Quick answer: A psychology bachelor’s is the most widely taught degree covered on this site - nearly fourteen hundred colleges awarded it in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). It is also one of the most misunderstood: licensed clinical work requires graduate school on top of it. What the degree actually opens at each level, and what those careers pay, is covered below.
What This Degree Is and Is Not
Psychology is two different credentials wearing one name. The bachelor’s is a broad behavioral science degree: research methods, statistics, how people develop, learn, and behave in groups. It opens case management, behavioral health support and human services work, and it is the standard admission ticket to graduate programs. The graduate degrees - a master’s for many counseling paths, a doctorate for licensure as a psychologist in most states - are where clinical careers actually begin.
Neither level licenses you by itself. Clinical practice runs through your state licensing board: a qualifying graduate degree, supervised hours, and an examination. The degree runs alongside that process; it does not replace it.
For someone already working as a mental health technician, peer support specialist or substance abuse counselor, the bachelor’s is the rung that converts floor experience into eligibility - for supervision, for state credential tiers, and for the graduate programs above them.
What the Coursework Usually Covers
Research methods and statistics anchor the degree - they are what distinguish it from an opinion about people. Around that core: developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, cognitive and biological psychology, social psychology, and personality. Most programs require a research or capstone experience; stronger ones offer supervised field placement in a community or clinical setting, which is worth prioritizing if you intend to work in behavioral health before graduate school.
Before you request information anywhere, decide which level you are actually shopping for - the bachelor’s, or a graduate program you will need the bachelor’s to enter - and compare psychology programs enrolling now:
Colleges Offering This Degree
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Every state licenses psychologists through its own board of psychology, and most require a doctorate (PhD or PsyD), supervised postdoctoral hours, and the national EPPP examination. Master’s-level clinical licenses - professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker - run through separate boards with their own supervised-hour requirements, and this site covers those degrees on their own pages.
None of that gatekeeping touches the non-clinical work a bachelor’s opens. Case management, behavioral health support, research assistance and community services roles hire at the bachelor’s level, sometimes with a state registry or certification tier - peer support certification and behavioral technician credentials are the common ones. Confirm requirements with your state behavioral health authority, because the credential names genuinely differ state to state.
Earning It While Working in the Field
Behavioral health runs on shift work, which is why the online format is so developed here: roughly 86 percent of awarding institutions report programs available entirely by distance education (IPEDS 2024). The academic coursework moves online cleanly. What does not move online is any supervised field placement, and - at the graduate level - practicum and internship hours, which are in person by nature.
Prior learning matters in this field more than most. Substance abuse counseling coursework, military mental health training and documented client-facing hours can all shorten the path. Request a written transfer credit evaluation before committing to any program.
What These Careers Pay
Psychology at a Glance
Measure
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
Social and Human Service Assistants
National median pay
$100,580/yr
$45,930/yr
Employment
75,990
437,860
Projected growth, 2024-34
+11.2%
+6.4%
Openings per year
4,800
50,600
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
The Wage Picture
The spread between the two columns above is the honest summary of this degree. Licensed psychologists - doctorate, supervised hours, examination - earn a median of $100,580, with the top 10 percent above $180,960. Bachelor’s-level human services work has a median of $45,930. The degree does not close that gap by itself; the graduate credential and the license do. What the bachelor’s does is make the higher column reachable, and it does so from more institutions than any other degree on this site, at every price point in American higher education.
Is It Worth It?
Measured against the behavioral health workforce it feeds, yes - with the caveat repeated throughout this page. As a terminal credential, a psychology bachelor’s competes with human services and social work degrees that carry clearer job titles. As the first half of a clinical path, it is the standard, and an 11.2 percent projected growth rate for the licensed tier is among the strongest on this site. Individual outcomes may vary.
Where the Jobs Actually Sit
Behavioral health employment follows the treatment system, not the degree. Community mental health centers, hospital systems, school districts, residential treatment programs and county human services departments do the hiring, and each metro’s mix of those employers sets its demand. That is why the state and city pages below lead with local program access rather than a single national figure: the degree is taught nearly everywhere, but the ladder above it - supervised roles, credential tiers, graduate cohorts - is local. Start from your state page and work outward.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do psychologists make?
The national median annual wage for clinical and counseling psychologists is $100,580, or $48.36 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bottom 10 percent earn $55,170 or less and the top 10 percent earn $180,960 or more, across employment of 75,990. Those figures describe licensed psychologists, which requires a doctorate in most states - not bachelor's-level graduates.
What can you do with just a bachelor's in psychology?
Case management, behavioral health support, human services, research assistance and roles across HR and social services. The largest adjacent workforce is social and human service assistants, 437,860 jobs at a median of $45,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bachelor's is also the standard entry point to the graduate programs where clinical careers actually begin.
Can you become a therapist with a psychology degree?
Not with the bachelor's alone. Licensed clinical work - psychologist, counselor, therapist - requires a graduate degree, supervised clinical hours set by your state board, and a licensing examination. The bachelor's is the required first step, not the credential itself. Confirm the exact path with your state's board of psychology or behavioral health licensing board.
Can you earn a psychology degree online?
Yes - psychology is one of the most widely available online degrees. Roughly 86 percent of the institutions awarding it report offering programs entirely by distance education at this level (IPEDS 2024). Graduate clinical training is different: practicum and internship hours are in person by nature.
Is psychology a growing field?
Yes. BLS projects employment of clinical and counseling psychologists to grow 11.2 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 4,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Demand tracks the wider behavioral health system, which is also what drives the counseling and social work degrees on this site. Individual outcomes may vary.
Is a psychology degree worth it for someone already working in behavioral health?
That is the strongest case for it. Peer support specialists, mental health technicians and substance abuse counselors already hold the client-facing hours; the degree converts that experience into eligibility for supervisory roles and for the graduate programs that gatekeep clinical licensure. Ask any program how much credit it grants for prior coursework and documented work experience.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Clinical and Counseling Psychologists (SOC 19-3033), Social and Human Service Assistants (SOC 21-1093)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions and Institutional Characteristics, 2024 - CIP 42.0101
Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (EPPP licensure examination)
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
