2023 Most Affordable Online Colleges for Counseling Degrees

Students today have access to a wide range of online bachelor's programs in counseling, psychology, sociology, and related fields. Some bachelor's programs offer specializations, such as addiction counseling and substance use, marriage and family, Christian counseling, offender rehabilitation, and victim advocacy. These options prepare students to meet the unique needs of specific populations in a counseling setting. If you're considering a career in counseling, earning a bachelor's degree — whether online or in-person — is often only the first step toward achieving your professional goals. Most professional counseling positions also require a master's degree for state licensure.

Counselors typically follow a few different career paths depending on their interests:

• Some pursue roles as school counselors, where they either work with children and teenagers in grades K-12 or adults in a higher education setting.
• Others become mental health counselors and work in clinical settings. This may involve a focus with specific populations, such as older adults, children, couples, or families.
• Substance use and addiction counselors work with individuals to help them overcome reliance on drugs, alcohol, and other substances that negatively impact their health and well-being.
• Some counselors work with people who are incarcerated. They support them in prison and during their transition after release.

Online programs follow the same curriculum and degree path as campus-based programs. Many students prefer to take online classes due to their convenience, flexibility, and affordability. Some online programs include livestreaming classes held at set times, while others allow students to watch prerecorded lectures on their own time. Also, online classes are often available as accelerated part-time or full-time courses of study. Lastly, online degrees appeal to many students because they can be significantly more affordable.

All the programs listed on this page are offered through accredited colleges and universities. Accreditation ensures colleges and universities are held to universal academic standards and indicates to schools/employers that graduates have received a quality education. Students interested in pursuing a counseling degree online should always seek an accredited program.

When considering whether an online counseling degree is worth it, students should think about their professional and personal goals, why they're interested in the field, how much time and money they can invest in their education, and what they'll ultimately get out of it.

Professional counselors work directly with patients to help them overcome emotional, psychological, social, and physical difficulties that impact their personal life. Counselors connect people with the resources and tools they need to help them improve their overall health and well-being. If you feel compelled to work as a counselor, you'll likely need to earn a bachelor's and master's degree in order to become licensed, and an online degree is a viable option for either degree.

While a graduate degree in counseling is a requirement for licensure and certification, students do not need a bachelor's degree in counseling to enter a master's program or even the field. Those who earn their bachelor's degree in another field are still eligible to apply to a master's program in counseling, but they may need to complete additional prerequisites. There are also opportunities to work in counseling without a degree, such as through non-profits or working as a peer counselor, case manager, or an aid to a counselor.

Counseling Careers

It's also important to consider how much money you'll make after graduation and the employment rates for your chosen career path. The following salary data and job growth outlooks provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) can provide prospective students with a clearer picture of how their financial future may look in each career path. From the list of counseling careers below, school and career counselors tend to earn the highest median salaries, while rehabilitation counselors earn the lowest. Projected growth in jobs is highest for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, and it is lowest for correctional treatment specialists.

Correctional Treatment Specialists

Some counselors train to work with people who are either in prison or have been recently released. They provide direct support to people as they transition out of correctional facilities by creating rehabilitation plans that may include substance abuse counseling, job training, securing safe housing, and other resources/services. These counselors also administer drug testing and help people comply with other requirements upon their release from prison.

• Job Outlook: The BLS places probation officers and correctional treatment specialists in a single category. They have a projected growth rate of 4%, which aligns with the national average for all occupations.
• Salary: Probation officers and correctional treatment specialists earn median salaries of $54,290 per year (or $26.10 per hour).

Marriage and Family Therapists

These therapists help couples and families work through a variety of issues to improve interpersonal relationships within their family.

• Job Outlook: The BLS projects a rapid growth rate of 22% from 2019 to 2029 for marriage and family therapists.
• Salary: Professionals in the field earn median salaries of $49,610 per year (or $23.85 per hour). Counselors who work for state governments earn significantly higher median salaries at $72,230 per year on average. Meanwhile, those who work in outpatient care centers earn approximately $52,140 per year.

Rehabilitation Counselors

Rehabilitation counselors work with patients who have physical, mental, developmental, or emotional disabilities to help them overcome any setbacks or limitations they may experience. This can include coordinating care, accessing resources or services, working with employers to help them understand employee needs, and helping clients work through any issues they experience in their life due to their disability.

• Job Outlook: The need for rehabilitation counselors is projected to grow by 10% from 2019 to 2029.
• Salary: Rehabilitation counselors earn median salaries of $35,950 per year (or $17.28 per hour) according to the BLS. Those employed by state governments (excluding education and hospital employees) earn the highest average salaries for this job at $51,260 per year.

School and Career Counselors

School counselors work with students in K-12 or college settings to help them navigate the academic, social, and emotional landscapes while enrolled in school. Career counselors, on the other hand, work with individuals in various stages of their professional life to support them in shaping their careers by determining some professional goals and the steps to achieve them.

• Job Outlook: The need for school and career counselors is projected to grow by 8% from 2019 to 2029, which is twice as fast as the national average of 4% for all occupations
• Salary: School and career counselors have the highest median salary rates for counseling occupations at $57,040 per year (or $27.42 an hour).

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

The BLS combines these three roles into one occupation. Although they can be distinct, often crossover exists between the positions.

• Job Outlook: Compared to the national average of 4% for all jobs, this specialty has significantly higher employment rates than many other occupations. Especially as states begin to shift away from incarcerating people with drug/alcohol addiction in favor of court-ordered treatment and counseling services, the need for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow by 25% from 2019 to 2029.
• Salary: Counselors in this field earn a median salary of $46,240 per year (or $22.23 per hour). Those who work for government agencies earn the highest wages at $52,720 per year. Hospitals are also a top industry for counselors in this field, as hospital employees earn median salaries of $49,100 per year.

Generally speaking, online degree programs are more affordable than campus-based programs. In this list of affordable online counseling degrees, tuition ranges from $4,500 to $13,500 per year. The degree’s cost depends on where you enroll and how many credits a program requires to graduate. For the 2020-21 school year, the average tuition rates for all online degree programs at public universities were $12,570 per year, while private colleges charged an average of $14,068 per year for online programs. On average, public universities are more affordable than private ones. Although, schools may offer institutional grants and scholarships to help reduce your education cost.

A degree’s cost also depends on whether you have credits from a prior college experience that you can transfer and apply toward your degree. Online programs often have flexible transfer policies that allow students to reduce the number of credits they need to finish their degree. Many attend community college to earn credits at a lower cost. Then, they can later apply these credits to their bachelor's degree (in accordance with individual school transfer policies). Alternatively, a student may decide to transfer their online college credits to an on-campus program.