What Can I Do With A Masters In School Counseling? Career Opportunities and Degree Options

The work of a school counselor is rigorous, engaging, and highly impactful, playing a role that can tremendously benefit individual students as well as school communities as a whole. This is rewarding and challenging work that requires no small amount of training and expertise, as school counselors are entrusted to take responsibility for a wide range of delicate situations involving children and adolescents. For this reason, aspiring school counselors should be prepared to devote time to their education as they plan their career trajectories.

No matter where in the country you live, if you’re planning on becoming a school counselor, you’ll need to obtain a master’s degree.

When you consider the vital roles school counselors play in the lives of young people, it’s easy to understand why this amount of preparation is necessary. Further, the role of school counselors in contemporary school environments goes far beyond previous expectations for guidance counselors of the past, extending into administrative and leadership duties that can meaningfully influence a school’s functions and overall culture.

With so many programs out there, it may be difficult for prospective school counseling students to figure out which option is best for them, or to even know what they’re looking for in their professional development. Higher education, after all, can require significant investments of time and money, and incoming students are wise to give serious thought to the options on the table. This article is intended to help you make informed assessments so that you can get what you want from your graduate school experience.

Several Degree Pathways to the Same Career

When planning for your education, there is actually a small range of guidance counselor degrees that you can choose from, some of them going by other names. These can include:

• Master of School Counseling
• Master of Human Service Counseling
• Master of Counseling, School Counseling track
• Master of Educational Psychology
• Master of Counseling Psychology, School Counseling track

All of these degrees are likely to satisfy requirements for school counselors nationwide, though it is of course worth doing your research on any individual programs on your list to confirm it is intended for future school counselors. There are some states, like California, that also require school counselors to also obtain Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) credentials, which is often built into the coursework of master’s programs.

Your Degree May Affect Where You Can Practice as a School Counselor

Remember, a master’s degree is the minimum qualification for school counselors in primary and secondary schools, which include pre-K through grade 12. Most counselors who work on university and college campuses are licensed as mental health counselors and psychologists.

If you are interested in becoming licensed for a broader range of ages and student populations, you should consider enrolling in a dual degree program. This will allow you to attain your mental health counseling license and certification as a school counselor for pre-K through 12.

Calculating Your Return on Investment (ROI) Can Help You Make the Right Decision

As you consider your educational plans and sort through the many opportunities out there to pursue work as a school counselor, it may be helpful to think through your Return on Investment (ROI) opportunities. The business-savvy may recognize this term, which, simply put, describes the potential takeaway (that is, income) one can receive as the result of the money they’ve put in (in this case, the money spent on tuition and other school costs). The calculation for this is very straightforward: subtract the total cost of your schooling from the total amount you expect to earn over your whole career. What remains is your total return.

The logic behind your ROI is fairly simple: you’ll want your cumulative income over your career to be significantly greater than the amount you invested in your professional degree.

Simply put, you want to make sure your schooling pays you back in the long run! Your estimated ROI can help you understand what your work is going toward and provide information that can inform your choice of academic programs as well as long-term career planning.

Chances are, if you’re looking to become a school counselor, you’re motivated by the work itself rather than by money. After all, the richest reward of this profession is the support you’re able to provide for students in need. That said, ROI is still a worthwhile consideration for anyone considering attending graduate programs.

How to Approximate Your ROI

So how do you figure out what the ROI will be on the school counselor programs that appeal to you? Two pieces of information will be useful to you here: the total cost of your graduate program upon completion, and the total lifetime compensation you expect to receive as a school counselor.

Determining the Cost of School

The first thing you’ll want to determine when estimating your ROI is the overall cost of tuition for your graduate program. This means the cumulative amount you’ll have paid after completing school (which, in most cases, will take two years or four semesters).

Where you attend school, of course, will significantly impact your total expenses. Private universities typically cost significantly more than public ones, making them a much larger investment than state schools near where you live.

No matter where you enroll in school, scholarships, fellowships, and grants can significantly reduce the cost of your education. This is a factor that you can’t necessarily estimate at the outset of the admissions process, as you’re unlikely to find out if you’ve been awarded any sort of academic award until you have been accepted into a program. In this case, you may need to wait until you have heard back from schools to calculate your ROI at the various programs you’ve been accepted to, factoring in the awards you’ve received.

Determining Your Anticipated Salary

The next part of this equation is your anticipated salary. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2023 report on Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors can give you a rough idea of what you can expect to earn as a school counselor. This report finds that nationally, school counselors employed at elementary and secondary schools earn a mean annual salary of $74,910.

Where you work can also significantly impact how much you earn. Though of course you can’t necessarily anticipate where life will take you over the course of your whole career, it can be useful to look at the specific salaries for school counselors in the state where you plan to get your career started. The BLS reports the following mean annual salaries for the five states below, which boast the highest employment rates for school counselors in the country:

• California: $85,820 per year
• Texas: $63,770 per year
• New York: $72,930 per year
• Florida: $56,920 per year
• Illinois: $65,480 per year

It’s worth remembering that these are just averages, meaning it’s possible to make significantly more as a school counselor. Indeed, what you earn is likely to be determined by your seniority, your role in the institution where you work, and any possible sub-specializations you may pursue as a school counselor. The BLS reports that salaries in the 90th percentile nationally are $100,050 or higher, an impressive number that can serve as motivation for those hoping to work their way up in the field over their careers.

It’s worth remembering that your salary as a school counselor will likely be accompanied by healthcare coverage as well as a pension plan. This can be a significant boon in both the short term and the long term, saving you money over the course of your career and providing you with a guaranteed payout upon retirement. Not all career paths offer such benefits, making this a perk that can add incentive to pursue a long-term career in the school counseling profession.

A Shortlist of Degree Programs For School Counselors

Below is a list of some of the top school counselor programs (online and in-person) in the country. For those interested in calculating their ROI, the tuition listed for each school in this guide can provide figures from which you can calculate the overall cost of your education. That said, you will need to look at the specific tuition of the schools on your own list to get an exact sense of what you will pay.

FAQs

Do the different types of guidance counseling degrees reflect different specializations?

It depends. There are indeed a range of degrees that can lead one to the school counseling profession, and some of them may place an emphasis on certain aspects of this work. For example, some School Counseling programs are offered as concentrations within general Psychology programs, meaning students can anticipate an emphasis on mental health care. That said, students who have attended any accredited school counseling programs, online or in-person, will qualify for positions at any K-12 school.

If I get my school counseling degree online, will I need to complete a practicum in person?

Yes. Your practicum (or field work) is one of the most important parts of your school counseling training, and doing this work on the ground in a school environment is a necessary step for anyone who wishes to pursue this career. That said, those attending school counseling programs online will be able to find field work opportunities that are convenient to wherever they are located.

Do I need a bachelor’s degree in a field related to education or psychology to pursue an advanced degree in school counseling?

No. You are required to hold a bachelor’s degree to qualify for any master’s program, but you do not need to have a background related to school counseling in order to pursue a graduate degree in the subject.

Do I need a master’s degree to become a school counselor?

Yes. This is a requirement in every state in the country. This is to ensure that school counselors, who take responsibility for students during critical moments, are thoroughly qualified for their roles.

2024 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures reflect state data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed March 2025. Students, whereas out-of-state students pay an additional $17,394 every year.

School Counseling Programs in Your State

You can learn more about other schools offering a master’s level school counseling program by searching your state’s Department of Education website or by contacting a certification representative.