A counseling doctorate can prepare you to teach future counselors, conduct research, or lead clinical services - but it is a costly detour if your goal is simply to begin practicing. This guide compares Greensboro's doctoral options, North Carolina licensure considerations, time commitments, costs, and career prospects. It also features the 2027 Most Popular Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Greensboro, created by the Research.com team of data scientists to help students make an informed choice about programs worth considering.
Key findings about Counseling degrees in Greensboro
Greensboro's two highlighted doctoral options have different degree titles: North Carolina A&T State University offers counselor education and supervision, while UNC Greensboro offers counseling and counselor education. Compare their current curricula and faculty before choosing a research direction (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
A doctorate is not the standard first step toward independent counseling practice in North Carolina. Check the state counseling board's education, examination, and supervised-experience requirements separately from doctoral admissions (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).
The national median annual wage for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors was $59,350 in May 2025; projected employment growth is 18% for 2025-2035. Those occupation-wide figures are not doctoral-graduate earnings (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
What can I expect from a Counseling degree in Greensboro?
For most applicants, a counseling doctorate is preparation for counselor education, supervision, research, or leadership, rather than an entry-level clinical credential. Expect advanced work in counseling theory, research methods, teaching, supervision, and a dissertation. The exact balance matters: a prospective faculty member should examine research mentorship and teaching opportunities, while an experienced clinician moving into supervision should examine supervised training and course requirements (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Before applying, decide which credential you actually need. A practice-focused master's degree may be the shorter route if you have not yet met North Carolina's clinical licensure education requirements. A doctorate makes more sense when the work you want to do specifically calls for advanced scholarship, teaching, or leadership (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).
Where can I work with a Counseling degree in Greensboro?
Potential settings include university counseling departments, health systems, community mental health agencies, private practices, and school systems. In Greensboro, that makes higher education institutions such as NC A&T and UNC Greensboro, Cone Health, and Guilford County Schools relevant places to investigate - not promised employers or proof of current vacancies.
Match the setting to its credential rules. A university faculty opening may emphasize research and teaching; a clinical leadership opening may require an active North Carolina license; a school counseling role follows educator-licensure rules administered by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Ask programs where recent doctoral graduates actually work, rather than assuming one doctorate qualifies you for all three paths.
There is no single reliable "counseling doctorate salary": pay depends on the occupation, employer, experience, and location. These national occupation-wide medians are useful benchmarks, but they are not Greensboro offers or estimates of a doctoral pay premium (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 wages and 2025-2035 projections).
Career direction
National median annual wage
Projected national growth
Mental health or addiction counseling
$59,350
18%
School counseling
$64,330
3%
Counselor education and supervision career benchmark
$75,350
2.5%
The stronger growth outlook for mental health and addiction counseling does not establish that a doctorate pays for itself: many of those jobs do not require one. For a realistic return-on-investment estimate, compare your current earnings with likely post-degree roles, then account for aid, borrowing, time away from work, completion probability, and how long you expect to remain in the new role.
These Greensboro programs are more useful to compare by doctoral focus than by institutional reputation. Their published degree descriptions establish the distinctions below; request current handbooks and outcome reports before treating either description as a complete picture (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
North Carolina A&T State University: Its doctorate is explicitly titled Counselor Education and Supervision, making supervision an important curriculum area to examine if you hope to train or oversee counselors. Ask how doctoral supervision experiences are arranged and documented; the title alone does not establish eligibility for a particular license or credential.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Its Counseling and Counselor Education Ph.D. offers a clear starting point for applicants interested in research and preparation as counselor educators. Compare prospective faculty research interests and available teaching opportunities with your dissertation plans rather than assuming the degree title identifies a guaranteed placement or specialty.
If neither fit is clear, compare curricula and faculty with the best counseling programs list, then ask both departments for recent doctoral completion and career-outcome information.
Plan for approximately three to five years of full-time doctoral study, with part-time enrollment or dissertation work potentially extending the timeline. That is a planning range, not a published completion promise for either Greensboro program. Prior graduate coursework, research progress, and whether you continue working can materially change the schedule.
Ask each department for its current credit requirements, residency rules, course rotation, dissertation milestones, time-to-degree data, and limits on transferred doctoral credits. A shorter advertised coursework phase is not the same thing as a shorter time to graduation.
Online coursework can reduce commuting and help a working counselor retain income. Campus study can make it easier to participate in face-to-face teaching, research meetings, and faculty mentorship. Neither format eliminates dissertation demands, and an online label does not establish that all supervision or other required activities can be completed remotely.
For these Greensboro doctorates, confirm the current delivery format directly with each department, including required visits and where experiential work must occur. If clinical licensure is also your goal, check the applicable North Carolina board requirements independently; institutional accreditation, programmatic accreditation, and state licensure are different checks (U.S. Department of Education; CACREP; North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).
