What Can You Do With a Masters in Counselor Education?

Earning your MS in counselor education will enable you to make a difference in people’s lives.

With your counselor education master’s degree, you’ll be prepared to empower children, families, and adults to improve their lives, conduct research that can help improve counseling techniques, and educate the next generation of counselors.

Learn more about the career opportunities you can have with your counselor education master’s degree.

Licensed professional counselor.
To become a licensed professional counselor, you must complete at least your master’s in counselor education or a related counseling field to have the educational hours required for licensure.

As you complete your required working hours to become a licensed professional counselor after graduating with your counselor education master’s degree, you can work in a range of settings, depending on your specialty: governmental services, mental health facilities, corrections, religious organizations, education, private industry, or you can open your own practice.

Researcher.
During your time in a master’s in counselor education program, you’ll learn valuable skills that can be applied in a research-focused career. In any MS in counselor education program, you’ll learn how to conduct interviews and focus groups, create surveys, and apply the principles of counseling and social science research.

If you want to pursue a career in counseling and research, you will need at least a master’s degree to gain the experience and skills that meaningful research requires.

Mental health counselor.
Mental health counselors are in a growing job market, because the Affordable Care Act mandates that mental health treatment covered by insurance providers. Mental health counselors are needed to provide services for military members and veterans, crisis and suicide hotlines.

Professor.
You can’t teach at a higher education institution without at least 18 hours of post- baccalaureate graduate coursework. For MS in counselor education programs, most (if not all) professors will have a master’s or doctoral degree in counseling and will also be licensed professional counselors. Universities and colleges need experienced and well educated professors to teach the next generation of counselors.

School counselor.
School counselors have the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives, most often when children are at their most vulnerable. Elementary, middle, and high schools need counselors who are capable of working in multicultural environments and can work with children and adolescents who need personal and academic guidance. Most often, school counselors are licensed professional counselors.

Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselor.
Counselors who work with individuals with addiction and behavioral problems need to be licensed professional counselors, have the specialized education, and have emotional maturity—all of which you gain in a master’s in counselor education program. Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors work with clients to development treatment plans, work with their families to help them cope with the clients’ issues, and empower clients to overcome their addiction.

Ready to earn your master’s in counselor education? Learn more >