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Rehabilitation Counseling

Types of Degrees Rehabilitation Counseling Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Rehabilitation Counseling may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	4
Bachelor’s Degree	155
Master’s Degree	766
Doctor’s Degree	16

What Rehabilitation Counseling Majors Need to Know

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

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Rehabilitation Counseling emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Education and Training — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 5.7 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.

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

Skills

Skills developed in a Rehabilitation Counseling program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Instructing — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Rehabilitation Counseling careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.1 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Rehabilitation Counseling graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Training and Teaching Others	4.5 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.5 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Working with Computers	4.4 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.3 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.2 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.2 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.1 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.1 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Rehabilitation Counseling professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Email software	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	—
Adobe Presenter	Computer based training software	—
Sakai CLE	Computer based training software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
Turning Technologies TurningPoint	Multi-media educational software	—
Image scanning software	Optical character reader OCR or scanning software	—

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

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Rehabilitation Counseling graduates include:

• Medicine Teacher
• Gericare Aide Teacher
• Medical Assistant Instructor
• Nutrition Professor
• Faculty Member
• Veterinary Medicine Teacher
• Surgery Teacher
• Physical Therapy Teacher
• Music Therapy Teacher
• A&P Instructor (Anatomy and Physiology Instructor)
• Physical Therapy Professor
• Histology Teacher
• Health Teacher
• Activity Therapy Teacher
• Physical Medicine Teacher

Education Typically Required

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

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	35.7%
Doctoral degree	24.3%
Post-doctoral training	18.7%
Bachelor’s degree	13.6%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	4.5%
Postsecondary certificate	2.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-master’s certificate	0.1%

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

Who Is Earning a Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 80.6% of Rehabilitation Counseling degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	758	80.6%
Men	183	19.4%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	436	46.3%
Asian	32	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	186	19.8%
Black or African American	198	21.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native	1	0.1%
Two or More Races	32	3.4%
Race Unknown	31	3.3%
International Students	25	2.7%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Rehabilitation Counseling Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Rehabilitation 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	$67,332
4 years	$70,102
5 years	$75,167

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $75,167 — roughly 12% above the 1-year mark.

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

Online Rehabilitation Counseling Programs

Distance learning is tracked by IPEDS for Rehabilitation 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	2	0
Master’s	12	9

^{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 Rehabilitation Counseling Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Rehabilitation Counseling graduates earn a median of $70,102 four years after completion — roughly 84% 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	CIP Code
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	51.23
Animal-Assisted Therapy	51.2313
Art Therapy/Therapist	51.2301
Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering	51.2312
Dance Therapy/Therapist	51.2302
Drama Therapy/Therapist	51.2315
Horticulture Therapy/Therapist	51.2316
Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist	51.2311
Music Therapy/Therapist	51.2305
Occupational Therapy/Therapist	51.2306
Orthotist/Prosthetist	51.2307
Physical Therapy/Therapist	51.2308

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.