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3 Top Value Counseling Master’s Degrees in Arkansas

Top Counseling Schools - Best Value - 2016
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Published September 2016

Welcome to our ranking of the three top master’s degrees in counseling in Arkansas.

If you’re thinking about earning your master’s or Ph.D. in counseling and you live in Arkansas (or you would like to), take a look at these top-ranked schools.

Like many Midwestern states, Arkansas is a little short on colleges and universities – particularly those with accredited counselor education programs. Then again, most people would agree that it’s better to have three nickels than ten pennies, and although this master’s in counseling degree ranking is brief, these Arkansas universities nonetheless deserve plenty of attention for the quality of education they provide.

Click here to see the methodology we used for this best master’s in counseling degree ranking.

Featured Programs


3. University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR

Counselor Education and Supervision, Ph.D.; School Counseling, M.S.; Clinical Mental Health Counseling, M.S.

The University of Arkansas is a state- and nation-wide leader in graduate counselor education. With virtually 100% completion, employment, and licensure/certification rates for all three of its CACREP accredited counseling master’s degree programs, it’s easy to see why the University of Arkansas attracts such bright students and faculty to Fayetteville. The U of A is also home to a groundbreaking Office of Play Therapy Research and Training, which provides counseling students with the opportunity to train in a burgeoning field of research that is seeing results in schools across the country.
Tuition & Fees: $13,384

2. Henderson State University

Arkadelphia, AR

Community Counseling, M.S.; School Counseling, M.S.E.

Website
Henderson State University is renowned for offering graduate counseling degrees that are affordable even by Arkansas’ standards. At nearly $8,000 a year, Henderson students can acquire all of the advantages of a CACREP-accredited degree program for half the price. In particular, Henderson’s comprehensive counseling curriculum spans decades of theory and best practices in community and school counseling. From Advanced Human Development and Psychopathology to Sex Counseling and Case Management, coursework at Henderson is by turns deeply theoretical and practical to prepare students for the unpredictable professional challenges that lie ahead.
Tuition & Fees: $8,169

1. Harding University

Searcy, AR

School Counseling, M.S.; Clinical Mental Health Counseling, M.S./Ed.S.

Website
Harding University earns Arkansas’ top counseling master’s degree ranking by perfectly balancing price, convenience, and curricular breadth. Harding may not be the cheapest school on the list, but by offering CACREP-accredited counseling degrees at multiple campus locations in Rogers and Searcy, it can more than half some students’ commute times and make its education accessible to twice as many potential counselors. Harding also offers some of the most unique and compelling electives of any school in the state, with progressive and experimental coursework in fields like play therapy, childhood traumatic grief counseling, and even equine therapy.
Tuition & Fees: $14,504

This concludes our ranking of the best graduate degrees in counseling in Arkansas. We’ll be sure to update this list as more schools in Arkansas develop accredited counseling programs, so stay tuned!

You might like: 5 Biggest Challenges for Licensed Mental Health Counselors

Sources:

College Navigator
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators