Published November 2016
Welcome to our ranking of the three top master’s degrees in counseling in Washington state.
Between the West Coast cities of Seattle and Bellingham and the inland town of Cheney (a suburb of Spokane with a quick 30 minute commute to the Montana border), this master’s in counseling degree ranking boasts a much better geographical distribution than most – especially for a state with only three top schools! It’s worth mentioning that Washington does have several other colleges that offer accredited counseling degrees – five not included here – but many of the schools lacked data and/or transparency in their programs. In other words, this ranking brings you the cream of the crop, the hosts to the very best counseling master’s degrees worth considering in Washington state.
Methodology
Click here to see the methodology we used for this best master’s in counseling degree ranking.
Featured Programs
3. Seattle University
Seattle, WA
School Counseling, M.A.; Community Counseling, M.A.
Website
It’s no accident that the master’s degrees in counseling at Seattle University fall within the departments of “Teaching, Learning, and Social Justice” and “Leadership and Professional Studies.” In many ways, counselors must act as expert teachers, leaders, learners, and activists all at once. A helping profession whose practitioners bear the responsibility to advocate for their patients while also listening to and guiding them through deeply personal struggles, counseling is no cake walk. As such, Seattle University is constantly working to improve its programs to the benefit of its students; recent changes include expanding both programs from 72 to 90 credit hours and adding a segment on chemical addictions to the clinical mental health degree.
Tuition & Fees: $19,793/yr
2. Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA
School Counseling, M.S.; Mental Health Counseling, M.S.
Website
Out of the city and across the state to the little town of Cheney, Washington, aspiring master’s in counseling degree students can acquire the education they desire at Eastern Washington University. Even the sheer size of EWU’s psychology department lends credibility to the university’s status as a source of some of the best counseling master’s degrees around. In addition to two CACREP-accredited options, the department is also home to graduate programs in clinical psychology, experimental psychology, and school psychology. This means plenty of classmates to interact with in and out of the classroom, whether you are attending lectures or networking at a Psi Chi Honors Society meeting.
Tuition & Fees: $18,975/yr
1. Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA
School Counseling, M.Ed.; Clinical Mental Health Counseling, M.S.
Website
Travel all the way back to the western edge of the state – and nearly into Canada – and you’ll find yourself in Bellingham, Washington. Known for its outdoor activities, beautiful mountain ranges, and regular stream of Canadian tourists, Bellingham offers no shortage of exciting distractions. And thanks to Western Washington University, the town is similarly well-stocked with highly educated counselors who earned their stripes in WWU’s respected Department of Psychology. This gem of the Northwest shines especially bright for students interested in research; on-campus institutes include the Western Institute for Social Research and the Center for Cross-Cultural Research, among others.
Tuition & Fees: $15,179/yr
This concludes our ranking of the best graduate degrees in counseling in Washington.
You might also like: Tell It To a Telepsychiatrist: Online Counseling and Psychiatry
Sources:
College Navigator
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators