Least Expensive Doctorates in Psychology, Counseling, or Other Mental Health fields

[eLearner]

I have been working on finding some information for a few people who are interested in these degrees for under $50,000 total. This is what I've come up with so far:

Amridge University - PhD in Professional Counseling = $46,800

California Southern University - PsyD (Doctor of Psychology) = $35,970

Regent University - Ph.D. in Counseling & Psychological Studies = $35,445(?)

Kairos University - DPC (Doctor of Professional Counseling) = $12,000 ($400 per month at an expected completion time of 2.5 years)

Anyone know of some others?

[GameSlinger]

A good addition to this post would be which of these programs are accredited for licensure to practice. I know several PHD programs are not designed for practice.

[DeanLewis]

An interesting note, is that Cal Southern's program requires a masters for admission, but if you have two masters, up to 30/66 credits can be transferred in. They do not process Title IV funds, but the program is licensure-eligible in California and several other states (due to being regionally but not programmatically/APA accredited).

Of further note, the Cummings Graduate Institute has a Doctor of Behavioral Health for $400 per credit, and at 60 credits it comes out to around $24k.

[eLearner]

A good addition to this post would be which of these programs are accredited for licensure to practice. I know several PHD programs are not designed for practice.

Many aren't. Maybe most. Of the ones I listed, I believe only California Southern University's program is eligible for licensure.

That said, licensure isn't the goal of everyone who pursues these degrees, and given how difficult it is to become licensed at the Doctoral level in a mental health discipline due to state rules (hence the shortage of Psychologists for example), it's no surprise that most people don't even bother pursuing licensure.

[Jonathan Whatley]

The Kairos DPC requires master's-level licensure to enter.

Wilmington University's Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) in Prevention Science is around $27,144 base, potentially less with approved transfer credit from a master's. I've seen one or two master's-level therapists on LinkedIn having gone on to that.

Liberty has a few online doctorates in the neighborhood including a non-licensure PhD in Psychology and EdD in Community Care and Counseling, a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision (for master's-level licensed), and others. Competitive tuition becomes even more so with discounts for target populations like military and first responders.

Capella recently made its Doctor of Human Services (DHS) available in the FlexPath CBE format. $3000 per 12-week period.

[eLearner]

The Kairos DPC requires master's-level licensure to enter.

Plus 3 years of post Master's experience in Counseling, along with liability insurance. As time has passed, they've added more things to clear in order to be accepted into the program. I don't think that's a bad thing really, but I'm not sure how well that works for enrollment numbers.

[bjcheung77]

Some states allow foreign equivalents, would that work for some people? It may be an avenue to investigate though, I would recommend checking with your state requirements and see what may fit and what can't/won't fit them...

[eLearner]

One person speaks Spanish and some Portuguese, so there may be opportunities there. No one never expressed interest in foreign programs but there may be something there. I'll just have match some programs with state requirements (for those concerned about that part, not all are from what I could gather) and see what could work.

[DeanLewis]

Some states allow foreign equivalents, would that work for some people? It may be an avenue to investigate though, I would recommend checking with your state requirements and see what may fit and what can't/won't fit them...

I'm not sure that any US states would welcome any exclusively online training from a foreign vendor. Pretty much universally, a supervised internship/practicum of 650-1000 hours, pre-licensure is required. I would not recommend folks seeking licensure go that route, it's already pretty difficult to be licensed graduating from a regionally accredited US program LOL

[eLearner]

I'm not sure that any US states would welcome any exclusively online training from a foreign vendor. Pretty much universally, a supervised internship/practicum of 650-1000 hours, pre-licensure is required. I would not recommend folks seeking licensure go that route, it's already pretty difficult to be licensed graduating from a regionally accredited US program LOL

For things like that, if it comes up as a concern, I would make sure I've done the research to make sure a program is acceptable in that regard before I present it to them. Wouldn't want to send someone into an unpleasant surprise.