2027 Most Popular Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in San Antonio

Pay varies by occupation, employer, experience, and credential. Nationally, the median annual wage for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors was $59,350 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook). That is a useful benchmark for a clinical counseling goal, not a San Antonio starting salary or an earnings guarantee.

Compare the occupation that matches your intended license rather than applying one counseling wage to every degree. For an investment decision, estimate likely post-degree earnings against your current earnings, borrowing, time out of work, and the period you expect to practice. A school-counseling applicant and a future private-practice clinician may face quite different earnings paths and expenses.

The most useful distinction among these San Antonio options is their intended practice path, not a claim that one university is universally stronger. The program descriptions below identify what each option emphasizes; confirm current credits, placement hours, accreditation status, and credential eligibility directly with the school before applying.

• University of Texas at San Antonio - Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This is UTSA's clinical-practice option rather than its school-counseling route (UTSA program pages). It is the more relevant UTSA inquiry for applicants aiming toward clinical counseling; ask how its placements and coursework align with current Texas LPC requirements.
• St. Mary's University - Master's in Counseling. St. Mary's offers a counseling master's at a private nonprofit university, creating a different institutional and pricing choice from the local public options (St. Mary's University program page). Applicants should establish which concentration or credential path they would enter before comparing its net cost with a public program.
• University of Texas at San Antonio - Master's in School Counseling. Its stated focus is school counseling, not the clinical mental health route offered separately at UTSA (UTSA program pages). It merits a closer look from applicants targeting K-12 work, provided the current curriculum matches their Texas certification plan.
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio - M.A. in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling. The named specialty centers the degree choice on couple and family counseling rather than a general clinical or school pathway (Texas A&M University-San Antonio graduate catalog). It is especially pertinent if relationship-focused practice is your goal; verify which Texas license the current curriculum is designed to support.
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio - M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This is the university's clinical counseling option, distinct from its family and school programs (Texas A&M University-San Antonio program pages). For applicants comparing it with UTSA's clinical degree, the deciding evidence should be each program's current placement arrangements, credential alignment, and net price - not the similar degree titles.
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio - M.A. in Counseling and Guidance, School Counseling. Its catalog identifies a school-counseling route within Counseling and Guidance (Texas A&M University-San Antonio graduate catalog). Applicants comparing it with UTSA's school program should ask each school how its educator preparation, fieldwork, and certification support work in practice.

If you want to weigh broader outcomes as well as program fit, compare the best counseling programs alongside the popularity ranking.

Plan on roughly two to three years for a full-time counseling master's, with part-time enrollment potentially taking longer. The actual timeline depends on the published course sequence, whether courses run each term, and when you can complete supervised practicum and internship. Ask for a term-by-term plan rather than relying on the advertised minimum.

For working adults, the critical question is often not classroom time but whether placement hours can be completed around paid work. Compare the expected graduation date under your realistic schedule; an accelerated program is not cheaper if it requires an unaffordable reduction in earnings.

Online delivery can reduce commuting, while campus classes may make in-person interaction and access to nearby placements simpler. Neither format removes the need for supervised practical training. The right comparison is the specific program's fieldwork, live-class schedule, supervision, and Texas credential alignment - not the label "online" or "on-campus."

Ask an online program whether it approves placements in or near San Antonio, who secures the site, and whether any campus visits are required. Do not assume an online counseling degree meets Texas licensing or school-certification requirements merely because the university is accredited; verify the relevant program and credential pathway with the school and the appropriate Texas authority (Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council; Texas Education Agency).

There is no single dependable San Antonio master's-in-counseling price: published tuition may be quoted per credit, per term, or for an academic year, and may exclude fees. Public-university rates can also depend on Texas residency, while a private nonprofit university uses its own pricing and aid policies (institutional tuition schedules). Rather than treating a broad graduate-school average as this degree's cost, request a program-specific total for your enrollment plan.

The comparison below shows why the lowest tuition quote may not produce the lowest overall cost.

Use the most affordable counseling programs as a starting point, then obtain current written cost estimates from the schools you shortlist.

Eligible graduate students can explore federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, institutional scholarships or assistantships, employer tuition assistance, and any school-administered aid for which they qualify. File the FAFSA and ask each university whether an award renews during internship terms; an attractive first-year package may not cover the entire degree (Federal Student Aid; institutional financial aid offices).

For students beginning a new graduate program in 2027, do not build a financing plan around Graduate PLUS availability. Federal rules changed for new graduate borrowers beginning July 1, 2026; certain borrowers with qualifying earlier enrollment and borrowing may have a limited transition exception. Confirm your individual eligibility and current loan limits with Federal Student Aid and the school before accepting an offer (Federal Student Aid). Borrow only after comparing net costs, likely completion time, and a repayment estimate.

Applicants generally need a bachelor's degree and must meet the chosen university's graduate admissions rules. Programs may also request transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, an interview, or prerequisite coursework; these vary by program and admission cycle (institutional admissions pages). A psychology major is not necessarily the only entry route, but applicants changing fields should ask whether missing foundational courses add time or cost.

