2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Greensboro

National occupational medians provide a benchmark, but they are not Greensboro starting salaries. The following U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures refer to workers in each occupation in May 2025; projected growth covers 2025-2035. Job titles, licensure, employer, and experience affect an individual offer.

For a Greensboro applicant, the comparison is most useful for distinguishing career paths - not predicting pay after graduation. In particular, the marriage and family therapy figure should not be treated as an outcome of a general counseling degree; that occupation has its own training and licensure requirements (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; North Carolina licensing boards).

The clearest difference between these Greensboro options is the professional setting their named programs target. That matters more than a small difference in a general ranking if your goal requires a particular North Carolina credential.

• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - M.S. in Counseling, School Counseling concentration: The designated school counseling concentration offers a direct curriculum choice for applicants who want to support students in K-12 settings. Compared with North Carolina A&T's mental health counseling program, it is the more relevant option to investigate for school counselor preparation; confirm its current North Carolina educator-licensure approval and placement arrangements before enrolling (UNC Greensboro).
• North Carolina A&T State University - Mental Health Counseling: The named mental health counseling program provides the clearer starting point of these two options for applicants planning clinical behavioral health work. Ask the department to document how its current curriculum, supervised training, and accreditation status align with the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors' requirements for your intended application date (North Carolina A&T State University; North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).

Neither program name establishes an individual graduate's license eligibility. Request a current degree plan and written guidance from the program, then check it against the appropriate North Carolina licensing authority.

A counseling master's typically takes about 2-3 years of full-time study; part-time enrollment can extend that timeline. The decisive scheduling issue is often fieldwork rather than classroom time: practicum and internship placements must fit a site's operating hours and a supervisor's availability (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs).

If you plan to keep working, request a term-by-term plan showing when fieldwork begins and how many days you would need on site. An apparently faster program may cost more in forgone wages if its placements cannot accommodate your work schedule.

Online instruction can reduce commuting, but it does not eliminate supervised in-person training. Campus study may make it easier to build relationships with local faculty and placement sites; online study may better suit a working adult who can secure an approved placement nearby. In either format, the credential goal should control the decision.

Before accepting an online offer, ask whether the program meets North Carolina's requirements for the specific license you want, where you may complete fieldwork, and who resolves placement problems. Do not assume that a program's authorization to teach North Carolina residents establishes professional licensure eligibility (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction).

There is no single reliable Greensboro-wide master's-in-counseling price: total cost depends on the program's required credits, residency classification, fees, enrollment pace, and aid offer. North Carolina public-university applicants should check their graduate-program tuition schedule rather than an undergraduate rate. Compare the most affordable counseling programs, then request a current, itemized estimate from each institution (UNC Greensboro; North Carolina A&T State University).

Calculate the full investment as tuition and required fees plus books, travel to placements, and any income lost during fieldwork, minus grants or assistantship support. A lower sticker price is not necessarily the lower-cost choice if the program takes longer or requires a placement schedule that substantially reduces paid work. Published IPEDS and College Scorecard institution-level figures are useful context, but neither substitutes for a current program-specific graduate quote (National Center for Education Statistics; College Scorecard).

Graduate applicants can submit the FAFSA to establish eligibility for federal student aid. Depending on eligibility and school offerings, funding may include Direct Unsubsidized Loans, assistantships, scholarships, and employer tuition assistance; compare offers by net cost and borrowing required, not the size of the aid package alone (Federal Student Aid; U.S. Department of Education).

Ask both Greensboro universities whether counseling students qualify for departmental assistantships, whether awards cover fees, and whether part-time enrollment changes eligibility. If you expect to work in schools or a qualifying nonprofit after graduation, check federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness rules before treating potential forgiveness as certain: eligibility depends on the loan, employer, repayment, and qualifying payments (Federal Student Aid).

Expect to document a bachelor's degree and submit the materials each graduate program currently requires, which may include transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, and an interview. Do not assume that a psychology major is required - or that unrelated undergraduate coursework will transfer into a graduate counseling degree. Check each institution's current admissions and transfer-credit policies (UNC Greensboro; North Carolina A&T State University).

