2020 Mental & Social Health Services Degree Guide

A degree in Mental and Social Health Services allows you to work closely with both children and adults to help them overcome difficult mental or emotion stress and maintain a healthy and happy life.

Mental and Social Health Services professionals work with patients to diagnose and treat mental illness, manage emotional disorders, deal with life stresses, and change behavioral issues. You will take classes in psychology, social work, substance abuse, public health, counseling, physiology, and human services to gain the skills to work with others and prepare to earn an advanced degree.

Some specific areas of this field that you may be interested in concentrating on are Addiction Counseling, Mental Health Services Technician, Clinical Social Work, Community Health Services, Marriage and Family Counseling, Clinical Pastoral Counseling, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and Genetic Counseling, among others.

An Increase in Mental & Social Health Services Degrees

Mental & Social Health Services was the 50th most popular major in the 2017-2018 school year. Colleges in the United States reported awarding 26,783 degrees in this year alone. This is a difference of 547 over the prior year, a growth of 2.0%.

The United States has 107 different schools where you can get a degree in mental and social health services. Explore this or one of our many other custom mental health services rankings further below.

Requirements for Getting a Degree in Mental & Social Health Services

A degree in Mental and Social Health Services leads to a career working with others, usually one on one. This places a strong emphasis on interpersonal communication, and listening skills. You must be able to listen to what patients are telling you in order to understand their stressors and help them. You must also be compassionate and understand patients may feel insecure, uncomfortable, or scared. Since you will have access to patient files along with the information they share, it is extremely important to be trustworthy and maintain patient-doctor confidentiality.

Graduates with a degree in this field have full time jobs working in hospitals, schools, doctors' offices, and with social services. Some professionals set their own hours, but keep night and weekend hours to accommodate patients' schedules.

In order to practice in the Mental and Social Health Services field, students must earn at least a master's degree, or in some cases, a Ph.D. or Psy.D. may be required along with state certification.

Mental Health Services Degree Program Entry Requirements

New students will need to have completed high school or a GED program and each school will have their own minimum GPA and SAT/ACT test requirements. In addition to these basic mental and social health services program qualifications, to serve in some mental health services careers, special certification may be required outside of your degree.

Mental & Social Health Services Degree Types

There are various different levels of mental health services degrees. You can get anything from a award taking less than 1 year in mental and social health services to the highest mental health services degree, a professional practice doctorate. Depending on the mental and social health services degree you choose, obtaining your diploma can take anwhere from 1 to 4+ years.

Degree	Credit Requirements	Typical Program Length
Associate Degree	60-70 credits	2 years
Bachelor’s Degree	120 credits	4 years
Master’s Degree	50-70 credits	1-3 years
Doctorate	Program required coursework including thesis or dissertation	At least 4 years

A master's degree is the most common level of education achieved by those in careers related to mental health services, with approximately 42.2% of workers getting one. People currently working in careers related to mental health services tend obtained the following education levels.

Level of Education	Percentage of Workers
Master’s Degree	42.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	14.4%
Doctoral Degree	10.1%
High School Diploma	9.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.7%

65.1% of mental health services workers have at least a master's. View the chart below to get an idea of what degree level most of those in mental and social health services careers have.

This of course varies depending on which mental health services career you choose.

Mental Health Services Careers

Mental and Social Health Services graduates work in a variety of locations from hospitals and medical clinics to social service offices. Depending on your specialization, you may work with adults, children and families with different types of mental and social disorders or issues. Graduates can find jobs in a multitude of locations, or can open their own practice and have their own patients.

High Growth Projected for Mental Health Services Careers

Want a job when you graduate with your mental health services degree? Mental & Social Health Services careers are expected to grow 15.7% between 2016 and 2026.

The following options are some of the most in-demand careers related to mental and social health services.

Occupation Name	Projected Jobs	Expected Growth
Clergy	263,800	8.2%
Healthcare Social Workers	212,000	20.1%
Mental Health Counselors	194,200	23.1%
Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists	168,500	14.2%
Substance Abuse Social Workers	147,900	19.4%

How Much Money Do People With a Mental Health Services Degree Make?

Mental & Social Health Services graduates between 2015-2017 reported earning an average of $36,637 in the 2017-2018 timeframe. Earnings can range from as low as $14,900 to as high as $65,600. As you might expect, salaries for mental health services graduates vary depending on the level of education that was acquired.

High Paying Careers for Mental Health Services Majors

Salaries for mental and social health services graduates can vary widely by the occupation you choose as well. The following table shows the top 5 highest paying careers mental health services grads often go into.

Occupation Name	Median Average Salary
Psychology Professors	$88,490
Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists	$85,340
Genetic Counselors	$80,860
Social Work Professors	$77,520
Health Educators	$59,660

Getting Your Mental & Social Health Services Degree

With over 1,802 different mental health services degree programs to choose from, finding the best fit for you can be a challenge. Fortunately you have come to the right place. We have analyzed all of these schools to come up with hundreds of unbiased mental health services school rankings to help you with this.

Mental & Social Health Services Related Majors

Mental & Social Health Services is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Most Popular Majors Related to Mental Health Services

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing	293,633
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	104,465
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	90,916
Health & Medical Administrative Services	87,058
Allied Health Professions	86,125

View All Mental Health Services Related Majors >

References

• National Center for Education Statistics

• O*NET Online

• Image Credit: By Staff Sgt. Katie Spencer under License