2025 Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #7 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 66 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Combined, these schools handed out 5,386 master's degrees in clinical, counseling & applied psychology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of clinical, counseling & applied psychology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality clinical psychology program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on clinical, counseling & applied psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other clinical, counseling & applied psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt clinical, counseling & applied psychology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized clinical, counseling & applied psychology related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Schools

The clinical psychology school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology in the Southeast Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

13 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in Clinical Psychology

1

Florida Institute of Technology
Melbourne, FL

692 Annual Graduates

$69,916 Median Starting Salary

Florida Institute of Technology is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Florida Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Melbourne.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their master's degree from Florida Institute of Technology make $20,200 more than the typical clinical psychology graduate.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Florida Institute of Technology

2

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

10 Annual Graduates

University of Florida is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Florida

3

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

57 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt University is a good option for students interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Vanderbilt University

4

University of Georgia
Athens, GA

78 Annual Graduates

$64,962 Median Starting Salary

University of Georgia is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the midsize city of Athens, UGA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from University of Georgia get an earnings boost of approximately $15,246 above the average earnings of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Georgia

5

Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL

409 Annual Graduates

$46,761 Median Starting Salary

NUS Florida is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Fort Lauderdale.

Master's students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program earn about $46,761 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Nova Southeastern University

6

Auburn University
Auburn, AL

24 Annual Graduates

Auburn is a fairly large public university located in the city of Auburn.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Auburn University

7

University of South Carolina - Columbia
Columbia, SC

18 Annual Graduates

UofSC is a very large public university located in the city of Columbia.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of South Carolina - Columbia

8

James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA

10 Annual Graduates

JMU is a very large public university located in the small city of Harrisonburg.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from James Madison University

9

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

59 Annual Graduates

$54,093 Median Starting Salary

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from University of Virginia - Main Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $4,377 above the typical income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology graduates.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Virginia - Main Campus

10

William & Mary
Williamsburg, VA

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the small suburb of Williamsburg, William & Mary is a public school with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from William & Mary

11

University of South Florida - Main Campus
Tampa, FL

89 Annual Graduates

$65,597 Median Starting Salary

USF Tampa is a very large public university located in the large city of Tampa.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from University of South Florida - Main Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $15,881 over the average income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of South Florida - Main Campus

12

University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY

40 Annual Graduates

$49,893 Median Starting Salary

UK is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Lexington.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program earn about $49,893 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Kentucky

13

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

116 Annual Graduates

GMU is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Fairfax.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from George Mason University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank	College	Location
14	Clemson University	Clemson, SC
15	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach	Daytona Beach, FL
16	Florida State University	Tallahassee, FL
17	Liberty University	Lynchburg, VA
18	Appalachian State University	Boone, NC
19	University of Central Florida	Orlando, FL
20	Marymount University	Arlington, VA
21	University of Louisville	Louisville, KY
22	University of Memphis	Memphis, TN

Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges by State

Explore the best clinical, counseling & applied psychology schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	1,276
Georgia	190	231
Virginia	182	1,115
North Carolina	178	64
Tennessee	166	210
Alabama	151	217
Kentucky	147	685
Louisiana	147	52
South Carolina	146	100
Mississippi	145	21
Arkansas	121	0
West Virginia	112	5

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Clinical Psychology

One of 24 majors within the Psychology area of study, Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Clinical Psychology Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Counseling Psychology	2,467
Applied Behavior Analysis	945
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	472
Applied Psychology	401
Clinical Psychology	337
Educational Psychology	297
School Psychology	178
Forensic Psychology	154
Community Psychology	83
Other Psychology & Counseling	46

Most Popular Majors Related to Clinical Psychology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	1,716
Child Development & Psychology	184
Other Psychology	17

Notes and References

• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.