Best degree programs for Credit Counselors, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 167 schools train Credit Counselors. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $52,230 median wage, 27,770 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 167 schools train credit counselors, graduating 5,761 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Financial Planning and Services. The job pays a median of $52,230 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About credit counselors
Advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. May provide guidance in determining the best type of loan and explain loan requirements or restrictions. May help develop debt management plans or student financial aid packages. May advise on credit issues, or provide budget, mortgage, bankruptcy, or student financial aid counseling.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0804 | 4,744 | 82.3% | 94 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0803 | 1,011 | 17.5% | 76 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
| 3 | CIP 52.0809 | 6 | 0.1% | 3 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What credit counselors earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $58,330 | 1,110 | 1.03× | 13 | 3,520 |
| Texas | $48,220 | 3,950 | 1.57× | 13 | 503 |
| Wisconsin | $52,140 | 770 | 1.47× | 7 | 230 |
| California | $67,120 | 2,160 | 0.66× | 18 | 162 |
| Arizona | $51,480 | 980 | 1.69× | 6 | 150 |
| Ohio | $51,160 | 890 | 0.90× | 11 | 103 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $63,030 | 2,020 | 1.17× | 4 | 99 |
| Utahlimited | $51,330 | 190 | 0.63× | 2 | 73 |
| Florida | $46,300 | 2,410 | 1.36× | 5 | 62 |
| Connecticutmoderate | $54,710 | 100 | 0.33× | 4 | 61 |
| Missouri | $30,580 | — | — | 5 | 61 |
| Indianamoderate | $48,180 | 740 | 1.29× | 4 | 55 |
| Michigan | $52,160 | 1,260 | 1.61× | 10 | 52 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $48,150 | 220 | 0.62× | 3 | 51 |
| Oklahomamoderate | $46,950 | 230 | 0.76× | 3 | 48 |
| Nebraska | $62,510 | 260 | 1.42× | 5 | 46 |
| South Dakotamoderate | $48,890 | — | — | 4 | 40 |
| Illinoismoderate | $51,930 | 1,170 | 1.07× | 4 | 38 |
| Arkansasmoderate | $45,060 | 50 | 0.22× | 3 | 36 |
| Minnesotamoderate | $62,160 | 580 | 1.10× | 3 | 36 |
| Iowalimited | $48,130 | 440 | 1.59× | 2 | 29 |
| Delawarelimited | $52,840 | 40 | 0.45× | 2 | 23 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $58,480 | 130 | 1.46× | 2 | 22 |
| Georgiamoderate | $64,080 | 460 | 0.53× | 3 | 19 |
| Washingtonmoderate | $62,360 | 560 | 0.88× | 3 | 19 |
| Massachusetts | $63,240 | 770 | 1.19× | 5 | 17 |
| Oregonlimited | $59,150 | 280 | 0.80× | 2 | 14 |
| Louisianalimited | $47,250 | 130 | 0.38× | 2 | 9 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $57,180 | 530 | 0.69× | 3 | 8 |
| Wyominglimited | $42,580 | 40 | 0.76× | 1 | 8 |
| West Virginialimited | $45,860 | 150 | 1.22× | 2 | 7 |
| North Dakotalimited | $52,220 | 30 | 0.39× | 2 | 6 |
| South Carolinalimited | $53,190 | 250 | 0.61× | 2 | 6 |
| Tennesseelimited | $38,730 | 950 | 1.62× | 2 | 6 |
| Mainelimited | $55,490 | 170 | 1.50× | 1 | 5 |
| Virginialimited | $51,550 | 760 | 1.04× | 1 | 5 |
| Mississippilimited | $45,990 | 210 | 1.02× | 1 | 3 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations.
- Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies.
- Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals.
- Prioritize client debt repayment to avoid dire consequences, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure or to reduce overall costs, such as by paying high-interest or short-term loans first.
- Assess clients' overall financial situations by reviewing income, assets, debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information.
- Recommend strategies for clients to meet their financial goals, such as borrowing money through loans or loan programs, declaring bankruptcy, making budget adjustments, or enrolling in debt management plans.
- Explain general financial topics to clients, such as credit report ratings, bankruptcy laws, consumer protection laws, wage attachments, or collection actions.
- Interview clients by telephone or in person to gather financial information.
Skills
- Speaking4.0
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Active Listening3.9
- Critical Thinking3.8
- Writing3.8
- Active Learning3.6
- Mathematics3.1
- Learning Strategies3.1
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.6
- English Language4.1
- Mathematics3.6
- Administrative3.5
- Education and Training3.4
- Economics and Accounting3.3
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Written Comprehension3.9
- Inductive Reasoning3.8
- Deductive Reasoning3.8
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
Core activities
- Getting Information4.6
- Documenting/Recording Information4.4
- Working with Computers4.4
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.1
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization4.0
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Credit Counselor
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Credit Counselors3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0803Banking and Financial Support Services
- 52.0804Financial Planning and Services
- 52.0809Credit Management
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Credit Counselor?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Financial Planning and Services, which awarded 4,744 degrees in 2024-25, 82.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Credit Counselor?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services. Together they graduate about 5,761 people a year.
How much do credit counselors earn?+
The median is $52,230 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $38,350 at the 10th percentile to $80,440 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for credit counselors growing?+
BLS projects a +3.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
167 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do credit counselors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Credit Counselor, Housing Counselor, Certified Credit Counselor, Certified Consumer Credit and Housing Counselor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2071.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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