A forensic psychology master’s degree can prepare graduates for research, justice-system programs, victim services, corrections, behavioral analysis, court administration, policy work, or doctoral study. It does not qualify someone to practice as a licensed psychologist in California.
California’s psychologist licensing pathway requires a qualifying doctoral degree, supervised professional experience, examinations, and other requirements set by the California Board of Psychology. Counseling licensure follows a separate process. Only programs with an appropriate counseling curriculum can support the educational stage of a professional counseling pathway.
The California options below vary substantially. Some are campus programs with lengthy field placements. Others are online, nonclinical degrees intended for working professionals. UC Irvine emphasizes psychology, law, research, and policy. Palo Alto University awards an MS in Psychology with a forensic track, while Alliant International University uses the broader title Forensic Behavioral Science. Saint Mary’s College offers both a 35-unit forensic psychology MA and a much longer double-master’s route that incorporates counseling preparation.
Readers still comparing specialties can review the broader guide to forensic psychology degrees in California.
California forensic psychology master’s programs compared
| School | Degree or pathway | Format | Credits | Practical or culminating requirement | Licensure orientation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Baptist University | MA in Forensic Psychology | Riverside campus | 48 semester units | Nine-month practicum and written comprehensive exam | Nonlicensure |
| California State University, Los Angeles | MS in Forensic Psychology | Campus-based | 33 to 34 semester units | Nine-month field experience and thesis | Nonlicensure; research and doctoral preparation |
| Saint Mary’s College of California | MA in Forensic Psychology | Current public schedule is on campus | 35 semester units | Supervised field placement and integrating seminar | Standalone MA is not a counseling licensure degree |
| Saint Mary’s College of California | Double Master’s in Forensic Psychology and Counseling | In-person evening cohort | 82 semester units | Counseling practicum with 600 total psychotherapy hours | Counseling curriculum intended to support LMFT or LPCC preparation |
| University of California, Irvine | Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology | Mostly asynchronous online, with five-day Irvine residence | 52 quarter units | Independent capstone | Nonclinical and nonlicensure |
| National University | MS in Forensic Psychology | Fully online | 30 semester credits | Nonclinical internship or research capstone in the general specialization | Nonlicensure |
| Touro University Worldwide | MS in Forensic Psychology | Fully online, no residency | 36 semester credits | Capstone | Nonlicensure |
| The Chicago School | MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure | Anaheim, Los Angeles, and distance-learning versions | 61 semester credits for California campus versions | At least 700 clinical-training hours over a 9-to-12-month practicum and internship | Counselor training, not psychologist licensure |
| The Chicago School | MA in Applied Forensic Psychology | Distance education | Current total not established in the available materials | Current culminating requirement not specified in available sources | Nonclinical and nonlicensure |
| Palo Alto University | MS in Psychology, Forensic Psychology Track | Synchronous online evening courses | 36 quarter units | No thesis listed | Nonlicensure |
| Alliant International University | MS in Forensic Behavioral Science | Online with two weekend residencies | 36 credits | Residencies and capstone | Nonlicensure |
This inventory is based on current university pages, catalogs, WSCUC records, and searches for related titles such as legal psychology and forensic behavioral science. It includes direct forensic psychology degrees and clearly labeled adjacent pathways. It does not include general psychology, criminal justice, or counseling degrees merely because they offer one forensic course.
A previously published California Baptist University counseling psychology concentration in forensic psychology was not confirmed in the current curriculum, so it is not profiled as an active option here.
What these degrees do, and do not, qualify graduates to do
“Forensic psychology” describes the application of psychological knowledge to legal and justice settings. At the master’s level, that can include research, program administration, behavioral services, victim advocacy, correctional programming, threat assessment support, case management, policy analysis, and work in community agencies.
The word “psychology” in a degree title does not confer the legal authority to practice psychology independently. According to the California Board of Psychology, initial psychologist licensure requires a qualifying doctorate, 3,000 hours of supervised professional experience, required prelicensure coursework, the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology, the California Psychology Laws and Ethics Examination, and fingerprinting. At least 1,500 supervised hours must be completed after the doctorate.
That licensing standard affects how these programs should be compared. California Baptist University, UC Irvine, National University, Touro University Worldwide, Palo Alto University, Alliant, and the standalone Saint Mary’s MA are not substitutes for a clinical psychology doctorate. Their value lies in nonlicensed professional preparation, research training, advancement in an existing justice-system career, or preparation for further graduate education.
Counseling is different. California’s Board of Behavioral Sciences regulates Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors. An LPCC candidate generally needs a qualifying 60-semester-unit or 90-quarter-unit degree with prescribed content and practicum education. The graduate then enters the associate and supervised-experience stages, completing 3,000 post-degree hours over at least 104 weeks before becoming eligible for the clinical examination.
Saint Mary’s double-master’s program incorporates a counseling curriculum that the college connects to LMFT or LPCC preparation. The Chicago School’s MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure is currently cataloged as counselor training intended to prepare graduates to seek professional counselor licensure. Neither degree confers a license at graduation, and the current Chicago School catalog section does not establish a program-specific California LPCC eligibility conclusion.
Campus programs with substantial field experience
California Baptist University MA in Forensic Psychology
California Baptist University’s 48-unit MA is a two-year Riverside program with both behavioral science and criminal justice coursework. Its curriculum includes statistics, forensic research methods, biological bases of behavior, psychopathology and criminality, criminal profiling, forensic psychology, criminal law, investigations, and legal research.
The use of criminal justice courses gives the degree a wider justice-system frame than a conventional general psychology master’s. Criminal profiling is one course topic, not a promise of a profiling career. Most roles associated with forensic psychology involve assessment support, research, treatment programs, corrections, victims, courts, or administrative work rather than the media version of offender profiling.
Practical preparation is a central part of the curriculum. Students complete a nine-month practicum during the final year. That provides sustained experience in a professional setting, unlike an online program built entirely around coursework and a capstone. The program also requires a four-hour written comprehensive examination.
Applicants need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a minimum 2.75 GPA based on either the full cumulative record or the last 60 semester units or 90 quarter units. Prerequisites include general psychology, abnormal psychology, and research methods. Those requirements favor applicants who already have foundational psychology preparation, though they do not require a psychology bachelor’s by title.
The published 2026-27 tuition rate is $870 per unit plus fees. Multiplying that rate by 48 units produces $41,760 in base tuition. That is a calculation, not the university’s official total cost of attendance, and it excludes fees, books, transportation, housing, and other expenses.
California Baptist University explicitly states that the MA does not qualify graduates for California psychologist licensure. The program is aligned with nonlicensed forensic and justice-system work rather than independent clinical practice. Its extended practicum also gives it a more applied structure than programs in which the only culminating experience is a research paper.
California State University, Los Angeles MS in Forensic Psychology
Cal State LA offers a 33-to-34-unit MS that combines psychological research, assessment, criminal justice content, and supervised field experience. Required study includes psychology and law, abnormal psychology, individual testing, quantitative coursework, criminal justice or courtroom-related subjects, electives, field experience, and thesis research.
The program’s two major culminating components are a six-unit field experience and a three-unit thesis. The field experience runs for nine months with on-site supervision. The thesis requires students to formulate and carry out a sustained research project rather than completing only a course-based degree.
That combination supports two related goals. The field placement offers direct exposure to applied settings, while the thesis develops research design, analysis, and academic writing. Among the programs profiled here, Cal State LA is the option with both an explicitly required thesis and a nine-month field placement. Applicants planning a later research doctorate may find that combination more useful than a course-only curriculum or a professional capstone.
Prerequisite preparation includes introductory psychology, statistics, abnormal psychology, and personality psychology. Application materials include transcripts, a statement of purpose, and three recommendations, at least two of which come from academic sources. The program begins in the fall and uses a faculty-mentoring structure.
Cal State LA was accepting applications for Fall 2026, with a February 15, 2026 deadline for that cycle. Future cycles can use a different schedule. The university publishes graduate tuition and separate cost-of-attendance estimates. Cost-of-attendance figures include expenses beyond tuition and should not be read as the price of the academic program alone.
The MS provides an explicit research-to-practice structure through its thesis, quantitative coursework, assessment study, and supervised placement. It is an academic route for research-oriented applicants and those preparing for doctoral study, but it is not a psychologist-licensure degree.
Saint Mary’s College of California MA in Forensic Psychology
Saint Mary’s College of California offers a 35-unit MA designed for completion in approximately 1.5 to two years. The current university page describes fall and spring classes held on the Moraga campus Monday through Thursday in the late afternoon and evening, with some Saturday meetings.
WSCUC records also show a distance-education authorization for forensic psychology implemented in 2024. Saint Mary’s separately maintains general authorization to provide distance education. Those records do not establish that the current MA is enrolling an online cohort, while the public program page explicitly describes an in-person schedule.
