2025 Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States 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.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 31 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,945 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 schools for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in Clinical Psychology

1

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

22 Annual Graduates

University of Kansas is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. KU is a very large public university located in the small city of Lawrence.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Kansas

2

University of St Thomas Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN

54 Annual Graduates

$52,793 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology needs to check out University of St Thomas Minnesota. Located in the city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from University of St Thomas Minnesota receive an earnings boost of around $2,494 over the typical income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology graduates.

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

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

61 Annual Graduates

$51,090 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology has to check out University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a very large student population.

After graduating, clinical psychology master's recipients generally make about $51,090 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4

University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE

17 Annual Graduates

University of Nebraska at Omaha is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the large city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Nebraska at Omaha

5

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

17 Annual Graduates

SLU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Saint Louis University

6

University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

67 Annual Graduates

$52,780 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Grand Forks, UND is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their master's degree from University of North Dakota earn $2,481 more than the average clinical psychology graduate.

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

7

Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO

28 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Missouri State University - Springfield

8

Saint Cloud State University
Saint Cloud, MN

46 Annual Graduates

$57,888 Median Starting Salary

St. Cloud State University is a large public university located in the small city of Saint Cloud.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from Saint Cloud State University receive an earnings boost of around $7,589 over the typical income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Saint Cloud State University

9

Wichita State University
Wichita, KS

25 Annual Graduates

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

10

Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN

26 Annual Graduates

$73,323 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their master's degree from Minnesota State University - Mankato make $23,024 more than the standard clinical psychology graduate.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Minnesota State University - Mankato

Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges by State

Explore the best clinical, counseling & applied psychology colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	315
Minnesota	174	2,040
Iowa	154	50
Kansas	149	151
Nebraska	123	124
North Dakota	115	47
South Dakota	89	51

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
Applied Behavior Analysis	1,102
Counseling Psychology	624
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	331
Forensic Psychology	325
Clinical Psychology	167
Educational Psychology	163
School Psychology	69
Applied Psychology	68
Performance and Sport Psychology	47
Other Psychology & Counseling	32

Most Popular Majors Related to Clinical Psychology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	527
Child Development & Psychology	303
Other Psychology	1

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.