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Clinical Pastoral Counseling

A program that prepares individuals, including but not limited to, ordained clergy and other counseling professionals to respond to the emotional and/or spiritual needs of patients and families in health care emergencies and other situations, and to consult with and counsel other health care professionals. Includes instruction in advanced interpersonal communication; individual and small group counseling; interdisciplinary teamwork; crisis management; extended care relationships; self-analysis; medical ethics; pastoral care art; spiritual dimensions of human growth and health; counseling psychology and therapy; and applications to grief, death, emotional collapse, injury, individual/family adjustment, and chronic illness situations.

Types of Degrees Clinical Pastoral Counseling Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Clinical Pastoral Counseling have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Master’s Degree	187

What Clinical Pastoral Counseling Majors Need to Know

Studies in Clinical Pastoral Counseling emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Clinical Pastoral Counseling emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.6 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Sociology and Anthropology — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set built by a Clinical Pastoral Counseling program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Service Orientation — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Clinical Pastoral Counseling careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.5 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.2 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.2 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.0 / 7
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others	4.0 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Clinical Pastoral Counseling professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	✓
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Database software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Zoom	Video conferencing software	—
Facebook	Web page creation and editing software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates include:

• Group Counselor
• Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
• Licensed Therapist
• Behavioral Health Clinician
• Counselor
• Case Manager
• Grief Counselor
• Behavior Specialist
• Rector
• Youth Pastor
• Pastoral Counselor
• Men’s Ministries Director
• Youth and Young Adult Ministries Director
• Youth Instructor
• Campus Ministry Director

What Can You Do With a Clinical Pastoral Counseling Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Marriage and Family Therapists	-3.8%	$74,325	$63,783–$84,868
Counselors, All Other	4.5%	$81,766	$66,309–$97,222
Clergy	-3.3%	$49,854	$39,497–$60,211

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	58.3%
Bachelor’s degree	18.1%
Postsecondary certificate	6.8%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	5.3%
First professional degree	4.3%
Post-master’s certificate	3.1%
Doctoral degree	1.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.8%
Some college courses	0.8%
Post-doctoral training	0.5%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 75.4% of Clinical Pastoral Counseling degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	141	75.4%
Men	46	24.6%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	107	57.2%
Asian	10	5.3%
Hispanic or Latino	11	5.9%
Black or African American	34	18.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	1	0.5%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	1	0.5%
Two or More Races	6	3.2%
Race Unknown	9	4.8%
International Students	8	4.3%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Clinical Pastoral Counseling Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$46,066
4 years	$46,824
5 years	$52,641

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $52,641 — roughly 14% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Clinical Pastoral Counseling Programs

Fully online options are documented by IPEDS for Clinical Pastoral Counseling. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Bachelor’s	1	0
Master’s	4	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Clinical Pastoral Counseling graduates earn a median of $46,824 four years after completion — roughly 23% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	33,946
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	10,855
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	6,135
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	4,476
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Other	3,545
Clinical/Medical Social Work	3,296
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician	2,601
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2,298
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	757
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	378
Trauma Counseling	161
Medical Family Therapy/Therapist	6

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.