So you’re interested in a career in counseling? You have come to the right place to explore the many types of online counseling degrees available that will help jumpstart your counseling career. Whether you’re fresh out of high school, looking to make a career change, or have your bachelor’s degree, there are many counseling programs for you to choose from. Earning your counseling degree online and starting a career in counseling can be a rewarding and fulfilling choice.
Bachelors Degree in Counseling and Related Fields
Online schools offer two types of online counseling degrees at the undergraduate level: Pre-Counseling program and an Addiction and Substance Abuse program. A pre-counseling degree is similar to the structure of a pre-law or pre-med degree; that is, it is a degree that prepares you for a Masters in Counseling. It provides you with a solid foundation to expand your knowledge within the counseling field. An online bachelor’s degree in addiction counseling can help qualify you to receive certification at the national level so you can become an Addiction and Substance abuse counselor anywhere in the US. You can also earn an undergraduate degree in a related area such as psychology, social work, human services or sociology. Earning your undergraduate degree in any of these areas can be the first step needed to obtaining either certification or a counseling license. Any of those degrees will help prepare you for a satisfying counseling career.
Graduate Degrees in Counseling
Online graduate schools offer many types of online counseling degrees that you can choose from. The area of counseling you choose will largely depend on the people you would like to serve and the issues that interest you. Would you like to work with school aged children? Or does helping married couples work through problems in their marriage seem more appealing to you? You may also be unsure of the type of clients you would like to work with, but you can figure that out along the way. Online universities offer some of the following counseling concentrations available at the Master’s degree level as well as the Doctorate level:
- School Counseling
- Mental Health Counseling
- Marriage & Family Counseling
- Addictions Counseling
How to Get a Counseling Degree Online
There are some important school requirements and counseling program parts that you will need to become aware of during the school selection and application process. You should probably familiarize yourself with the following items that you will be able to discuss with an admission counselor:
- Admission requirements
- Tuition and all costs associated with the program
- Counselor Program Accreditation
- Program Outcomes
- Time to Complete
- Learning format
- Professor accessibility
- Your state’s counseling certification and licensing requirements – you should confirm the counseling degree program that you enroll in meets your state’s requirements to become either a licensed counselor or a certified counselor in your specific area of interest
- For example, some states may require you meet a certain criteria to become a school counselor versus a mental health counselor
- Internship and externship requirements and opportunities
- Clinical hour requirements
- Alumni accessibility – are you able to tap into your school’s past graduates who have already established themselves in their career?
Those are some of the questions you will likely need answers to prior to enrolling in an online counseling degree program.
Get started below on your school search by either searching through our online school directory or our counseling degree program directory.
Search Online Schools by Degree Type
- Bachelor’s Degrees
- Master’s Degrees
Search Online Programs by Speciality
- Addictions and Substance Abuse Counseling Programs
- Marriage and Family Therapy Counseling Programs
- Mental Health Counseling Programs
- Pastoral Counseling
- Psychology
- School Counseling
- Sports Counseling