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

If you pursue a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #7 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 47 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of clinical, counseling & applied psychology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,825 master's degrees in clinical, counseling & applied psychology during the 2022-2023 academic year.

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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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.

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

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 Southwest Region.

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

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology.

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

1

Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX

61 Annual Graduates

$60,503 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Texas A&M University - College Station if you wish to pursue a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public university with a very large student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from Texas A&M University - College Station receive an earnings boost of approximately $10,186 over the average earnings of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Texas A&M University - College Station

2

Baylor University
Waco, TX

41 Annual Graduates

$58,663 Median Starting Salary

Baylor University is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Baylor is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Waco.

Master's recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology degree program at Baylor University make $8,346 above the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

3

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

28 Annual Graduates

$53,235 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you wish to pursue a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a very large student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from The University of Texas at Austin get an earnings boost of around $2,918 above the typical income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology graduates.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from The University of Texas at Austin

4

University of North Texas
Denton, TX

156 Annual Graduates

$54,808 Median Starting Salary

University of North Texas is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the midsize city of Denton, UNT is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology program at University of North Texas make $4,491 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

5

University of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK

16 Annual Graduates

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

6

Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ

13 Annual Graduates

$62,275 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their master's degree from Northern Arizona University receive $11,958 more than the standard clinical psychology graduate.

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

7

Arizona State University - Skysong
Scottsdale, AZ

389 Annual Graduates

$49,202 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program make around $49,202 for their early career.

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

8

Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX

91 Annual Graduates

$44,512 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Huntsville, SHSU is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the clinical psychology program report average early career income of $44,512.

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

9

Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX

13 Annual Graduates

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

10

Texas State University
San Marcos, TX

76 Annual Graduates

$53,083 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Marcos, Texas State is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology degree program at Texas State University make $2,766 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank	College	Location
11	Oklahoma State University - Main Campus	Stillwater, OK
12	Arizona State University - Tempe	Tempe, AZ
13	Lamar University	Beaumont, TX
14	University of Houston - Clear Lake	Houston, TX
15	The University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, TX

Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges by State

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	1,300
Arizona	180	352
Oklahoma	153	270
New Mexico	114	34

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	1,317
Forensic Psychology	362
Applied Behavior Analysis	233
Educational Psychology	221
School Psychology	210
Clinical Psychology	191
Applied Psychology	99
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	81
Other Psychology & Counseling	49
Family Psychology	40

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Other Psychology	1,347
General Psychology	610
Child Development & Psychology	126

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.