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Classification counselor education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a classification counselor. Classification counselors usually study criminal justice, psychology, or social work. 52% of classification counselors hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 95 real classification counselor resumes to see exactly what classification counselor education sections show.

The most common colleges for classification counselors are the Arizona State University and the Arizona State University.

There are also many online classification counselor courses to help get the education required to be a classification counselor.

What education do you need to become a classification counselor?

What degree do you need to be a classification counselor?

The most common degree for classification counselors is bachelor's degree, with 52% of classification counselors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 21% and associate degree degree at 20%.
  • Bachelor's, 52%
  • Associate, 21%
  • Master's, 20%
  • High School Diploma, 7%

What should I major in to become a classification counselor?

You should major in criminal justice to become a classification counselor. 33% of classification counselors major in criminal justice. Other common majors for a classification counselor include psychology and social work.

Most common colleges for classification counselors

Classification counselors often get their degrees at Arizona State University, The University of West Florida, and East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Here are the most common colleges for classification counselors in the US based on their resumes.
Classification counselor common collegePercentages
Arizona State University10.34%
The University of West Florida10.34%
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania10.34%
Troy University6.90%
Indiana University South Bend6.90%

Best majors for classification counselors

RankMajorPercentages
1Criminal Justice32.8%
2Psychology12.1%
3Social Work8.6%
4Law Enforcement6.9%
5Business5.2%

Best colleges for classification counselors

The best colleges for classification counselors are Johns Hopkins University, Boston College, and Northeastern University.

A classification counselor with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for classification counselors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become classification counselors.

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

2. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$10,595

Enrollment

30,184

3. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

5. SUNY at Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$10,011

Enrollment

13,434

6. San Jose State University

San Jose, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,796

Enrollment

27,125

7. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

8. SUNY College at Oswego

Oswego, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,440

Enrollment

7,039

9. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

10. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

20 best online courses for classification counselors

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1. Supervised Machine Learning: Classification

coursera

This course introduces you to one of the main types of modeling families of supervised Machine Learning: Classification. You will learn how to train predictive models to classify categorical outcomes and how to use error metrics to compare across different models. The hands-on section of this course focuses on using best practices for classification, including train and test splits, and handling data sets with unbalanced classes. By the end of this course you should be able to: -Differentiate...

2. Regression and Classification

coursera

Introduction to Statistical Learning will explore concepts in statistical modeling, such as when to use certain models, how to tune those models, and if other options will provide certain trade-offs. We will cover Regression, Classification, Trees, Resampling, Unsupervised techniques, and much more! This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Data Science (MS-DS) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The MS-DS is an interdisciplinary degree that...

3. Machine Learning for Data Analysis: Classification Modeling

udemy
4.7
(439)

Machine Learning made simple with Excel! Classification for advanced data analysis & business intelligence (no coding!)...

4. [Accredited] Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Counselor

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4.3
(419)

Learn DBT in depth, start conducting sessions with ready to use templates, and set up counseling practice within weeks!...

5. Handling Imbalanced Data Classification Problems

coursera

In this 2-hour long project-based course on handling imbalanced data classification problems, you will learn to understand the business problem related we are trying to solve and and understand the dataset. You will also learn how to select best evaluation metric for imbalanced datasets and data resampling techniques like undersampling, oversampling and SMOTE before we use them for model building process. At the end of the course you will understand and learn how to implement ROC curve and...

6. Support Vector Machine Classification in Python

coursera

In this 1-hour long guided project-based course, you will learn how to use Python to implement a Support Vector Machine algorithm for classification. This type of algorithm classifies output data and makes predictions. The output of this model is a set of visualized scattered plots separated with a straight line. You will learn the fundamental theory and practical illustrations behind Support Vector Machines and learn to fit, examine, and utilize supervised Classification models using SVM to...

7. Machine Learning Classification Bootcamp in Python

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4.5
(934)

Build 10 Practical Projects and Advance Your Skills in Machine Learning Using Python and Scikit Learn...

8. Professional Anger & Aggression Counselling Diploma

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4.3
(256)

Fully Accredited Diploma Course For Powerful Counselling Techniques For Anger & Aggression Management...

9. Language Classification with Naive Bayes in Python

coursera

In this 1-hour long project, you will learn how to clean and preprocess data for language classification. You will learn some theory behind Naive Bayes Modeling, and the impact that class imbalance of training data has on classification performance. You will learn how to use subword units to further mitigate the negative effects of class imbalance, and build an even better model...

10. Classification and valuation - What you must know!

coursera

This is the second course in Tax Academy's Customs Certification. This certification would provide you with relevant skills to apply Customs knowledge in less than two months. In this course, you will build upon your knowledge on legal principles of classification and valuation of goods. Once you are able to correctly classify and declare the value of goods, you will be able to take accurate decisions about Customs duty payment and ascertain other compliance requirements. Correct classification...

