If you pursue a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #7 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 3 schools in Iowa to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of clinical, counseling & applied psychology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 79 master's degrees in clinical, counseling & applied psychology during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Choosing a Great Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of clinical, counseling & applied psychology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality clinical psychology program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on clinical, counseling & applied psychology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other clinical, counseling & applied psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt clinical, counseling & applied psychology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized clinical, counseling & applied psychology related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Schools
The clinical psychology school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Master's Degree Schools in Iowa.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology in Iowa
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology.
Top Iowa Schools for a Master's in Clinical Psychology
Buena Vista University is a wonderful option for students interested in a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the remote town of Storm Lake, BVU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the clinical psychology program state that they receive average early career wages of $49,323.
It is difficult to beat Upper Iowa University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the rural area of Fayette, UIU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the clinical psychology program report average early career earnings of $48,612.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.