Best Online Master’s Programs in Mental Health Counseling of 2025

If you’re equipped with deep empathy and a passion for helping others, you might enjoy a career as a mental health counselor.

The mental health counseling field is growing quickly and offers plenty of opportunities, whether you want to work with families and couples, students, the elderly, veterans, or people with addictions.

You’ll need a master’s degree to work in this field. An accredited master’s program can give you the skills to help clients manage life challenges such as relationship, academic, and career issues.

Read our guide to learn more about master’s in mental health counseling programs, their cost, lengths, and application requirements. Then, find the best programs of the year.

We surveyed online master’s students and graduates to see what they thought about their online programs for our 2024 Online Education Trends Report. Read what they had to say:

As you research online master’s in mental health counseling programs, consider important factors like program cost and length, as well as accreditation and application requirements. Taking into account all these factors will ensure that you’re fully prepared and can find the program that best aligns with your values.

A two-year online master’s in mental health counseling degree costs around $24,200 without financial aid, based on 2019-2020 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Financial aid — in the form of loans, grants, and scholarships — can help reduce the cost of college. With financial aid, students paid an average of around $21,900 for their program int he 2019-20 academic year.

You can access financial aid by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid each year you’re enrolled in your mental health counseling program.

Most master’s in mental health counseling programs require two years of study. You’ll typically need to earn 60 credits to graduate. You can, however, earn your degree faster in an accelerated program.

For example, the accelerated online master of arts in counseling program and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, only takes 18 months to complete as a full-time student.

As in many mental health counseling programs, you’ll also complete 200 practicum hours and a 600-hour internship before you can graduate from Northwestern.

As you research master’s in mental health counseling programs, look for programmatic accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) or the Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC).

These accrediting agencies ensure master’s in mental health counseling programs are legitimate and will offer a valuable education, leading to a degree employers will respect.

Programmatic accreditation can also impact your ability to gain licensure.

You can check each program’s website to find accreditation information or contact the program directly to ask about their accreditation status.

After you’ve completed your master’s in mental health counseling program, you can work in a variety of mental health careers. For example, mental health counselor jobs are projected to grow by 19% from 2023-2033. These professionals earn over $50,000 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

With this degree, you’ll also be able to work as a marriage and family therapist. Both mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists require licenses. Earning licensure typically involves completing 2-3 years of clinical hours and taking the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) or the Marital and Family Therapy Examination (MFT Exam). Check with your state licensing board to see the requirements for your state.

If you’re looking for a career that takes less time, you can also work as a social and community service manager. These professionals only need bachelor’s degrees and on-the-job training.

A master’s degree in mental health counseling can be worth the time and effort if you’re serious about getting a career helping others through counseling. You can’t become a licensed counselor without this degree.

Our research shows that nearly all (97%) of online master’s students and graduates say they think earning an online degree has had or will have a positive return on investment.

Consider this: The average starting salary for master’s in mental health counseling graduates was nearly $61,600 in 2023, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. You can, however, earn much more, depending on your role, level of experience, and location.

You might also assess the program’s concentration offerings to see if those align with your academic and professional interests.

Advanced degrees can improve your clinical, research, and leadership skills. Once you earn your master’s in mental health counseling you can apply to a doctorate in counseling program.

You can pursue a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D. in counseling or mental health counseling. You can also pursue an advanced certificate in clinical mental health counseling to specialize in a specific area of counseling.

With one of these advanced degrees, you can find professional opportunities in education and academia, advanced clinical practice, research, advocacy and policy-making, and high-level administrative roles in mental health organizations.