Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries isn't the most popular bachelor's program in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #161 in popularity out of 363 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
College Factual looked at 3 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 65 bachelor's degrees in pastoral counseling & specialized ministries during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The pastoral counseling bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality pastoral counseling program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to pastoral counseling & specialized ministries students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of pastoral counseling & specialized ministries students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
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 pastoral counseling & specialized ministries students go into to obtain their bachelor'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 pastoral counseling & specialized ministries related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for pastoral counseling & specialized ministries students working on their bachelor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries in the Middle Atlantic Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in pastoral counseling & specialized ministries.
Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Pastoral Counseling
It's difficult to beat Lancaster Bible College if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in pastoral counseling & specialized ministries. Located in the large suburb of Lancaster, Lancaster Bible College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the pastoral counseling program report average early career income of $27,628.
Eastern University is a good choice for students interested in a bachelor's degree in pastoral counseling & specialized ministries. EU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Davids.
Bachelor's recipients from the pastoral counseling & specialized ministries degree program at Eastern University earn $2,055 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of Valley Forge is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in pastoral counseling & specialized ministries. UVF is a fairly small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Phoenixville.
Bachelor's recipients from the pastoral counseling & specialized ministries degree program at University of Valley Forge earn $3,511 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries Related Rankings by Major
One of 7 majors within the Theology & Religious Vocations area of study, Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries has other similar majors worth exploring.
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.