Which state pays clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's graduates the most?

New York, where the median program pays its graduates $35,656 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. California is next, at $29,457.

Highest-Paying Clinical and Counseling Psychology (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

Q: Which clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's program pays the most?

Baruch College in New York reports the highest first-year pay of the 52 programs ranked here, $57,204.

54 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $34,148 in their first year and $49,634 five years after. New York has the highest state median ($35,656), and California the lowest ($29,457). The median program leaves its graduates with $27,000 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$34,148Across 54 programs

Median pay after 5 years$49,634Across 49 programs

Median federal debt$27,000Across 66 programs

Debt-to-earnings81%Across 51 programs

All 52 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Baruch CollegeNew York, NY · public	$57,204	$53,005	$55,215	Not reported	Not reported
2	Albright CollegeReading, PA · private nonprofit	$48,838	$50,053	$51,623	$39,762	81%
3	Thomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphia, PA · private nonprofit	$43,964	$45,058	$48,949	$47,976	109%
4	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud, MN · public	$42,406	$42,999	$49,634	$24,948	59%
5	Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA · private nonprofit	$42,384	Not adjusted	$68,755	$17,361	41%
6	Los Angeles Pacific UniversityGlendora, CA · private nonprofit	$41,803	$37,756	Not reported	$46,561	111%
7	Emmanuel CollegeBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$41,522	$39,262	$59,620	$27,000	65%
8	Embry-Riddle Daytona BeachDaytona Beach, FL · private nonprofit	$41,456	Not adjusted	$81,800	$24,620	59%
9	University of PhoenixPhoenix, AZ · private for-profit	$41,118	Not adjusted	Not reported	$40,687	99%
10	Indiana Wesleyan University-MarionMarion, IN · private nonprofit	$40,706	$43,616	Not reported	$38,759	95%
11	Pace UniversityNew York, NY · private nonprofit	$40,671	$37,686	$64,937	$26,000	64%
12	Cal State San BernardinoSan Bernardino, CA · public	$40,316	$36,413	Not reported	$14,958	37%
13	University of ChicagoChicago, IL · private nonprofit	$39,808	Not adjusted	Not reported	$12,000	30%
14	Franklin UniversityColumbus, OH · private nonprofit	$39,387	$42,455	$48,501	$35,500	90%
15	Champlain CollegeBurlington, VT · private nonprofit	$39,258	$40,076	$45,757	$23,269	59%
16	Tiffin UniversityTiffin, OH · private nonprofit	$38,989	$42,026	Not reported	$27,000	69%
17	Christian Brothers UniversityMemphis, TN · private nonprofit	$38,554	$41,966	Not reported	$46,000	119%
18	Lesley UniversityCambridge, MA · private nonprofit	$38,404	$36,313	$49,560	$26,000	68%
19	SUNY College of Technology at CantonCanton, NY · public	$36,254	$33,593	$46,517	$26,000	72%
20	Tufts UniversityMedford, MA · private nonprofit	$35,806	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
21	John Jay CollegeNew York, NY · public	$35,656	$33,039	$55,307	$13,421	38%
22	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro, TN · public	$35,159	$38,270	$60,689	$23,375	66%
23	Purdue GlobalWest Lafayette, IN · public	$35,086	Not adjusted	Not reported	$42,443	121%
24	Thomas CollegeWaterville, ME · private nonprofit	$35,065	$36,131	Not reported	$27,000	77%
25	Wayne State CollegeWayne, NE · public	$35,028	$38,876	$39,036	$23,659	68%
26	Florida Institute of TechnologyMelbourne, FL · private nonprofit	$34,506	Not adjusted	$48,721	$32,000	93%
27	Gardner-Webb UniversityBoiling Springs, NC · private nonprofit	$34,491	$36,566	$42,570	$29,166	85%
28	University of Mary Hardin-BaylorBelton, TX · private nonprofit	$33,805	$34,830	$49,927	$27,000	80%
29	University of WashingtonSeattle, WA · public	$33,192	$31,017	$54,108	$14,259	43%
30	UNTDenton, TX · public	$32,553	$33,540	$56,373	$19,583	60%
31	SUNY MorrisvilleMorrisville, NY · public	$31,903	$29,561	Not reported	$28,274	89%
32	Augsburg UniversityMinneapolis, MN · private nonprofit	$31,211	$31,647	Not reported	$29,625	95%
33	Oklahoma Baptist UniversityShawnee, OK · private nonprofit	$29,879	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,147	84%
34	Cal State LALos Angeles, CA · public	$29,457	$26,605	$48,688	$12,500	42%
35	Delaware Valley UniversityDoylestown, PA · private nonprofit	$29,383	$30,114	Not reported	$25,000	85%
36	Johnson & Wales University-ProvidenceProvidence, RI · private nonprofit	$29,314	Not adjusted	$47,814	$27,000	92%
37	Farmingdale State CollegeFarmingdale, NY · public	$28,904	$26,783	$49,937	$20,175	70%
38	UM-FlintFlint, MI · public	$28,348	$29,463	$51,988	$28,500	101%
39	Belhaven UniversityJackson, MS · private nonprofit	$28,316	$32,565	Not reported	$41,825	148%
40	Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo, MI · public	$28,007	$29,108	$54,153	$27,000	96%
41	Mississippi StateMississippi State, MS · public	$27,841	Not adjusted	$36,197	$26,000	93%
42	Clayton StateMorrow, GA · public	$27,532	$28,592	$45,378	$35,448	129%
43	Faulkner UniversityMontgomery, AL · private nonprofit	$26,988	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,691	103%
44	UC San DiegoLa Jolla, CA · public	$26,953	$24,343	$63,237	$15,000	56%
45	Oregon Institute of TechnologyKlamath Falls, OR · public	$26,591	$25,726	$50,408	$38,546	145%
46	University at AlbanyAlbany, NY · public	$26,245	$24,319	Not reported	$22,430	85%
47	Keystone CollegeLa Plume, PA · private nonprofit	$25,974	$26,620	$38,332	$27,000	104%
48	University of MaineOrono, ME · public	$23,828	$24,552	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
49	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles, CA · private nonprofit	$21,473	$19,394	$58,931	$27,000	126%
50	Toccoa Falls CollegeToccoa Falls, GA · private nonprofit	$21,319	$22,140	$36,887	$24,250	114%
51	University of Puerto Rico at PoncePonce, PR · public	$12,349	Not adjusted	$23,186	$5,000	40%
52	UPR AreciboArecibo, PR · public	$6,023	Not adjusted	$20,730	$4,500	75%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 39 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 13, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