A defensible Greensboro-wide average doctoral program cost is not available here: published institutional tuition figures can cover other graduate degrees and exclude the time it takes to finish a dissertation. Do not multiply a university-wide annual average into a supposed price for either counseling doctorate. Request each program's current per-credit tuition, mandatory fees, expected credits, and typical years of enrollment (NCES IPEDS; NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
North Carolina residency status can change public-university tuition, while assistantships may change the amount a student actually pays. Budget separately for books, research expenses, travel, and income forgone if you reduce work hours. The most affordable counseling programs comparison is a useful shortlist, but compare estimated total net cost to completion, not just a tuition rate.
Ask both universities about doctoral assistantships, tuition support, fellowships, and whether awards require teaching or research work. Eligible students can also submit the FAFSA for federal aid consideration; federal loans must be repaid, so compare award terms with expected post-degree earnings (Federal Student Aid; NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Do not build a budget on assumed Graduate PLUS access. Federal Student Aid's rules distinguish eligibility under current law and applicable transition provisions for continuing students; ask the financial aid office to confirm your eligibility and borrowing limits for the intended enrollment year. Get funding duration and renewal conditions in writing before accepting an offer (Federal Student Aid).
View the chart data as a table
Wage range - Mental Health Counselors in North Carolina (BLS OEWS, May 2025) (Source: BLS)
Category
Value
10th percentile
37,440
25th percentile
45,100
Median
55,490
75th percentile
68,610
90th percentile
86,010
Doctoral admissions commonly assess a relevant graduate degree, academic record, professional goals, research interests, recommendations, and fit with available faculty. Requirements concerning a counseling master's degree, clinical license, experience, tests, and interviews must be verified against each Greensboro program's current admissions page; they are not interchangeable (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Ask admissions whether your master's coursework meets any program-specific prerequisites and which prior credits, if any, can transfer. Also check your intended profession's rules: admission to a doctorate does not mean you have met the separate education requirements for North Carolina clinical licensure (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).
Expect doctoral-level study in counseling theory, research design and statistics, counselor teaching, clinical supervision, and dissertation research. The important comparison is how those areas are taught and assessed: one applicant may need extensive quantitative-methods mentoring, while another may need opportunities to develop and evaluate supervision skills (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Request a current course sequence, not only a catalog list. Check whether required courses rotate often enough for your schedule and whether faculty can supervise the research methods your proposed dissertation needs.
At the doctoral level, specialization may emerge through faculty mentorship, electives, teaching, supervised work, and dissertation topic rather than a formally named concentration. Possible interests include clinical mental health, addiction, school counseling, counselor supervision, and counseling research; do not assume either Greensboro doctorate offers a separate credential in each area (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Ask for the official list of tracks, if any, and whether a desired elective or supervisor will be available during your enrollment. If your aim is a specific practice license, work backward from that credential's requirements instead of relying on a doctoral research focus as a substitute.
Start with the job you want, then test each program against evidence that matters for that job. This sequence helps prevent the common mistake of choosing by popularity or tuition alone:
Verify the credential path: Check the North Carolina board or employer requirements for your target role, then confirm the university's institutional status and any relevant program-level CACREP recognition in the accreditor's directory (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors; U.S. Department of Education; CACREP).
Test academic fit: Compare faculty research, supervision opportunities, dissertation expectations, delivery format, and any transferable credits using current program documents (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
Calculate the full investment: Obtain written funding terms and estimate net costs, likely completion time, foregone earnings, debt, baseline pay, possible future pay, and the time needed to recover your investment.
Ask for outcomes: Request recent completion times and graduate destinations, noting the reporting period and whether results cover this doctorate rather than the whole university.
Use the most valuable counseling programs list to broaden your comparison, but let verified program fit and a conservative financial calculation drive the final choice.
View the chart data as a table
Graduates (2024-25) by program (Source: Research.com)
Category
Value
University of North Caro
1
North Carolina A & T Sta
4
Graduates may pursue counselor educator, researcher, clinical supervisor, program director, or practicing counselor roles, subject to each employer's requirements. A doctorate can be particularly relevant to university teaching and research, while clinical practice depends on appropriate state licensure rather than the doctorate alone (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors; NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
For an already licensed counselor, the decision is often whether additional research and teaching preparation justifies years of study. For someone entering counseling for the first time, a qualifying master's pathway may be a better initial investment; revisit doctoral study when your career goal requires it.
