2025 Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Ranked #7 in popularity, clinical, counseling & applied psychology 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 17 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,563 master's degrees in clinical, counseling & applied psychology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

The clinical psychology master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 take this into account 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 many resources a school devotes to clinical, counseling & applied psychology students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• 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 clinical, counseling & applied psychology 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 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

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

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Clinical Psychology

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

372 Annual Graduates

$43,591 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology has to take a look at Northwestern University. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

After graduation, clinical psychology master's recipients usually earn around $43,591 at the beginning of their careers.

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

2

Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL

61 Annual Graduates

$63,118 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology has to take a look at Loyola University Chicago. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago receive an earnings boost of approximately $10,604 above the average earnings of clinical, counseling & applied psychology graduates.

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

3

National Louis University
Chicago, IL

139 Annual Graduates

$48,351 Median Starting Salary

National Louis University is a great decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. NLU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Master's students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program make an average of $48,351 in the first couple years of their career.

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

4

DePaul University
Chicago, IL

58 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology needs to check out DePaul University. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from DePaul University

5

Wheaton College Illinois
Wheaton, IL

32 Annual Graduates

$46,778 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Wheaton, Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program earn an average of $46,778 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Wheaton College Illinois

6

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

11 Annual Graduates

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

7

Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL

93 Annual Graduates

$48,070 Median Starting Salary

Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

After graduation, clinical psychology master's recipients typically make about $48,070 at the beginning of their careers.

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

8

Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL

27 Annual Graduates

$72,270 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology master's degree recipients from Elmhurst University receive an earnings boost of about $19,756 over the average income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology graduates.

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

9

Eastern Illinois University
Charleston, IL

15 Annual Graduates

$55,825 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Charleston, EIU is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Master's recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology degree program at Eastern Illinois University make $3,311 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

10

Judson University
Elgin, IL

26 Annual Graduates

$45,486 Median Starting Salary

Located in the medium-sized city of Elgin, Judson is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program make around $45,486 for their early career.

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

Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	448
Ohio	207	549
Indiana	191	317
Wisconsin	173	399

View All Rankings >

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Related Rankings by Major

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology is one of 24 different types of Psychology programs to choose from.

Clinical Psychology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Counseling Psychology	937
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	212
Clinical Psychology	190
School Psychology	54
Forensic Psychology	50
Applied Behavior Analysis	35
Other Psychology & Counseling	26
Applied Psychology	23
Educational Psychology	22
Community Psychology	14

Majors Similar to Clinical Psychology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	132
Child Development & Psychology	122

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.