3 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked. 2 more programs report pay but aren't listed, because College Scorecard's school file doesn't name their schools. The national medians above still count them.

Clinical and Counseling Psychology (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
New York	7	$35,656	$24,215
California	5	$29,457	$21,000

Programs in 23 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Cal State LA, CA$12,500
John Jay College, NY$13,421
Cal State San Bernardino, CA$14,958
UC San Diego, CA$15,000
Farmingdale State College, NY$20,175
University at Albany, NY$22,430
Pace University, NY$26,000
SUNY College of Technology at Canton, NY$26,000
Mount Saint Mary's University, CA$27,000
SUNY Morrisville, NY$28,274

Lowest debt for the pay

Cal State San Bernardino, CA37%
John Jay College, NY38%
Cal State LA, CA42%
UC San Diego, CA56%
Pace University, NY64%
Farmingdale State College, NY70%
SUNY College of Technology at Canton, NY72%
University at Albany, NY85%
SUNY Morrisville, NY89%
Los Angeles Pacific University, CA111%

Only the 11 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to clinical and counseling psychology, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Human Resources Specialists

$75,940

Median pay in the US. 912,430 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 73,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $47,180Top 10%: $128,720

Management Analysts

$101,860

Median pay in the US. 898,280 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 94,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $60,640Top 10%: $171,640

Training and Development Specialists

$69,280

Median pay in the US. 458,300 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $38,760Top 10%: $123,250

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

$64,330

Median pay in the US. 353,310 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 27,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $45,020Top 10%: $104,770

Common questions

The median clinical and counseling psychology bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $34,148 in their first year and $49,634 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024