Master in social work ( MSW) or Counseling

[Sara143]

I am interested to get my degree in MSW or Masters in counseling.
Any recommendations for online school ? Unfortunately I can’t afford more than $7000. Any route if I can get my degree under $7000?
Thanks

[eLearner]

Kairos charges $400/month and is self-paced in terms of how fast or how slowly you complete courses. Tons of work though. Lots of long writing and lots of exams. And physical practicums and internships are required.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Most master’s overall are 30 to 39 semester hours. To become a licensed social worker, marriage and family therapist, counselor (mental health, rehabilitation, etc.), or psychological associate (or limited license psychologist, etc.) in the US you generally need not just any master’s degree, but a master’s of 60 semester hours or so. That gives you almost no options in the US under 7K. Kairos may be an option as eLearner notes. Their MFT program has COAMFTE accreditation, though their counseling program does not have CACREP accreditation. (A 30-ish credit MSW is available from schools of social work only to students entering with a CSWE-accredited BSW.)

Also for licensure, states typically have specific required courses, lengthy internship and practica requirement both as part of your degree and afterwards, and a board exam, and some licensing boards want specialized accreditation. For example, materially every state requires CSWE for social work; many states either require CACREP for mental health counseling or pore over non-CACREP degrees in detail to decide whether they’re CACREP-equivalent.

If you’re open to an unlicensed human services position, those can be gotten with a 30-ish credit master’s in counseling, psychology, etc. But you can get similar unlicensed human services positions with a bachelor’s. The non-license master’s might lead to little or no pay bump.

Addiction counseling licenses typically require less than the foregoing, just some coursework at the undergraduate or graduate level or even non-credit; these requirements vary by state. More states are introducing licenses or certifications for more paraprofessional human services roles with less than a master’s, like the Mental Health Rehabilitation Technician Certification program in Maine UMPI has a program for on YourPace.

[bjcheung77]

Its best to help people and remind them what Bachelors you have and what your addendum and template information shows. I recall you doing the UMPI Bachelors program and recently finished the degree with a 3.8 GPA in your previous thread... Having said that, it doesn't indicate what commitments, etc, asked for in the addendum or template...

[FireMedic_Philosopher]

The cheapest MSW in my state is over 30 grand due to the required clinicals. I have no idea where or how you could get a credentialed program for under 25, let alone under 10.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

[Messdiener]

Assuming you're in the US, the only way to hit that price point would be to look for a social work degree abroad and then to work with CSWE for recognition:

https://www.cswe.org/accreditation/scope...ee-review/

There's never any guarantee though that CSWE will recognize every degree from overseas, so it may pay to do some research and to ask around to see what others have done already.

Just as a hypothetical example, a colleague told me about the MSW program at the University of the Philippines Open University:

https://fmds.upou.edu.ph/academics/post-bac/msw/

It's a 3.5 year program and has an option for a thesis or a comprehensive exam. Whether you can do your field hours abroad is unknown, but it might be worth asking.

I haven't quite been able to piece together the full cost of the degree, as there are a lot of different components beyond just the tuition. For example, they charge non-resident aliens "Educational Development Fund" fees per semester and possibly even mid-year? Again, something that someone will have to call or write them to get clarity on.

https://registrar.upou.edu.ph/tuition-and-other-fees/

Anyway, I hope that gives you a starting point. Even if you don't end up at UPOU, hopefully it still gives you some food for thought and can get you started on your research!