Mental Health Services

Types of Degrees Mental Health Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many mental & social health services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	17,274
Associate Degree	3,539
Basic Certificate	3,387
Bachelor’s Degree	2,853
Undergraduate Certificate	2,189
Graduate Certificate	2,037
Doctor’s Degree	271

What Mental Health Services Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, mental health services 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 Mental Health Services Majors

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

• 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.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.

Skills for Mental Health Services Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to mental health services:

• 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.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• 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.

Abilities for Mental Health Services Majors

Mental Health Services majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Can You Do With a Mental Health Services Major?

People with a mental health services degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Clergy	8.2%	$48,990
Community Health Workers	17.9%	$39,540
Counseling Psychologists	14.2%	$76,990
Counselors	14.2%	$42,130
Genetic Counselors	29.0%	$80,370
Health Educators	14.6%	$54,220
Healthcare Social Workers	20.1%	$56,200
Marriage and Family Therapists	23.4%	$50,090
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers	19.4%	$44,840
Mental Health Counselors	23.1%	NA
Psychiatric Aides	5.6%	$29,180
Psychiatric Technicians	5.9%	$32,870
Psychology Professors	15.1%	$76,710
Social Work Professors	9.4%	$68,300
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors	23.2%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Mental Health Services?

This is one of the most frequently chosen healthcare majors. It is the 12th most popular in the country with 3,123 students graduating with a bachelor’s in mental health services in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 84% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of mental health services majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	97
Black or African American	481
Hispanic or Latino	453
White	1,510
International Students	17
Other Races/Ethnicities	295

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Mental Health Services. About 0.6% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Mental Health Services

Some careers associated with mental health services 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for mental health services careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.0%
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)	0.9%
Some College Courses	2.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	14.4%
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.	2.2%
Master’s Degree	42.6%
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.	4.1%
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.	2.3%
Doctoral Degree	10.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	5.6%

Online Mental Health Services Programs

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)	242	38
Certificate (2-4 Years)	5	0
Associate’s Degree	405	58
Bachelor’s Degree	166	57
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	595	99
Post-Master’s	89	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	50	10
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	18	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	0

Majors Related to Mental Health Services

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to mental health services.

Major	Number of Grads
Nursing	308,114
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	88,809
Allied Health Professions	85,413
Health & Medical Administrative Services	85,302
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	79,189
Public Health	42,551
Health Sciences & Services	35,887
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	29,934
Medicine	29,206
Dental Support Services	25,040
Communication Sciences	23,288
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	19,017
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	18,729
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	10,516
Health/Medical Prep Programs	9,413
Other Health Professions	7,387
Dentistry	6,961
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	5,644
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	5,056
Alternative Medicine & Systems	3,431
Chiropractic	2,698
Medical Illustration & Informatics	2,689
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies	2,244
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	1,845
Optometry	1,789
Medical Science	1,090
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	760
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies	468
Alternative Medical Support Services	136
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies	116

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.