If you pursue a master's degree in student counseling, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #20 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 240 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for student counseling students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 13,003 master's degrees in student counseling to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Student Counseling School for Your Master's Degree
The student counseling master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality student counseling program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on student counseling students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other student counseling students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for student counseling to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized student counseling related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for student counseling students working on their master's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Student Counseling Master's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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ADBLOCK #171
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Student Counseling in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in student counseling. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Schools for a Master's in Student Counseling
New York University is a great choice for students interested in a master's degree in student counseling. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.
Master's recipients from the student counseling program at New York University get $5,976 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of Florida is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in student counseling. UF is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville.
Students who graduate with their master's from the student counseling program state that they receive average early career earnings of $48,924.
University of Georgia is a great choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in student counseling. UGA is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Athens.
Students who graduate with their master's from the student counseling program report average early career income of $46,797.
Alfred is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Alfred.
Master's recipients from the student counseling major at Alfred University earn $15,117 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public university with a very large student population.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from California State University - Los Angeles earn $15,815 more than the standard student counseling grad.
Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the student counseling degree program at Boston University get $4,392 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the large suburb of Montclair, Montclair State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from Montclair State University earn $3,253 more than the typical student counseling student.
Hunter is a very large public college located in the city of New York.
Student Counseling master's degree recipients from Hunter College receive an earnings boost of about $8,708 above the typical earnings of student counseling graduates.
Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from Concordia University, Chicago earn $23,436 more than the typical student counseling grad.
Located in the large city of Baltimore, Loyola Maryland is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from Loyola University Maryland receive $4,938 more than the standard student counseling grad.
TCNJ is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Ewing.
Master's recipients from the student counseling degree program at The College of New Jersey get $6,739 above the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Florida State is a very large public university located in the city of Tallahassee.
Master's recipients from the student counseling major at Florida State University get $5,799 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
National University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego.
Master's recipients from the student counseling major at National University earn $13,325 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large city of Seattle, SPU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Master's recipients from the student counseling major at Seattle Pacific University get $18,080 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
The student counseling master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality student counseling program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
