Counseling is the art of helping people to deal with their problems and providing support so that they can better themselves or cope with difficult situations.
The best online counseling schools should possess either regional or national accreditation from an accrediting body that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
In addition, you can often recognize top online counseling schools based on:
The following levels of counseling degree online programs are available:
The amount of time it takes a student to earn an accredited online counseling degree depends on the level of counseling degree being pursued and the pace of the student.
Typically, the breakdown is as follows:
Counselors need an expert understanding of the many psychological and emotional problems facing individual patients, and must know the best ways to deal with those problems. Coursework in an online counseling program will include:
In addition to being an independent professional field, counseling is often a functional part of most businesses or institutions. Specializations often reflect the particular circumstances of the institution in which a counselor may work. Some of these include:
Many organizations typically employ one or more counselors as part of their staff or faculty, so there are numerous counseling positions available in particular fields for those interested in becoming professional counselors. Some of these are:
Counselors are psychiatric treatment professionals who provide and facilitate therapy for patients with emotional or psychological problems.
Counselors apply various psychiatric therapy techniques to identify patients’ issues and help them find resolution. This may involve nothing more than supportive exploratory conversation one-on-one or in a group setting, or can be as involved as using hypnosis to address deep-seated subconscious issues.
Counselors earn an average annual salary of $51,050. Job growth is expected at an above-average rate. The number of graduates of counseling programs is not projected to meet the number of new positions in the field, so freshly minted counselors should find themselves in demand.
The path of how to become a counselor requires an undergraduate degree and at least some additional post-secondary education in order to pursue official licensure. Aspiring counselors must also possess the desire to genuinely improve the quality of the lives of their patients.
| School | Certificate | Associates | Bachelors | Masters | PhD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
University of Phoenix-Online Campus
3157 E. Elwood Street
Phoenix, AZ, 85034 http://www.uopxonline.com
|
X | ||||
|
Arizona State University
1151 S Forest Ave
Tempe, AZ, 85287 http://www.asu.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
Miami Dade College
300 NE 2nd Ave.
Miami, FL, 33132 http://www.mdc.edu/main/
|
X | ||||
|
Houston Community College
3100 Main Street
Houston, TX, 77266 http://www.hccs.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Central Florida
4000 Central Florida Blvd
Orlando, FL, 32816 http://www.ucf.edu/
|
X | ||||
|
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
100 Church Street SE
Minneapolis, MN, 55455 http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.php
|
X | ||||
|
University of Florida
355 Tigert Hall
Gainesville, FL, 32611 http://www.ufl.edu/
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Texas A & M University
112 M T Harrington Ctr
College Station, TX, 77843 http://www.tamu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Michigan State University
100 Library
East Lansing, MI, 48824 http://www.msu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Northern Virginia Community College
4001 Wakefield Chapel Rd
Annandale, VA, 22003 http://www.nvcc.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Lone Star College System
5000 Research Forest Drive
The Woodlands, TX, 77381 http://www.lonestar.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Liberty University
1971 University Blvd
Lynchburg, VA, 24502 http://www.liberty.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
201 Old Main
State College, PA, 16802 http://www.psu.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
Tarrant County College District
1500 Houston St
Fort Worth, TX, 76102 http://www.tccd.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
New York University
70 Washington Sq South
New York, NY, 10012 http://www.nyu.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Indiana University-Bloomington
