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

The closest national occupational benchmarks vary by counseling path. These U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures report May 2025 median annual pay and projected employment growth for 2025-2035; they are not Scranton-specific starting salaries or promises of post-degree earnings.

The differences make career alignment more useful than comparing degrees by title alone. For a financial decision, request local pay ranges for the jobs you would actually seek and compare them with your current earnings, expected debt, and the time required to qualify for the role.

Scranton-area options differ most meaningfully by the professional direction built into their curricula. These program-level distinctions can help you narrow the ranking before comparing current credit requirements, field placements, and outcomes with admissions staff (Marywood University; University of Scranton).

• Marywood University - Counselor Education, PK-12: Its explicitly PK-12 focus makes it the Marywood option to investigate for a school-based career rather than clinical practice. Ask the program how its current curriculum and fieldwork align with Pennsylvania school counselor certification (Marywood University; Pennsylvania Department of Education).
• Marywood University - Mental Health Counseling: This program is the more direct Marywood comparison for applicants interested in clinical mental health work instead of a school setting. Confirm its current licensure-related coursework and supervised-placement expectations before treating the degree title as proof of LPC eligibility (Marywood University; Pennsylvania licensing board).
• University of Scranton - School Counseling: Its dedicated school counseling master's gives prospective educators a school-focused alternative to Marywood's PK-12 counselor education program. Compare each school's current certification alignment, placement support, and total required credits rather than assuming similarly named pathways are interchangeable (University of Scranton; Marywood University).
• University of Scranton - Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling: Rehabilitation is the clearest specialty distinction in this group: it directs attention to counseling in the context of disability and functioning. It is worth close consideration if those settings fit your goal, but verify the current curriculum against any state license or professional certification you plan to pursue (University of Scranton; Pennsylvania licensing board).

Program pages do not make every outcome or cost directly comparable. If you want a broader quality-focused shortlist, review the best counseling programs, then request the same current figures from each school.

A counseling master's commonly takes about two years of full-time study; part-time enrollment often extends completion beyond that. Your actual timeline depends on required credits, course sequencing, and when supervised placements are available. A working professional should ask for a term-by-term plan, not just an advertised completion time.

Faster is not always cheaper. An accelerated schedule can reduce time away from full-time earnings, but it can also make unpaid or daytime fieldwork harder to manage. Before enrolling, ask whether courses and placements can fit your work schedule and whether a delayed placement would postpone graduation.

Online coursework can reduce commuting and make a wider program search practical. It does not remove supervised fieldwork: counseling students still need placements that meet program and applicable credential requirements. On-campus study may make face-to-face activities and local placement planning more convenient, but its schedule may be less workable for some employed students.

For either format, verify that the program accepts placements near Scranton, provides appropriate supervision, and meets the educational rules for the state where you intend to practice. An online program based elsewhere should not be assumed to satisfy Pennsylvania requirements merely because students can enroll from Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania licensing board; Pennsylvania Department of Education).

There is no single reliable Scranton-wide master's-in-counseling price that represents every track and enrollment pattern. Published graduate tuition may be charged per credit, while total cost also depends on required credits, fees, books, travel to placements, and any earnings forgone during fieldwork. An institution-wide tuition figure is not necessarily the price of a particular counseling degree.

Request a written estimate for the entire degree, including likely fees and the remaining cost after grants or assistantships. Then compare that figure with the most affordable counseling programs. The lowest sticker price is useful only if the program supports your intended credential and a completion schedule you can sustain.

Start with each school's graduate aid office and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Ask about institutional scholarships, assistantships, employer tuition assistance, and federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan eligibility. Federal aid and award terms depend on the student and program; Pennsylvania undergraduate grant programs should not be assumed to fund a counseling master's (Federal Student Aid; Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency).

Graduate PLUS needs particular attention for 2027 planning: federal rules limit new graduate borrowers' access beginning July 1, 2026, while certain previously enrolled borrowers who received a qualifying loan before that date may retain temporary eligibility. Do not build a financing plan around Graduate PLUS without having the aid office confirm your individual status and current borrowing options (Federal Student Aid).

Borrowing less improves the potential return, but aid should be weighed against completion risk and the income you would give up. Compare net cost and expected debt alongside the career-specific benchmarks in the most valuable counseling programs ranking.

Expect to document a bachelor's degree and submit the materials each graduate program specifies, potentially including transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, or an interview. Prerequisite coursework, admission tests, and minimum academic standards vary by institution; check the current requirements for the specific counseling track rather than relying on general graduate-admissions information (Marywood University; University of Scranton).

