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

National occupational medians offer a starting benchmark, not a Scranton salary forecast. The figures below are for occupations - not graduates of particular programs - and reflect May 2025 U.S. wages published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For a personal estimate, inspect current job postings and school-district pay schedules in the area, noting credential and experience requirements. Compare plausible starting pay with what you earn now - not with a national median that includes established professionals (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

The four Scranton program options differ most clearly by the populations they train students to serve and the credentials they are designed to support. These distinctions are more useful than treating all counseling master's degrees as substitutes; confirm current credits, fieldwork requirements, accreditation status, and outcomes with each department before applying.

• University of Scranton, clinical rehabilitation counseling: Its defining focus is counseling in the context of disability and rehabilitation, rather than the broader mental health or school-counseling paths represented here. It merits a closer look if disability services or vocational rehabilitation is your intended work; ask how its current curriculum aligns with the specific credential and employers you are targeting (University of Scranton).
• Marywood University, counselor education pre-K-12: This is the clearly school-directed option in the group, with preparation centered on counseling students across grade levels. Choose it over a clinical track if Pennsylvania school counselor certification is your goal, and confirm its current certification recommendation and field-placement process (Marywood University; Pennsylvania Department of Education).
• University of Scranton, clinical mental health counseling: Unlike its rehabilitation program, this track is directed toward clinical mental health practice. It is the more relevant Scranton option to examine if you plan to pursue Pennsylvania professional counselor licensure; request a written explanation of how the curriculum and supervised training map to current board rules (University of Scranton; Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors).
• Marywood University, mental health counseling: This is Marywood's clinical mental health alternative to its pre-K-12 counselor education program. For applicants comparing the two local mental health options, its most useful distinction is the institution and its associated curriculum and placement arrangements - not an assumed difference in licensure eligibility; obtain each school's current requirements and placement information for a direct comparison (Marywood University).

Plan on roughly two to three years of full-time graduate study for a counseling master's; part-time attendance can take longer. That is a planning range, not a published completion promise for any school listed here. Practicum and internship scheduling may limit how quickly a student can finish even if coursework is available year-round.

If you intend to keep working, ask for a term-by-term plan showing when daytime fieldwork begins. An apparently faster program can cost more in forgone wages if its placement schedule forces you to reduce paid hours. Also ask whether prior graduate coursework can transfer and whether transferring credits changes eligibility for a particular credential.

Online study can reduce trips to campus and widen course-scheduling options, but it does not make supervised counseling practice virtual by default. An on-campus program may be easier to coordinate with nearby faculty and placement sites; neither format is inherently better for Pennsylvania licensure. The deciding issues are curriculum fit, acceptable supervision, placement availability, and the program's ability to document your training (Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors).

For any online or hybrid offer, get written answers about where you may complete fieldwork, who finds and approves the site, and whether the school has determined that the program meets Pennsylvania's educational requirements. If you might practice in another state, check that state's board separately before enrolling.

A reliable Scranton-wide average for these specific counseling master's programs is not established here. A quoted price per credit is also not a total degree price: required credits, program fees, books, commuting, placement-related expenses, and living costs all matter. Ask each school for the current total cost of its complete program and the terms of any aid offer (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

Because the highlighted institutions are private universities, do not assume a public-university in-state discount applies. Compare their written net-cost estimates with the most affordable counseling programs, while checking whether a lower-priced alternative prepares you for the same credential and offers workable field placements.

Start with each university's graduate scholarships, assistantships, and payment options, then submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to determine eligibility for federal assistance. Graduate students may be eligible for Direct Unsubsidized Loans; borrowing limits, interest, and repayment terms should be checked against the current Federal Student Aid rules before accepting an offer (Federal Student Aid; U.S. Department of Education).

Request an aid estimate covering every semester, including fieldwork terms. A common mistake is comparing first-year awards without asking whether they renew or require a particular course load. If you work for a school or behavioral-health employer, also check whether tuition assistance comes with continued-employment obligations.

Expect to document a completed bachelor's degree and meet the chosen school's current graduate-admission requirements. Programs may also request transcripts, recommendations, a statement of purpose, an interview, or prerequisite coursework; requirements should be verified with the relevant admissions office rather than assumed to be identical across Scranton programs (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

Before applying, state your intended job and credential to the program director. Ask whether applicants from your undergraduate major need additional preparation, whether any previous graduate credits may transfer, and whether admission to the university also means admission to the specific counseling track.