View the chart data as a table
Median wage by U.S. state - Mental Health Counselors (BLS OEWS, May 2025) (Source: BLS)
State
Value
AK
80,770
AL
47,310
AR
51,580
AZ
65,300
CA
59,250
CO
62,390
CT
63,590
DC
60,450
DE
56,020
FL
56,790
GA
58,960
HI
60,090
IA
60,880
ID
63,360
IL
60,730
IN
53,760
KS
59,470
KY
54,190
LA
37,910
MA
59,890
MD
59,530
ME
59,970
MI
61,690
MN
58,780
MO
56,910
MS
46,990
MT
59,000
NC
55,490
ND
68,630
NE
63,770
NH
54,840
NJ
62,820
NM
74,100
NV
57,210
NY
59,450
OH
58,360
OK
59,350
OR
74,590
PA
52,010
PR
46,790
RI
65,120
SC
52,370
SD
53,650
TN
49,580
TX
62,630
UT
63,890
VA
59,880
VT
61,810
WA
68,910
WI
62,220
WV
49,430
WY
62,980
National employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035. That signals demand for counseling services, not an equivalent number of Greensboro faculty openings or jobs requiring a doctorate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025-2035 Employment Projections).
Search local clinical, school-system, and university postings separately and record their actual degree, license, and experience requirements. Faculty roles may require a broader geographic search than clinical roles. If staying in Greensboro is nonnegotiable, weigh that constraint before taking on doctoral debt or leaving full-time work.
2027 Most Popular Doctorate in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Greensboro
Investing in doctoral education is a consequential decision. Research.com's team evaluates program information from multiple sources to help readers compare options more carefully; readers should still confirm current requirements and outcomes with each university. The ranking draws on these databases:
IPEDS database: institutional enrollment, completion, and cost information.
Research.com's Best counseling ranking first combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), applicable licensure-exam results (20%), applicable CACREP recognition (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Inapplicable criteria are reweighted; cost contributes about 7% of the final Best score. Online and campus programs use the same method. Other rankings order programs by the dimension named in their titles. Because a Most Popular ordering is not a measure of licensure eligibility or personal fit, use it as a starting point, then verify program-level facts. See Research.com's methodology for further detail.
# 1 position
North Carolina A & T State University
Doctor
Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision
Delivery mode: campus
22.40
/ 100
Final score
Specialization
Counselor Education and Supervision
Required credits
63 semester credits
GPA range
3.25 - 4.00
Program completion rate
100% (2024-25)
Employment or doctoral admission
100% (2024-25)
Application deadline
November 20 (priority, for Fall admission)
Application process
direct
GRE
yes
Prerequisites
Students entering with a master's degree in a field other than counseling must complete prerequisite/entry-level counseling courses (e.g., COUN 708, 743, 764) required by CACREP standards.
Additional requirements
Online application, application fee, official transcripts (undergraduate and master's), GRE score, professional/personal statement outlining career plans, resume, and three professional letters of recommendation.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
North Carolina A & T State University earned a Research.com Student Interest Score of 22.4/100, supported by 4 graduates (2024-25) and 100% program completion rate. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2033-04-30.
# 2 position
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Doctor
PhD in Counseling and Counselor Education
Delivery mode: campus
9.60
/ 100
Final score
Program length
3 years full-time
Specialization
Counselor Education and Supervision
Application deadline
November 15
Class size
8
Application process
direct
Prerequisites
Designed for experienced counseling professionals
Additional requirements
Online graduate application; three professional recommendation letters (mostly academic); resume or CV; personal statement on interest in the doctoral degree and post-graduation aspirations; undergraduate and graduate transcripts.
Accreditation
Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), with institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).
University of North Carolina at Greensboro earned a Research.com Student Interest Score of 9.6/100. The program is CACREP-accredited, valid through 2034-04-30.
Frequently asked questions about Counseling degree in Greensboro
Do I need a doctorate to become a counselor in North Carolina?
Not generally. Clinical licensure has its own qualifying education, examination, and supervised-experience requirements. Confirm your intended pathway with the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors before choosing a degree.
Are the two Greensboro doctoral programs the same?
No. NC A&T lists a Counselor Education and Supervision doctorate; UNC Greensboro lists a Counseling and Counselor Education Ph.D. Compare current curricula, faculty, funding, and graduate outcomes rather than treating their titles as proof of identical training (NC A&T; UNC Greensboro).
How long should I budget for a counseling doctorate?
Use roughly three to five years of full-time study as an initial planning range, then request each program's recent time-to-degree information. Part-time study or an extended dissertation can take longer.
Will a doctorate increase my counseling salary?
It may open different roles, but a raise is not assured. Compare the pay of jobs you could realistically obtain with your current earnings and the full cost of earning the degree.
What is the biggest mistake when comparing programs?
Assuming that a doctoral offer also resolves licensure and funding. Verify credential requirements with the relevant North Carolina authority and obtain a written, year-by-year funding estimate before enrolling.
See What Experts Have To Say About Studying Counseling
