Clinical & Counseling Psychology

Types of Degrees Clinical & Counseling Psychology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many clinical, counseling and applied psychology graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	22,477
Doctor’s Degree	4,156
Graduate Certificate	2,591

What Clinical & Counseling Psychology Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, clinical psychology majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Clinical Psychology Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Clinical Psychology Majors

When studying clinical psychology, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Clinical Psychology Majors

As you progress with your clinical psychology degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Clinical & Counseling Psychology Major?

People with a clinical psychology degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Clinical Psychologists	14.2%	$76,990
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Counseling Psychologists	14.2%	$76,990
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists	5.9%	$97,260
Investment Fund Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Loss Prevention Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Neuropsychologists and Clinical Neuropsychologists	10.3%	$100,770
Psychology Professors	15.1%	$76,710
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
School Psychologists	14.2%	$76,990
Security Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Supply Chain Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology?

This is one of the most frequently chosen graduate majors. It is the 7th most popular in the country with 22,477 students graduating with a master’s in clinical psychology in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 82% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of clinical psychology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,040
Black or African American	2,461
Hispanic or Latino	3,822
White	11,867
International Students	620
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,667

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Clinical Psychology. About 2.8% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• Canada
• South Korea
• India
• Saudi Arabia

How Much Do Clinical & Counseling Psychology Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in clinical, counseling and applied psychology made a median starting salary of $44,962 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $40,517 (25th percentile) and $51,294 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a clinical psychology degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Clinical Psychology majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $88,490 to $109,030 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Clinical & Counseling Psychology

Some careers associated with clinical psychology require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to clinical psychology have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.7%
Some College Courses	0.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	29.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.1%
Master’s Degree	22.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	4.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.2%
Doctoral Degree	16.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	17.2%

Online Clinical & Counseling Psychology Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 780 schools offered some type of clinical, counseling and applied psychology program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	8	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	17	3
Bachelor’s Degree	157	41
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	970	124
Post-Master’s	226	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	382	22
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	107	8
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	3	0

Is a Degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology Worth It?

The median salary for a clinical psychology grad is $95,610 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 140% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,114,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Clinical & Counseling Psychology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to clinical psychology.

Major	Number of Grads
General Psychology	8,051
Child Development & Psychology	2,576
Other Psychology	2,162

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.