The curriculum addresses foundations of forensic psychology, criminal behavior, psychology and law, psychometrics and assessment, intervention and treatment, substance use, correctional and community counseling, trauma, intercultural counseling, social justice, professional practice, and analysis of criminal justice institutions. Students also complete an integrating seminar.
A three-unit supervised field placement gives the program an applied component. Compared with the nine-month placements at California Baptist University and Cal State LA, the published curriculum expresses the Saint Mary’s requirement in units rather than a stated nine-month duration. It still provides field-based learning that is absent from several online programs.
The degree incorporates treatment, counseling, assessment, and trauma-related topics, but the 35-unit standalone MA is not presented as an LMFT or LPCC qualifying counseling degree. Its more appropriate uses include nonlicensed behavioral services, correctional and community programs, justice-system work, research support, and preparation for additional education.
Applicants need a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college. Published materials include transcripts, a personal statement, a resume, recommendations, an application fee, and an interview.
Saint Mary’s lists 2026-27 tuition at $1,180 per unit, before additional graduate fees and other expenses. At 35 units, the listed rate produces a base-tuition calculation of $41,300. The actual amount paid can change with tuition rates and added charges.
Saint Mary’s double master’s for counseling preparation
Double Master’s in Forensic Psychology and Counseling
Saint Mary’s also offers a separate three-year route leading to two MA degrees, one in counseling and one in forensic psychology. This is not an expanded version of the 35-unit MA. It is an 82-unit professional pathway with a much larger counseling curriculum and extensive supervised practice.
The sequence combines counseling theory, human development, psychopathology, assessment, ethics, treatment, psychopharmacology, and research with forensic subjects such as criminal behavior, psychology and law, forensic assessment, intervention, trauma, correctional counseling, and professional practice. The official curriculum states that the counseling practicum sequence carries 600 total psychotherapy hours.
Classes are described as in-person evening sessions held Monday through Thursday. The schedule can accommodate daytime employment more readily than a conventional daytime cohort, but four evenings of potential class activity represent a substantial weekly commitment. The three-year sequence is also much longer than Saint Mary’s standalone forensic psychology MA.
The college describes the counseling portion as preparation toward California LMFT or LPCC licensure. That language reflects the program’s curricular purpose rather than a license conferred at graduation. Graduates still move through the relevant Board of Behavioral Sciences process, including associate registration, supervised post-degree work, examinations, and any other current requirements.
At the 2026-27 rate of $1,180 per unit, 82 units produce a base-tuition calculation of $96,760 before fees and other educational or living costs. Because tuition can change during a three-year program, that multiplication is not a fixed program price.
The dual route serves a different professional objective from a nonclinical forensic MA. Someone seeking policy analysis, legal research, correctional program administration, or doctoral preparation may not need 82 units of counseling education and psychotherapy practice. A person seeking therapist preparation for work with justice-involved clients, victims, families, or forensic populations has a clearer reason to pursue the longer counseling sequence.
Mostly or fully online forensic psychology degrees
UC Irvine Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology
UC Irvine’s Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology is a two-year professional degree requiring 52 quarter units across six quarters. Most instruction is asynchronous and online. Students take two online courses per quarter during the academic years, but the program begins with a mandatory five-day introductory course on the Irvine campus.
The curriculum centers on quantitative methods, research methods, psychology and law, forensic assessment, legal reasoning, jurisprudence, electives, and an independent capstone. It does not include a clinical counseling practicum in the published requirements, and UCI states that the degree is not a clinical counseling or professional certification program.
The legal emphasis separates UCI from programs built around correctional counseling or treatment. Its coursework is more closely aligned with understanding legal decision-making, evaluating research, applying psychological findings to legal institutions, and analyzing policy. Relevant professional areas can include court administration, victim advocacy, intelligence analysis, research, public policy, legal-system programs, and management roles in organizations that interact with courts or public safety agencies.
The asynchronous course structure offers considerable scheduling freedom, although it is not a zero-travel degree. The five-day Irvine residence adds transportation, lodging, and time-away costs for anyone who does not live within commuting distance.
Applicants need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. Required materials include two recommendations, a statement of purpose, and a resume or CV. The GRE is not required. For Fall 2027, the published priority deadline is March 1, 2027, followed by rolling review through May 15, 2027.
The Fall 2026 entering cohort was charged $17,278 for the 2026-27 academic year, including the program fee and student services access fees. That amount covers one academic year, not the verified price of the complete two-year degree. Second-year rates can differ.