Applicants changing careers should ask whether prior psychology or education coursework is required and whether any earlier graduate credits can transfer. Obtain transfer-credit and prerequisite decisions in writing before making a deposit: admission to a program does not necessarily mean every prior credit will count toward graduation or credential eligibility.

Typical counseling curricula cover counseling theories and techniques, ethics, human development, assessment, research, and supervised practicum or internship work. The specialty changes the emphasis: school counseling adds education-system and student-support preparation; mental health counseling emphasizes clinical assessment and treatment; rehabilitation counseling addresses disability-related practice (Marywood University; University of Scranton).

Compare course lists against your goal, not just catalog descriptions. If Pennsylvania licensure or school certification is your aim, ask the program to map required courses and supervised work to the relevant state rules, and confirm what additional steps remain after graduation (Pennsylvania licensing board; Pennsylvania Department of Education).

The listed local choices point to three distinct directions: school counseling, mental health counseling, and clinical rehabilitation counseling (Marywood University; University of Scranton). School counseling fits applicants who want to work with students in educational settings. Mental health counseling better fits an intended clinical behavioral health path; rehabilitation counseling merits attention if disability-related services are central to your goal.

A specialization name is not a substitute for credential verification. If your interest is specifically marriage and family therapy or another regulated occupation, check whether a counseling track actually meets that occupation's education rules before treating it as an equivalent route.

Start with the job and credential you want, then compare programs on requirements that could change your ability to finish and qualify. Popularity can identify options to investigate, but it cannot resolve a mismatch between a school counseling curriculum and a clinical licensing goal.

Use these questions with each program so that your comparison rests on the same evidence:

1. Which Pennsylvania certification or license does this curriculum prepare students to pursue, and which requirements remain after graduation?
2. What are the current required credits, total estimated program cost, and realistic full-time or part-time completion schedules?
3. Who arranges field placements, where can they occur, and what scheduling or supervision limits apply?
4. What current program-specific completion, exam, and graduate outcome information can the school document?
5. Is the institution appropriately accredited, and does the program hold any programmatic accreditation relevant to your goal?

Verify institutional accreditation and any claimed programmatic CACREP status with the accreditor, then confirm how Pennsylvania treats the degree. A worthwhile investment depends on net cost, debt, lost earnings during study, likelihood of completing, your earnings before and after the degree, and how long you expect to use the credential - not institution type or a ranking position alone.

The clearest paths from the listed programs are school counselor, mental health counselor, and rehabilitation counselor. Each points toward a different client population and, potentially, a different credential process. Clinical work may require post-degree supervised experience and an examination before independent licensure; school employment can involve Pennsylvania educator certification requirements (Pennsylvania licensing board; Pennsylvania Department of Education).

The degree is a stronger fit if you have identified the work you want and can accommodate supervised training. If you primarily want a short credential for a noncounseling job - or need to start independent practice immediately after graduation - compare alternative education routes and job requirements before committing to a master's.

National projections indicate different levels of demand across counseling occupations: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% employment growth for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors over 2025-2035, compared with 3% for school and career counselors. Those national projections signal a broader growth difference; they do not establish how many positions will open in Scranton or whether a new graduate will qualify for them.

Use local job postings to test the market before choosing a track. Note the credential, experience, schedule, and setting employers request, then ask prospective programs how their placements help students meet those expectations. If the specialty you want has limited nearby openings or suitable placement sites, willingness to commute or relocate may matter more than the program's popularity.

Investing in graduate education is a consequential decision. Research.com developed its counseling rankings to make program comparisons more transparent, using education and institutional data that its team reviews for quality, credibility, and accuracy. The following sources were used to create the rankings:

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

Research.com evaluates counseling programs using graduate outcomes, applicable licensure-exam results, accreditation, federal Title IV eligibility, and cost. Its Best ranking first combines completion, employment or doctoral admission, applicable exam performance, CACREP recognition, and Title IV eligibility; cost contributes a smaller part of the final score. Criteria are reweighted when they do not apply. Rankings organized around a particular dimension should be read for that dimension: popularity is not, by itself, evidence of licensure eligibility, affordability, or better outcomes. Use the ranking to build a shortlist, then verify current program details directly with each school. More information about the approach appears 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/
• Counseling Compact - Participating States
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://counselingcompact.org/
• 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
• 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 - Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-rehabilitation-counseling/index.shtml