doctoral path. These are consequential distinctions, not merely elective themes: they point toward different work settings and Virginia credential reviews.

Interests such as addiction treatment or couples counseling may sometimes be developed through electives, placements, later training, or a separately designed degree. Do not assume an elective changes what a school-counseling or clinical mental health degree qualifies you to do. Check the program's stated specialization and the relevant Virginia board or education-agency rules before committing.

Start with the job and credential, then work backward to the degree. The best counseling programs can help form a shortlist, but your best investment is a program you can afford, complete, and use for your intended Virginia path.

Use the same questions with each admissions office so the answers are comparable:

1. Ask which Virginia license or school endorsement the program is designed to prepare you for, and request the curriculum-to-requirement mapping.
2. Check current institutional and applicable programmatic accreditation with the institution and accreditor; ask how its status affects your intended credential.
3. Request total required credits, a realistic full- or part-time course plan, all fees, and an estimate of placement-related costs.
4. Ask where recent students completed fieldwork, who arranged it, and what program-specific completion or applicable exam outcomes the school publishes.
5. Compare your net cost, likely borrowing, forgone earnings, completion probability, and expected career earnings over a realistic time horizon - not starting salary alone.

Two costly mistakes are choosing by tuition without checking credential fit and assuming an online format eliminates placement travel. If a school cannot clearly answer a credential or placement question, resolve it with the relevant Virginia authority before enrolling.

A mental health counseling master's can be a route toward clinical counseling roles, subject to Virginia's education, examination, and supervised-experience rules for licensure. A school counseling master's points toward K-12 positions subject to Virginia educator-credential requirements. A counseling doctorate may support faculty, research, or supervisory ambitions, but it does not replace any separate practice license required for clinical work. Sources: Virginia Board of Counseling; Virginia Department of Education.

If your goal is to help clients without pursuing a licensed counseling role, compare the degree's cost with the qualifications actually required for the jobs you want. Conversely, if independent clinical practice is essential, a cheaper credential that does not support that route is unlikely to be a bargain.

National demand is strongest among the counseling paths discussed here for the BLS category covering mental health and addiction counselors: projected employment growth is 18% for 2025-2035. That projection signals a broad occupational trend, not a forecast of Norfolk vacancies or a guarantee that a new graduate can immediately practice independently. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections.

For a local decision, examine current openings across Hampton Roads for the precise title and credential you intend to hold. Note whether employers accept a graduate working toward licensure, require an existing Virginia license, or seek a school-counselor endorsement. A program's placement network and your ability to travel across the area may affect your first opportunities more directly than a national growth rate.

Investing in a counseling education is a consequential decision. Research.com's team developed this ranking to make program comparisons more credible and useful, checking information from multiple education datasets rather than treating an advertised tuition rate as the whole cost. The ranking considers graduate outcomes, applicable licensure-exam results, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and program cost; its ordering emphasizes affordability.

Research.com's broader Best counseling ranking first combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), applicable licensure-exam pass rates (20%), CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Inapplicable criteria are excluded and the remaining shares renormalized. Cost then contributes about 7% of the final Best score. The same approach applies to online and campus programs; rankings named for another dimension order programs by that dimension.

The team used the following sources to check program, institution, and outcome information:

• IPEDS database - institutional reporting on enrollment, completions, and costs.
• Peterson's database - program and institution information.
• College Scorecard database - federal institution-level cost and outcome information.
• National Center for Education Statistics - federal education data and definitions.

Use the ranking to narrow your shortlist, then confirm current tuition, fees, program requirements, and outcomes with each school. Read more about how Research.com creates its rankings.

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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/
• NBCC - NCE / NCMHCE
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.nbcc.org/exams
• Norfolk State University - M.A. in Counseling Education - Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.nsu.edu/Academics/Faculty-and-Academic-Divisions/Schools-and-Colleges/School-of-Education/Departments/Secondary-Education-and-School-Leadership/Programs/M-A-Counseling-Education/Mental-Health-Counseling/MHC-Documents/MHC-Course-Sequence-24-26.aspx
• Old Dominion University - Master of Science in Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.odu.edu/academics/programs/masters/mental-health-counseling
• Old Dominion University - M.S. Ed. in Counseling - School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.odu.edu/academics/programs/masters/school-counseling
• Old Dominion University - Ph.D. in Education - Counseling Concentration
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.odu.edu/counseling-human-services/academics/counseling/phd-in-education-counseling-concentration
• Norfolk State University - M.A. in Urban Education
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.nsu.edu/sesl/programs/professional-school-counseling