107 South Indiana Ave.
Bloomington, IN, 47405 http://www.iub.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
440 Church Street
Ann Arbor, MI, 48109 http://www.umich.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of Wisconsin-Madison
500 Lincoln Dr
Madison, WI, 53706 http://www.wisc.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Walden University
155 Fifth Ave S Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN, 55401 http://www.waldenu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Austin Community College District
5930 Middle Fiskville Rd
Austin, TX, 78752 http://www.austincc.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of South Florida-Main Campus
4202 East Fowler Ave
Tampa, FL, 33620 http://www.usf.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Florida State University
211 Westcott Bldg
Tallahassee, FL, 32306 http://www.fsu.edu
|
X | X | X | X | |
|
Florida International University
11200 S. W. 8 Street
Miami, FL, 33199 http://www.fiu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of Arizona
1401 E University
Tucson, AZ, 85721 http://www.arizona.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Rutgers University-New Brunswick
83 Somerset St
New Brunswick, NJ, 8901 http://www.rutgers.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Maryland-College Park
1101 Main Administration BL
College Park, MD, 20742 http://www.umd.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Houston
212 E. Cullen Building
Houston, TX, 77204 http://www.uh.edu
|
X | ||||
|
California State University-Fullerton
800 N State College Blvd
Fullerton, CA, 92831 http://www.fullerton.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Pima Community College
401 North Bonita Avenue
Tucson, AZ, 85709 http://www.pima.edu
|
X | ||||
|
East Los Angeles College
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez
Monterey Park, CA, 91754 http://www.elac.edu/index.htm
|
X | ||||
|
California State University-Long Beach
1250 Bellflower Blvd
Long Beach, CA, 90840 http://www.csulb.edu
|
X | ||||
|
American River College
4700 College Oak Dr
Sacramento, CA, 95841 http://www.arc.losrios.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
California State University-Northridge
18111 Nordhoff St
Los Angeles, CA, 91330 http://www.csun.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of North Texas
Chestnut Ave.
Denton, TX, 76203 http://www.unt.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Georgia
125 Cedar St.
Athens, GA, 30602 http://www.uga.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Southern California
University Park
Los Angeles, CA, 90089 http://www.usc.edu/
|
X | X | X | X | |
|
Grand Canyon University
3300 W Camelback Rd
Phoenix, AZ, 85017 http://www.gcu.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Brigham Young University
Main Campus
Provo, UT, 84602 http://www.byu.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
North Carolina State University at Raleigh
2101 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC, 27695 http://www.ncsu.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
City College of San Francisco
50 Phelan Ave
San Francisco, CA, 94112 http://www.ccsf.edu
|
X | ||||
|
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Dr
San Diego, CA, 92182 http://www.sdsu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Virginia Commonwealth University
910 W Franklin St
Richmond, VA, 23284 http://www.vcu.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
George Mason University
4400 University Dr
Fairfax, VA, 22030 http://www.gmu.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Capella University
225 South 6th Street 9th Floor
Minneapolis, MN, 55402 http://www.capella.edu
|
X | X | X | X | |
|
Boston University
One Silber Way
Boston, MA, 2215 http://www.bu.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Wayne State University
656 West Kirby Street
Detroit, MI, 48202 http://www.wayne.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
American Public University System
111 W Congress St
Charles Town, WV, 25414 http://www.apus.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of Missouri-Columbia
105 Jesse Hall
Columbia, MO, 65211 http://www.missouri.edu/
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus
2624 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH, 45221 http://www.uc.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
2265 Kraft Dr
Blacksburg, VA, 24061 http://WWW.VT.EDU
|
X | X | |||
|
Texas State University-San Marcos
601 University Dr
San Marcos, TX, 78666 http://www.txstate.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA, 94132 http://www.sfsu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Georgia State University
33 gilmer st
Atlanta, GA, 30303 http://www.gsu.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
425 University Blvd
Indianapolis, IN, 46202 http://www.iupui.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Portland Community College
12000 SW 49th Avenue
Portland, OR, 97219 http://www.pcc.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Texas Tech University
Broadway and University Avenue
Lubbock, TX, 79409 http://www.ttu.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Mt San Antonio College
1100 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA, 91789 http://www.mtsac.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
The University of Tennessee
527 Andy Holt Tower