Your most important pre-application check is professional fit. Ask the program to identify the North Carolina credential it prepares students to pursue and any coursework you would need beyond its standard plan. Clinical licensure, school counselor licensure, accreditation, supervised experience, and examinations are distinct requirements; admission to a degree program does not satisfy them all (North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction).

Typical counseling curricula cover helping skills, human development, ethics, assessment, research, and culturally responsive practice, followed by supervised practicum and internship. School counseling students should expect school-specific preparation, while mental health counseling students should examine the depth of diagnosis, treatment planning, and clinical practice coursework (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs; UNC Greensboro; North Carolina A&T State University).

Compare actual required-course lists rather than course titles alone. A course described as "counseling in schools," for example, does not by itself establish eligibility for a school counselor license; the complete approved preparation pathway matters (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction).

The two clearly differentiated local options here are school counseling at UNC Greensboro and mental health counseling at North Carolina A&T. Choose the first to investigate an education-based role and the second to investigate a clinical behavioral health role. If your goal is marriage and family therapy, rehabilitation counseling, or another specialty, verify that a particular program - not merely the institution - offers the curriculum and supervised experience your intended credential requires (UNC Greensboro; North Carolina A&T State University; relevant North Carolina licensing boards).

Use rankings to build a shortlist, then compare programs against the work you actually want to do. The most popular counseling programs can show where students enroll, but popularity is not evidence that a curriculum fits your license, schedule, or budget.

Before committing, get answers to these questions from each program and the relevant licensing authority:

1. Which specific North Carolina credential does the current degree plan prepare me to pursue, and what requirements remain after graduation?
2. What is my itemized total cost under my residency classification and likely enrollment schedule?
3. Who secures practicum and internship sites, and can the placement hours work with my job?
4. What are the program's current accreditation status and available program-level completion or exam results?
5. How would approved transfer credits change my remaining courses, cost, and completion date?

Reject a poor credential match even if it ranks highly or advertises a low tuition rate. For return on investment, consider completion likelihood, aid, debt, wages you may give up while studying, your current earnings, realistic post-degree earnings, and how long you expect to work in the field - not a salary figure alone.

A school-focused graduate may pursue school counseling after meeting North Carolina's educator-licensure requirements. A mental health-focused graduate may pursue a supervised clinical pathway toward independent practice, subject to the North Carolina counseling board's education, examination, and post-degree experience requirements. Substance-use treatment is another possible setting, but particular roles and credentials have their own requirements (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors).

This degree is a strong investment for someone committed to counseling work who has confirmed a fitting credential pathway and can accommodate supervised training. If you want a role that does not require counseling licensure, or you cannot make fieldwork fit your schedule and finances, compare less costly credentials or adjacent roles before taking on graduate debt.

The national outlook differs sharply by path: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 18% employment growth for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors and 3% for school and career counselors and advisors over 2025-2035. Those projections signal different national demand patterns; they do not measure vacancies in Greensboro or guarantee a job to a new graduate.

For a local reality check, review current Guilford County school-system and area behavioral health job postings for the exact credential, supervision status, and experience they request. That exercise can reveal a costly mismatch early - for example, pursuing a clinical role with a school-focused curriculum or assuming an independently licensed position is available immediately after graduation.

Investing in a master's degree is a consequential decision. Research.com created its counseling rankings to make program comparisons more transparent, using graduate outcomes, licensure exam results where applicable, accreditation, federal aid eligibility, and cost rather than relying on reputation alone. The team evaluates the quality and comparability of these measures so readers can use the rankings as a starting point for a closer program-level review.

Research.com used the following data sources to create the rankings:

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

The Best counseling ranking first combines completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), applicable licensure exam pass rates (20%), applicable CACREP recognition (16%), and institutional Title IV eligibility (4%). Shares are adjusted when a measure does not apply; cost then contributes about 7% of the final Best score. Other rankings order programs by the dimension named in the ranking. Readers can examine the full approach on Research.com's methodology page. No ranking replaces checking the current requirements and net price of the particular program you plan to enter.

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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
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro - Counseling, M.S.
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.uncg.edu/degrees/counseling-m-s-school-counseling-concentration/
• North Carolina A & T State University - M.S. in Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.ncat.edu/academics/graduate-programs/ced/mental-health-counseling.php