Before submitting an application, ask admissions to identify the exact degree plan and its intended Texas credential. Also check the school's transfer-credit policy: acceptance of graduate credits is program-specific, and transferred coursework may not replace required supervised training. This prevents a costly mistake for applicants who already hold another graduate credential.

Expect foundations of counseling, ethics, assessment, human development, research, and supervised practicum or internship. Clinical programs place greater emphasis on mental health assessment and treatment; school programs address counseling in educational settings; marriage-and-family programs study relationships and family systems (institutional program descriptions). Course names alone are insufficient: compare required content and supervised experiences against the credential you intend to seek.

If you hope to serve a particular population, ask to see the current course rotation and available placement settings. An elective that rarely runs is less useful than required training and a feasible placement relevant to your goal.

The clearest local choices are clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, and marriage, couple, and family counseling, as reflected in the named programs at UTSA and Texas A&M University-San Antonio (institutional program pages). These are not interchangeable labels: each points toward different clients, settings, and potentially different Texas credential requirements.

Choose the practice setting first, then the specialization. Someone committed to a K-12 school role should investigate school-counselor certification rather than assume a clinical degree provides it; someone seeking independent clinical practice should confirm the appropriate licensing route instead of selecting a school program solely because its schedule is convenient (Texas Education Agency; Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council).

Start with the job and credential you actually want, then eliminate programs that cannot document a suitable path. A popularity ranking can identify options to investigate, but it cannot tell you whether a particular curriculum, placement, or financing plan fits your life.

Use these checks when speaking with program staff:

1. Name your intended role and ask which Texas license or certification the degree is designed to support; verify current requirements with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council or Texas Education Agency.
2. Check institutional accreditation and, where relevant to your goal, the program's current CACREP status in the accreditor's directory; do not assume accreditation covers every counseling track (CACREP; U.S. Department of Education).
3. Request the complete course sequence, placement expectations, and a realistic graduation timeline for your work schedule.
4. Compare written total-cost and aid estimates, including any income you may forgo during fieldwork.
5. Ask for program-level completion, exam, and employment information when available, including the reporting year and which graduates the figures cover.

For return on investment, consider completion probability, debt and interest, current and prospective earnings, time to licensure, career length, and the value of future earnings rather than comparing tuition with one national salary figure. The most valuable counseling programs offer another comparison lens, but your own costs and career goal remain decisive.

A counseling master's can support several paths, but the degree, supervised experience, examinations, and credential rules differ. These national occupational benchmarks illustrate why applicants should compare their intended job - not just degree titles.

Figures are national occupational medians and projections, not program outcomes or local offers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections). The school category includes career advisors as well as school counselors, so its median should not be treated as a salary quote for a particular Texas school position. Match the occupation to the program and credential before using any wage figure in a borrowing decision.

National projections point to different levels of demand across counseling occupations: mental health and related counselors are projected to grow faster than school and career counselors over 2025-2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections). That distinction may favor investigating clinical pathways if your interests genuinely fit them, but national growth does not establish how many openings will be available to a new graduate in San Antonio.

For a local decision, examine current vacancies by credential, setting, and supervision offered - not job titles alone. A posting for an independently licensed clinician is not an entry-level opportunity for a new master's graduate. Ask placement coordinators where recent students completed fieldwork and whether those sites consider graduates for roles appropriate to their credential stage.

Investing in a master's degree is a consequential decision. Research.com evaluates counseling programs using graduate outcomes, licensure exam pass rates where applicable, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and cost; a popularity ranking should be read alongside those measures, not as proof that the most popular program is the best fit. The team uses multiple education datasets to support credible, accurate comparisons and directs readers to its full methodology for more detail.

The ranking draws on these data sources:

• IPEDS database - institutional enrollment, completions, and other reported education data.
• Peterson's database - program and institutional information.
• College Scorecard database - federal institutional data, including student outcomes and costs where available.
• National Center for Education Statistics - federal education statistics and context.

In Research.com's Best ranking, the initial outcomes-and-accreditation score 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; cost contributes about 7% of the final score. On-campus and online programs use the same approach. Other rankings order programs by the dimension named in the ranking. These measures help readers compare options, but they cannot replace checking a program's current curriculum, net price, and eligibility for a specific Texas credential.

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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
• The University of Texas at San Antonio - Master of Science (MS) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://future.utsa.edu/programs/master/clinical-mental-health-counseling/
• St. Mary's University - M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.stmarytx.edu/academics/programs/master-counseling/
• The University of Texas at San Antonio - M. Ed. in School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://future.utsa.edu/programs/master/school-counseling/
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio - M.A. in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://catalog.tamusa.edu/graduate/education-human-development/counseling-health-kinesiology/marriage-couple-family-counseling-ma/
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio - M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.tamusa.edu/academics/College-of-Education-and-Human-Development/counseling-health-and-kinesiology/counseling/master-of-arts-in-clinical-mental-health-counseling.html