Expect foundations such as counseling theories, ethics, assessment, research or evaluation, multicultural counseling, and supervised practicum and internship. Track-specific courses are the important comparison: clinical mental health study addresses mental health assessment and treatment; school counseling addresses work with students and school systems; rehabilitation counseling addresses disability and related service needs (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

Do not judge fit by course titles alone. Ask for current syllabi and a curriculum map showing how required courses and field experiences address the Pennsylvania credential you want. An elective that sounds relevant cannot necessarily replace a required licensure or certification component.

The principal local choices represented here are clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling, and pre-K-12 school counseling (University of Scranton; Marywood University). These are different program directions, not necessarily concentrations that can be added to one degree after enrollment.

Choose based on the work setting you want at graduation and after credentialing. A prospective therapist should examine clinical mental health preparation; a future school counselor should prioritize the school-certification pathway; someone committed to disability and rehabilitation work should investigate the rehabilitation track. If you are undecided, ask whether changing tracks would require additional courses or a new admission decision.

Start with your intended credential, then compare programs that plausibly lead toward it. The most popular counseling programs can show where students enroll, but popularity does not establish licensure fit or value for your circumstances.

Use these checks to turn a shortlist into a decision:

1. Identify the exact Pennsylvania license or school certification you want; obtain the board's or education department's current requirements and ask each program for its written alignment information.
2. Verify the program's current accreditation status with the accreditor and ask whether accreditation is required for your intended credential, employer, or later move to another state.
3. Request recent program-level completion, placement, and applicable exam results, including their reporting periods; do not substitute university-wide outcomes.
4. Compare complete net cost and likely borrowing alongside completion time, lost work hours, placement travel, and your current earnings.
5. Ask how field sites are arranged, what happens if a placement falls through, and whether the schedule works with your job and caregiving responsibilities.

For return on investment, consider debt and aid, your chance of finishing, earnings before and after the degree, the time it takes to obtain a credential, and how long you expect to work in the field. A low sticker price or a high national occupational median alone cannot answer whether the degree is worth it for you.

A clinical mental health graduate may seek supervised counseling work on a path toward professional licensure; an appropriately prepared school counseling graduate may seek Pennsylvania school certification; a rehabilitation counseling graduate may pursue disability-focused counseling and service roles. The degree, professional license, school certification, and any optional professional certification are separate qualifications with different authorities and requirements (Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors; Pennsylvania Department of Education).

Before accepting a job offer, check whether the employer's supervision satisfies the requirements for your intended license and who will document that experience. If you expect to practice across the Pennsylvania border, investigate the destination state's rules before choosing a program: a Scranton education does not automatically establish eligibility elsewhere.

At the national level, employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections). That signals opportunity in the broader occupation, but it is not a projection for Scranton openings or for newly licensed graduates. School and rehabilitation counseling have different labor markets, so the clinical mental health outlook should not be applied to every track.

Test local demand against your intended credential: review current vacancies across the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre area, record required licenses and supervision arrangements, and ask programs where recent graduates completed fieldwork. A promising job count matters less if the openings require credentials you will not yet hold or schedules you cannot accept.

Investing in graduate education is a consequential decision. Research.com designed its counseling rankings to help readers compare programs using evidence about outcomes, credentials, and cost rather than reputation alone. Its team reviews the underlying information for quality, credibility, and accuracy; readers should still confirm current program details directly with each school.

Research.com's counseling rankings consider program completion, employment or doctoral admission, applicable licensure-exam pass rates, CACREP programmatic accreditation, federal Title IV eligibility, and cost. For the Best ranking, completion accounts for 40% of the initial outcomes-and-accreditation score; employment or doctoral admission and applicable exam results account for 20% each, CACREP recognition for 16%, and Title IV eligibility for 4%. Inapplicable criteria are renormalized. Cost then contributes about 7% of the final Best score. The same approach applies to online and campus programs; other rankings order programs by the dimension named in the ranking.

The team used these data sources to build the rankings:

• IPEDS database: institutional enrollment, completion, and cost reporting.
• Peterson's database: program and institutional information.
• College Scorecard database: federal institutional and student-outcome information.
• National Center for Education Statistics: federal education data and definitions.

Use the ranking to narrow a shortlist, then compare the current curriculum, placement arrangements, licensure fit, and individualized net cost. Research.com explains its broader approach on its methodology page.

• 2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in New York
• 2027 Most Valuable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Rochester
• 2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Washington
• 2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Buffalo
• 2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Pittsburgh
• 2027 Most Valuable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Columbus
• 2027 Most Valuable Master's in Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Greensboro
• 2027 Most Valuable Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Dayton
• 2027 Most Valuable Online Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Buffalo

• 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/
• O*NET OnLine - Mental Health Counselors (21-1014)
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00
• 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
• 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
• University of Scranton - MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-mental-health-counseling/index.shtml
• 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