UCI is a legal and research-oriented professional master’s. The curriculum serves applicants interested in law, policy, analysis, and nonclinical justice-system work rather than California counseling licensure or supervised clinical practice.
National University MS in Forensic Psychology
National University offers a 30-credit MS delivered entirely online in eight-week courses. The university estimates that the program can be completed in about 16 months.
Students choose between General Forensic Psychology and Threat Assessment and Management. Coursework includes principles of forensic psychology, criminal behavior, ethics, research and statistics, risk and threat assessment, and applications involving law and the justice system. The threat assessment specialization offers a more defined subject focus than a general forensic psychology curriculum, particularly for professionals interested in violence prevention, behavioral risk, institutional safety, or public-sector threat management.
In the General Forensic Psychology specialization, students can choose a nonclinical internship or a research-oriented capstone. That choice lets a student emphasize either applied exposure or an independent academic project. The internship is explicitly nonclinical, consistent with the degree’s nonlicensure purpose.
National University lists tuition at $898 per credit and a $130 course material fee. As of September 3, 2026, the university’s estimated program cost was $28,690. That is the institution’s estimate rather than a guaranteed total.
The degree requires a conferred bachelor’s degree from an institutionally accredited school. The current program page advertises no GRE or GMAT requirement. National University is institutionally accredited by WSCUC, but institutional accreditation should not be confused with specialized accreditation of a forensic psychology program.
This degree is designed for nonlicensed work in courts, corrections, victim services, law enforcement support, government, and threat assessment. It does not prepare graduates for psychologist or counseling licensure.
Touro University Worldwide MS in Forensic Psychology
Touro University Worldwide’s MS requires 36 semester credits across 12 courses. It is fully online, uses eight-week courses, has no residency, and offers six annual starting points. The university presents one year as a possible completion time.
The curriculum includes forensic psychology, criminal behavior, ethics, law, psychopathology, applied research methods and statistics, family violence, assessment, and a capstone. Students complete nine core courses and three courses in one of two concentrations: Community Criminal Issues or Sex Offender Issues.
The Sex Offender Issues concentration gives Touro a narrower specialty option than the general curricula at several other schools. The Community Criminal Issues concentration takes a broader view of crime, social systems, and community responses.
Applicants generally need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a minimum 2.5 GPA. A student transferring from another graduate program in good standing needs at least a 2.75 graduate GPA under the published requirements.
Tuition is listed at $500 per semester credit. Multiplying that rate by 36 credits gives $18,000 in base tuition before other charges. Touro does not require travel for a residency, which also removes the lodging and transportation costs attached to hybrid programs.
Touro is explicitly a nonlicensure degree. It is aimed at justice-system, corrections, advocacy, analytical, and related roles rather than clinical practice. Compared with National University, it requires six more credits and uses a required capstone. National offers the internship or capstone choice in its general specialization, plus a dedicated threat assessment specialization. Touro has the lower published per-credit rate and no residency requirement.
Other direct and related pathways
The Chicago School: two different forensic psychology routes
Current WSCUC records and The Chicago School’s 2026-2027 academic catalog identify two materially different forensic psychology master’s routes.
MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure
The current catalog identifies the counselor-training route as the MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure program. It lists California semester-based versions at Anaheim and Los Angeles, along with a distance-learning version. The California campus versions require 61 semester credits. The distance-learning version is listed at 60 credits, so applicants should not use the online credit total when estimating the California campus curriculum.
Coursework combines forensic psychology and counselor preparation. The curriculum addresses areas such as mental health law, psychopathology, interviewing, risk assessment, counseling theory, trauma, substance-related disorders, documentation, ethics, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and professional practice with forensic populations.
The program requires at least 700 clinical-training hours completed over a 9-to-12-month practicum and internship. At least 280 of those hours must involve direct client contact. The catalog also identifies the Forensic Competency Examination as a capstone requirement and includes the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination.
These are substantially more defined clinical requirements than the capstone-only structures at UCI and Touro or the nonclinical internship option at National University. The Chicago School route is counselor training intended to prepare graduates to seek professional counselor licensure. It is not a California psychologist-licensure program.
The current catalog establishes the program title, credits, California locations, field duration, and clinical-training hours. It directs readers to separate professional licensure disclosures, but the program section itself does not establish a current California-specific LPCC eligibility determination. Current program-specific tuition was also not established in the available official materials.
MA in Applied Forensic Psychology
The newer MA in Applied Forensic Psychology was implemented in 2025 and approved for distance education. It is a nonclinical program focused on applications in law enforcement, courts, corrections, public policy, and community settings. Announced focus areas include corrections, police psychology, and criminology.
