Ranked #20 in popularity, student counseling is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Student Counseling Master's Degree Schools in New Jersey ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 434 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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 account for this we consider a school'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.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 complete 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 in New Jersey list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in student counseling has to take a look at Montclair State University. Located in the suburb of Montclair, Montclair State is a public university with a very large student population.
After graduating, student counseling master's recipients typically make an average of $54,513 at the beginning of their careers.
The College of New Jersey is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in student counseling. TCNJ is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Ewing.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from The College of New Jersey make $2,825 more than the typical student counseling student.
Seton Hall University is a wonderful option for students interested in a master's degree in student counseling. Located in the large suburb of South Orange, Seton Hall is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
Student Counseling master's degree recipients from Seton Hall University earn a boost of about $3,670 over the typical earnings of student counseling majors.
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in student counseling has to check out Rider University. Located in the large suburb of Lawrenceville, Rider is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Master's recipients from the student counseling program at Rider University earn $2,362 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the suburb of West Long Branch, Monmouth is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Those student counseling students who get their master's degree from Monmouth University earn $2,148 more than the standard student counseling graduate.
Located in the suburb of Wayne, William Paterson University is a public university with a medium-sized student population.
Student Counseling master's degree recipients from William Paterson University of New Jersey earn a boost of approximately $5,754 over the typical income of student counseling graduates.
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