11. Managing mental health issues in the workplace

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4.1
(891)

Learn how to support your own mental health and wellbeing and that of your staff...

12. Clustering & Classification With Machine Learning In Python

udemy
4.3
(337)

Harness The Power Of Machine Learning For Unsupervised & Supervised Learning In Python...

13. Decision Tree and Random Forest Classification using Julia

coursera

This guided project is about glass classification using decision tree classification and random forest classification in Julia. It is ideal for beginners who do not know what decision trees or random forests are because this project explains these concepts in simple terms. While you are watching me code, you will get a cloud desktop with all the required software pre-installed. This will allow you to code along with me. After all, we learn best with active, hands-on learning. Special features:...

14. Scikit-Learn For Machine Learning Classification Problems

coursera

Hello everyone and welcome to this new hands-on project on Scikit-Learn Library for solving machine learning classification problems. In this project, we will learn how to build and train classifier models using Scikit-Learn library. Scikit-learn is a free machine learning library developed for python. Scikit-learn offers several algorithms for classification, regression, and clustering. Several famous machine learning models are included such as support vector machines, random forests,...

15. Addiction & Mental Health (Dual Diagnosis) Integrative 12hrs

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4.7
(1,529)

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Interventions: Drug & Alcohol Addiction & Mental Health - Integrative Holistic Approach...

16. Land use Land cover classification GIS, ERDAS, ArcGIS, ML

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4.6
(531)

Machine Learning, Land Use Scratch to Advance, All Softwares of Remote Sensing and GIS, GIS Tasks in Easy way learning...

17. Basic Image Classification with TensorFlow

coursera

In this 2-hour long project-based course, you will learn the basics of using Keras with TensorFlow as its backend and use it to solve a basic image classification problem. By the end of this project, you will have created, trained, and evaluated a Neural Network model that will be able to predict digits from hand-written images with a high degree of accuracy. You also will have learned the fundamentals of neural networks, TensorFlow, and Keras. Note: This course works best for learners who are...

18. Image Classification with Amazon Sagemaker

coursera

Please note: You will need an AWS account to complete this course. Your AWS account will be charged as per your usage. Please make sure that you are able to access Sagemaker within your AWS account. If your AWS account is new, you may need to ask AWS support for access to certain resources. You should be familiar with python programming, and AWS before starting this hands on project. We use a Sagemaker P type instance in this project, and if you don't have access to this instance type, please...

19. Simple Nearest Neighbors Regression and Classification

coursera

In this 2-hour long project-based course, we will explore the basic principles behind the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm, as well as learn how to implement KNN for decision making in Python. A simple, easy-to-implement supervised machine learning algorithm that can be used to solve both classification and regression problems is the k-nearest neighbors (KNN) algorithm. The fundamental principle is that you enter a known data set, add an unknown data point, and the algorithm will tell you which...

20. Logistic Regression for Classification using Julia

coursera

This guided project is about book genre classification using logistic regression in Julia. It is ideal for beginners who do not know what logistic regression is because this project explains these concepts in simple terms. While you are watching me code, you will get a cloud desktop with all the required software pre-installed. This will allow you to code along with me. After all, we learn best with active, hands-on learning. Special features: 1) Simple explanations of important concepts. 2)...

Top 10 most affordable universities for classification counselors

The most affordable schools for classification counselors are California State University - Long Beach, baruch college of the city university of new york, and hunter college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for classification counselors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for classification counselors.

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

2. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

3. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

4. University of Houston - Victoria

Victoria, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$6,491

Cost of attendance

19,075

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

6. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

7. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

8. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

9. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

10. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for classification counselors

The hardest universities for classification counselors to get into are Johns Hopkins University, Boston College, and Northeastern University.

Some great schools for classification counselors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for classification counselors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

2. Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA • Private

Admissions rate

28%

SAT average

1,429

3. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

4. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

7. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

8. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

9. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for classification counselors

The easiest schools for classification counselors to get into are Gwynedd Mercy University, university of north texas at dallas, and ottawa university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a classification counselor without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for classification counselors.

1. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

2. University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

992

3. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

4. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

5. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

6. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

7. Texas Woman's University

Denton, TX • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,059

8. Our Lady of the Lake University

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,002

9. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

10. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

Average classification counselor salary by education level

According to our data, classification counselors with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $64,398 annually. Classification counselors with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $63,151.
Classification counselor education levelClassification counselor salary
Master's Degree$63,151
Bachelor's Degree$53,897
Doctorate Degree$64,398

Classification counselor education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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