The Applied Forensic Psychology MA and the Professional Counselor Licensure program are not interchangeable delivery versions of one curriculum. The applied MA emphasizes nonclinical use of psychological knowledge in legal and public-safety settings. The counselor program requires extensive clinical training and is organized around professional counselor preparation.
Current WSCUC records establish that both program titles exist. The available evidence does not establish the applied degree’s current credit total, tuition, or culminating requirement, so those figures are not presented here.
Palo Alto University MS in Psychology, Forensic Psychology Track
Palo Alto University’s option is a 36-quarter-unit MS in Psychology with a Forensic Psychology Track. The diploma is an MS in Psychology, not a separately titled MS in Forensic Psychology.
Courses run online in synchronous evening sessions across six consecutive quarters. That schedule provides geographic flexibility but less weekly timing freedom than an asynchronous program such as UCI’s. Students must attend live class meetings at designated times.
The curriculum combines psychology core courses, research and statistics, psychopathology and psychodiagnosis, and forensic electives addressing subjects such as psychology and law, risk assessment, and risk management. There is no thesis requirement, and the current program page does not list a forensic practicum or required Palo Alto residency.
This is a research-oriented psychology degree with a forensic specialization. It can support nonlicensed behavioral research, justice-related work, or later doctoral applications. It is not presented as clinical forensic training, a counseling degree, or preparation for psychologist licensure.
The GRE is neither required nor considered. Applications go through PsychologyCAS, and applicants must reside in a state where Palo Alto University is authorized to provide online education. Current track-specific tuition was not established in the available materials.
Alliant International University MS in Forensic Behavioral Science
Alliant’s 36-credit MS uses the title Forensic Behavioral Science rather than Forensic Psychology. It covers a wider range of applications across behavioral analysis, public safety, investigations, victimology, conflict, security, and trial consulting.
The degree is online but includes two required weekend residencies. Those sessions use simulations and case studies, adding in-person applied work to the online format. Students also complete a capstone project. The program runs across seven eight-week terms and lists a minimum completion time of one year.
The main program page lists concentrations in conflict resolution and peace studies, criminal behavior, forensic victimology, professional protection and security management, and trial consulting. Another official Alliant overview mentions forensic linguistics, creating a discrepancy in the published concentration list. The five concentrations on the main degree page provide the clearest current program-specific information.
Alliant’s residencies create a different experience from fully remote study at Touro or National University. They also create travel and lodging expenses that are separate from tuition. Current tuition and residency-related costs were not established in the available sources.
This broader behavioral science curriculum is relevant to public safety, corrections, investigations, victim services, trial consulting, security, and analytical work. It is not a psychologist-licensure degree.
How to choose among these programs
The most useful comparison begins with the type of work the degree needs to support.
Research and doctoral preparation
Cal State LA is the only profiled program that explicitly combines a required thesis with a nine-month field placement. Its quantitative work, faculty mentoring, assessment curriculum, placement, and three-unit thesis create a research-to-practice structure for applicants planning doctoral study or research-heavy employment.
UC Irvine also has a substantial methods component, but it ends in a capstone rather than a thesis and focuses more directly on legal systems and professional application. Palo Alto University includes research and statistics but has no thesis requirement. National University offers a research capstone option in its general specialization.
A doctoral program will evaluate more than the master’s title. Research experience, methodological preparation, faculty mentorship, writing samples, and fit with the intended doctoral specialty can matter more than whether “forensic” appears on the diploma.
Applied nonclinical justice-system work
California Baptist University and Saint Mary’s standalone MA combine forensic coursework with supervised field experience. CBU has a nine-month practicum and a wider set of criminal justice courses. Saint Mary’s includes a three-unit placement plus coursework in corrections, treatment, trauma, substance use, assessment, and social justice.
National University, Touro, and The Chicago School’s Applied Forensic Psychology MA are built for nonclinical applications in legal and public-safety environments. National’s threat assessment specialization is the most specifically targeted option in this group for behavioral threat and risk work. Touro offers concentration study in community criminal issues or sex offender issues. Alliant is broader, extending into victimology, security management, conflict resolution, and trial consulting.
Job titles in these settings do not have uniform educational requirements. A forensic psychology master’s can support research, analysis, program, advocacy, and behavioral-services work, but it does not grant authority to conduct every form of clinical diagnosis or psychological assessment. Positions involving independent psychological practice require the relevant license.
