2027 Best Counseling Degree Programs Ranking in Scranton

National occupational medians offer a benchmark, not a starting-salary quote for northeastern Pennsylvania. The figures below are May 2025 U.S. median annual wages; the projections refer to 2025-2035 national employment growth. BLS occupations do not map perfectly onto degree titles, and local pay varies by employer, experience, duties, and licensure (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections).

The differences make career fit especially important when estimating a degree's value. Compare actual Scranton-area job postings and their credential requirements with your expected debt; do not treat a national median as the income you will receive after graduation.

The clearest differences among the local options concern intended practice setting and credential direction, not an assumed advantage in prestige. These program-level distinctions can help you identify which admissions and field-placement questions to take to each school:

• University of Scranton, school counseling: This is the university's school-focused master's pathway rather than its clinical mental health or rehabilitation pathway. Ask which Pennsylvania school counseling certificate it supports and how school placements are arranged if you plan to work in a district (University of Scranton).
• Marywood University, mental health counseling: Marywood identifies a dedicated mental health counseling program, making it a relevant comparison for applicants pursuing clinical practice rather than PK-12 work. Request its current clinical placement, accreditation, and Pennsylvania licensure-alignment details before comparing it with Scranton's clinical track (Marywood University).
• University of Scranton, clinical mental health counseling: This pathway is directed toward mental health counseling rather than school certification or rehabilitation counseling. It is the appropriate Scranton program to investigate if your goal is Pennsylvania professional counselor licensure and clinical placements (University of Scranton).
• University of Scranton, clinical rehabilitation counseling: Its explicit clinical rehabilitation focus distinguishes it from the other listed pathways. Students interested in counseling people with disabilities should examine its disability-related coursework and placement opportunities instead of assuming a general mental health program offers equivalent preparation (University of Scranton).
• Marywood University, counselor education PK-12: Marywood explicitly frames this pathway around the PK-12 school setting, unlike its mental health program. Applicants aiming for school certification should verify the current Pennsylvania certification route and the grade levels available for supervised experience (Marywood University).

Program pages can change. Obtain current handbooks or written answers about credits, supervised hours, outcomes, and fees before treating any apparent difference as decisive.

A counseling master's commonly takes about two to three years of full-time study; part-time enrollment can take longer. Your timeline depends on course sequencing, summer availability, and when practicum and internship placements can begin. A faster academic schedule is not necessarily a faster path to independent practice, because Pennsylvania clinical licensure also involves requirements beyond earning the degree (Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors).

Ask for a term-by-term plan for your intended enrollment status. If you work, find out whether required supervision or school-day placement hours conflict with your job before choosing an accelerated schedule.

Online coursework can reduce commuting, but counseling training still involves supervised practice with real clients or students. A campus option may make in-person instruction and nearby placement coordination easier; an online option may better suit a working student if its fieldwork can be completed near home. Neither format is inherently sufficient for Pennsylvania licensure or certification (Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors; Pennsylvania Department of Education).

Before enrolling online, get written confirmation that the specific track meets the educational requirements for your intended Pennsylvania credential and that the school can approve placements in your area. Ask who finds the site, who supervises you, and whether any campus visits are mandatory.

There is no single useful Scranton-wide average for these counseling degrees: programs may differ in required credits, fees, aid, and time to completion. For an accurate comparison, request each school's current graduate tuition schedule and the total credits for the specific track. Add program fees, books, travel to placements, and any earnings you may forgo during fieldwork. Published tuition is a starting price, not your net cost.

Use the most affordable counseling programs to identify options to price out, then request an individualized aid estimate. When judging return on investment, consider completion likelihood, debt, current earnings, plausible post-degree earnings, and how long it may take to qualify for your intended role - not institution type alone.

Eligible graduate students may be able to use Direct Unsubsidized Loans; schools may also offer scholarships, assistantships, or payment plans. Submit the FAFSA and ask both local institutions whether aid differs by counseling track or enrollment status. Federal aid eligibility belongs to the student and institution, not automatically to every course or program arrangement (Federal Student Aid).

Graduate PLUS rules matter for a 2027 applicant: new graduate borrowers generally cannot obtain Graduate PLUS loans beginning July 1, 2026. Limited transitional eligibility may apply to students who were enrolled in the same program and had received a Direct Loan for it before that date, subject to time limits. Confirm your individual eligibility and borrowing options with the financial aid office rather than building a budget around Graduate PLUS availability (Federal Student Aid).

A completed bachelor's degree is the usual entry point for a counseling master's, but schools set their own rules for prior coursework, minimum academic standing, recommendations, statements, and interviews. A psychology major is not necessarily required. Check the current admissions page for your chosen track rather than assuming the clinical and school programs have identical requirements (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

If you have graduate credits, request a written transfer-credit evaluation before accepting an offer. Even when classroom courses transfer, a program may require its own supervised fieldwork sequence; that distinction can change both cost and graduation date.