Knoxville, TN, 37996 http://www.tennessee.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Cuyahoga Community College District
700 Carnegie Ave
Cleveland, OH, 44115 http://www.tri-c.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Troy University
University Avenue
Troy, AL, 36082 http://www.troy.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Utah
201 Presidents Circle
Salt Lake City, UT, 84112 http://www.utah.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
St Petersburg College
14025 58th Street North
Clearwater, FL, 33760 http://www.spcollege.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of Kansas
Jayhawk Dr
Lawrence, KS, 66045 http://www.ku.edu
|
X | ||||
|
California State University-Sacramento
6000 J St
Sacramento, CA, 95819 http://www.csus.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Nova Southeastern University
3301 College Ave
Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33314 http://www.nova.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Nevada-Las Vegas
4505 S Maryland Pky
Las Vegas, NV, 89154 http://www.unlv.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Iowa
101 Jessup Hall
Iowa City, IA, 52242 http://www.uiowa.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
The University of Texas at San Antonio
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX, 78249 http://www.utsa.edu/
|
X | X | |||
|
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
103 South Bldg Cb 9100
Chapel Hill, NC, 27599 http://www.unc.edu
|
X | ||||
|
West Virginia University
Stewart Hall University Avenue
Morgantown, WV, 26506 http://www.wvu.edu/
|
X | ||||
|
University at Buffalo
3435 Main Street
Buffalo, NY, 14214 http://www.buffalo.edu
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Florida State College at Jacksonville
501 W State St
Jacksonville, FL, 32202 http://www.fscj.edu
|
X | ||||
|
The University of Alabama
739 University Blvd
Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487 http://www.ua.edu/
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Tower Dr
Baton Rouge, LA, 70803 http://www.lsu.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Columbus State Community College
550 E Spring St
Columbus, OH, 43215 http://www.cscc.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of South Carolina-Columbia
514 Main St
Columbia, SC, 29208 http://www.sc.edu/
|
X | X | X | ||
|
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus
4200 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA, 15260 http://www.pitt.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
El Paso Community College
919 Hunter Drive
El Paso, TX, 79915 http://www.epcc.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Oakland Community College
2480 Opdyke Rd
Bloomfield Hills, MI, 48304 http://www.oaklandcc.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Palm Beach State College
4200 Congress Ave
Lake Worth, FL, 33461 http://www.palmbeachstate.edu/
|
X | ||||
|
Portland State University
724 SW Harrison
Portland, OR, 97201 http://www.pdx.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Long Beach City College
4901 E. Carson St.
Long Beach, CA, 90808 http://www.lbcc.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
East Carolina University
East 5th Street
Greenville, NC, 27858 http://www.ecu.edu
|
X | X | X | X | |
|
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Rd
Boca Raton, FL, 33431 http://www.fau.edu/
|
X | X | X | ||
|
Northeastern University
360 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA, 2115 http://www.northeastern.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Palomar College
1140 W. Mission
San Marcos, CA, 92069 http://WWW.PALOMAR.EDU
|
X | X | |||
|
Central Michigan University
1200 S Franklin St # 121
Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859 http://www.cmich.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of New Mexico-Main Campus
1700 Lomas Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM, 87106 http://www.unm.edu
|
X | ||||
|
University of California-Irvine
204 Administration
Irvine, CA, 92697 http://www.uci.edu/
|
X | ||||
|
College of DuPage
425 Fawell Blvd.
Glen Ellyn, IL, 60137 http://www.cod.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
San Jacinto Community College
8060 Spencer Hwy
Pasadena, TX, 77501 http://www.sjcd.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Hillsborough Community College
39 Columbia Drive
Tampa, FL, 33606 http://www.hccfl.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
University of Kentucky
175 Funkhouser Dr
Lexington, KY, 40506 http://www.uky.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Montgomery College
40 W. Gude Drive Suite 220
Rockville, MD, 20850 http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu
|
X | ||||
|
Washington State University
French Administration Building
Pullman, WA, 99164 http://www.wsu.edu/
|
X | ||||
|
University of Akron Main Campus
302 Buchtel Common
Akron, OH, 44325 http://www.uakron.edu
|
X | X | X | X | |
|
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
660 Parrington Oval
Norman, OK, 73019 http://www.ou.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Santa Rosa Junior College
1501 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA, 95401 http://www.santarosa.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Fresno City College
1101 E. University Ave
Fresno, CA, 93741 http://www.fresnocitycollege.edu
|
X | X | |||
|
Middle Tennessee State University
1301 East Main Street
Murfreesboro, TN, 37132 http://www.mtsu.edu
|
X |