Online access
Touro provides fully online study with no residency and eight-week courses. National University is also fully online. UCI is mostly asynchronous online but requires a five-day Irvine visit. Palo Alto uses live evening classes, so it requires regular real-time participation. Alliant adds two weekend residencies to its online coursework.
The Chicago School also catalogs a distance-learning version of its MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure program. Its 60-credit distance curriculum differs slightly in total credits from the 61-credit California campus versions. The published clinical-training requirement still includes at least 700 hours over a 9-to-12-month practicum and internship.
Online study therefore includes several different learning structures. Asynchronous programs provide greater control over weekly study times. Synchronous programs preserve scheduled live interaction. Residencies add in-person instruction but also require travel. Clinical online programs can still involve substantial placement commitments in approved professional settings.
Counseling and therapy goals
A nonlicensure forensic psychology degree is not an efficient substitute for a qualifying counseling program. The Saint Mary’s double master’s and The Chicago School’s MA Forensic Psychology, Professional Counselor Licensure are the counseling-oriented routes in this group. Both add counseling theory, clinical content, assessment, ethics, and supervised field education to forensic study.
Saint Mary’s requires 82 units over three years and includes a practicum sequence with 600 total psychotherapy hours. It awards separate master’s degrees in counseling and forensic psychology. Its current public schedule is in person, with evening classes Monday through Thursday.
The Chicago School requires 61 semester credits for the California campus versions in Anaheim and Los Angeles. Its current catalog specifies at least 700 clinical-training hours over a 9-to-12-month practicum and internship, including at least 280 direct-client-contact hours. It is structured as counselor training, but its cataloged title and clinical hours do not by themselves establish that graduation satisfies every current California LPCC educational rule.
A person whose goal is independent practice as a psychologist needs doctoral education rather than any of these master’s degrees. Someone planning to become an LPCC or LMFT needs an appropriately qualifying counseling route followed by the applicable California registration, supervised-experience, examination, and licensing stages.
Cost and completion time
Published prices use different units and should not be placed in a simple ranking without context. Touro’s 36-credit curriculum at $500 per credit yields a calculated $18,000 in base tuition. National University publishes an estimated program cost of $28,690 for its 30-credit degree. CBU’s 48 units at $870 produce a calculated $41,760 before fees.
Saint Mary’s charges $1,180 per unit for 2026-27. That produces calculated base tuition of $41,300 for the 35-unit MA and $96,760 for the 82-unit double master’s. Rates can change during a multiyear program, and these calculations exclude fees and living expenses. UCI lists $17,278 for the 2026-27 academic year for the Fall 2026 entering cohort, but that is not a verified two-year total.
A current program-specific tuition figure was not established for The Chicago School, Palo Alto University, or Alliant. Omitting those figures is more accurate than applying a general institutional rate that may not reflect the program’s actual tuition or fees.
Travel also belongs in the comparison. UCI requires a five-day Irvine residence, Alliant requires two weekend residencies, and campus programs create ongoing commuting or relocation costs. Touro has no residency, while National University describes its MS as entirely online. Clinical programs can also create indirect costs through unpaid placement hours or reduced work availability.
A practical decision framework
Start with the credential required for the intended occupation, then compare curriculum and format.
Choose a research-centered route when the next step is a doctorate, research position, or analytical role. Cal State LA provides the most explicit combination in this group because both its thesis and nine-month field experience are required.
Prioritize sustained field education for applied work. CBU and Cal State LA each require a nine-month placement. Saint Mary’s standalone MA includes a supervised field placement, while National University permits a nonclinical internship in its general specialization.
Use an online nonclinical program for justice-system advancement, policy, advocacy, corrections, or behavioral analysis when clinical licensure is not the objective. UCI is oriented toward law, policy, and research. National University adds threat assessment. Touro offers community criminal issues and sex offender issues. Alliant extends into security, trial consulting, victimology, and conflict.
Select a counseling pathway when therapy or professional clinical counseling is part of the career plan. Saint Mary’s 82-unit double master’s is fundamentally different from its 35-unit standalone MA because it adds a full counseling curriculum and extensive psychotherapy practicum. The Chicago School likewise separates its counselor-training program from its nonclinical applied degree and requires at least 700 clinical-training hours in the counselor route.
Finally, compare the actual learning structure rather than relying on program titles. A thesis, capstone, practicum, internship, live evening course, and short residency each develop different skills. California’s programs offer all of these models. Match the program’s research, fieldwork, licensure orientation, delivery schedule, and total financial commitment to the work the degree must support.