Expect foundations such as counseling theories, lifespan development, assessment, research, multicultural counseling, and professional ethics, followed by supervised practicum and internship. The specialization should change the rest of the curriculum: school tracks emphasize student development and school systems; clinical mental health tracks focus on assessment and treatment in behavioral health settings; rehabilitation tracks address disability and participation (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

Compare course catalogs alongside credential rules. A course title that sounds relevant is not proof that it satisfies a Pennsylvania requirement; ask the program to identify the exact curriculum and field experiences used for its stated credential pathway.

The local choices highlighted here fall into three practical directions: clinical mental health counseling, school counseling or PK-12 counselor education, and clinical rehabilitation counseling. Addiction-related work may also be a career interest, but applicants should not assume every mental health program offers a separate addiction concentration or that a concentration creates a separate credential (University of Scranton; Marywood University).

Choose by the clients and setting you want to serve, then verify the credential. If your goal is independent mental health practice, a school-focused degree may be the wrong investment; if you want to work in a Pennsylvania school, a clinical degree should not be presumed to meet school certification requirements (Pennsylvania Department of Education; Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors).

Start with the intended job, then ask each finalist for evidence that its current curriculum supports that goal. The most valuable counseling programs offer another comparison point, but personal value also depends on your aid offer, ability to finish, and placement fit.

Before paying a deposit, work through these checks:

1. Identify the exact Pennsylvania license or school certificate you want; ask the program how its degree addresses the educational requirements and what remains after graduation.
2. Verify current institutional accreditation and, if important to your goal, the specific program's CACREP status in the accreditor's directory; do not assume accreditation covers every counseling track.
3. Request current total credits, tuition and mandatory fees, a term-by-term schedule, and written transfer-credit decisions.
4. Ask where recent students completed placements, who secured those sites, and what supervision or exam outcomes the program can document.

A warning sign is an answer that equates graduation with automatic licensure or cannot specify which credential a track supports. If the supervised schedule is incompatible with work or the likely debt is hard to service under conservative earnings assumptions, consider part-time study, additional aid, or a different path.

Graduates may pursue school counseling, clinical mental health or substance use counseling, and rehabilitation counseling, depending on their training and applicable credentials. Some move toward supervision or counselor education later in their careers; those positions can require additional experience or education. The degree name alone does not establish eligibility for every role (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Pennsylvania Department of Education; Pennsylvania State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors).

For someone entering the field from another occupation, the master's can be worthwhile when it provides a viable route to the exact role sought. If you mainly want to support people but do not want graduate fieldwork, credentialing requirements, or clinical responsibilities, compare non-counselor positions before committing to the expense.

The strongest national growth signal among the paths discussed here is for the BLS occupation covering substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors: employment is projected to grow 18% from 2025 to 2035. That projection indicates broader demand, not a count of vacancies in Scranton. National projected growth is lower for school and rehabilitation counseling, so applicants should not use a general "counseling shortage" claim to evaluate every specialization (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections).

Test the local market before enrolling: review northeastern Pennsylvania vacancies for the credential, supervision, and experience they require, then ask programs how placements connect students with those settings. If suitable sites or entry-level openings are limited within your commuting range, geographic flexibility may affect the degree's value.

Investing in a counseling degree is a consequential decision, particularly when a program must support a specific certification or licensure goal. Research.com designed its ranking to make comparisons more credible by considering graduate outcomes, accreditation, exam results where applicable, and cost rather than relying on reputation alone. The team draws on these data sources to check and evaluate programs:

• IPEDS database - institutional information, including enrollment, completions, and costs.
• Peterson's database - program and institutional information used in comparisons.
• College Scorecard database - federal institutional data, including student outcomes and costs.
• National Center for Education Statistics - federal education statistics and supporting institutional data.

The Best ranking first combines program completion (40%), employment or doctoral admission (20%), applicable licensure-exam pass rates (20%), CACREP programmatic accreditation (16%), and institutional eligibility for federal Title IV aid (4%). Shares are adjusted when a criterion does not apply. Program cost contributes a smaller portion - about 7% - of the final score. The approach applies to online and campus programs; other Research.com rankings order programs by the dimension named in each ranking. These measures can narrow a shortlist, but applicants should still confirm current program details and credential eligibility directly. Learn more about how Research.com creates its rankings.

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• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Counselors
  Used to verify salary, employment outlook, and typical education requirements.
  https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/
• CACREP - Directory of Accredited Programs
  Used to verify CACREP accreditation status of specific programs.
  https://www.cacrep.org/directory/
• NBCC - NCE / NCMHCE
  Verified professional/licensure/career reference.
  https://www.nbcc.org/exams
• University of Scranton - M.S. in School Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-school-counseling/index.shtml
• Marywood University - Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.marywood.edu/academics/psychology-counseling/programs/mental-health-counseling
• University of Scranton - MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-mental-health-counseling/index.shtml
• University of Scranton - Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://gradadmissions.scranton.edu/programs/masters-clinical-rehabilitation-counseling/index.shtml
• Marywood University - Master of Science in School Counseling (MS)
  Official program page (curriculum, tuition, admissions).
  https://www.marywood.edu/academics/psychology-counseling/programs/counselor-education-pk12