Best Credit Counselor programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
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.
13 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 3,520 people a year. The job pays a median of $58,330 in Pennsylvania across about 1,110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0804In Pennsylvania → | 3,512 | 99.8% | 11 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0803In Pennsylvania → | 8 | 0.2% | 2 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
Top 13 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 13 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American College of Financial Services King of Prussia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3,439 | Financial Planning and Services | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Pennsylvania State University - World Campus University Park, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Financial Planning and Services | $68,552 | 34% | — | 91% |
| 3 | Marywood University Scranton, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Financial Planning and Services | — | 72% | $21,769 | 61% |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Erie - Behrend College Erie, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Financial Planning and Services | — | 44% | — | 97% |
| 5 | Robert Morris University Moon Township, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Financial Planning and Services | $50,728 | 66% | $24,175 | 90% |
| 6 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Financial Planning and Services | $58,807 | 75% | — | 80% |
| 7 | Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Financial Planning and Services | — | 76% | $22,907 | 78% |
| 8 | Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Banking and Financial Support Services | — | 31% | — | — |
| 9 | Peirce College Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Banking and Financial Support Services | — | 10% | $12,905 | — |
| 10 | DeSales University Center Valley, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Financial Planning and Services | $56,817 | 72% | $26,990 | 77% |
| 11 | Immaculata University Immaculata, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Financial Planning and Services | — | 71% | $26,941 | 86% |
| 12 | Keystone College La Plume, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Financial Planning and Services | — | 36% | $23,598 | 85% |
| 13 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Financial Planning and Services | $68,552 | 86% | — | 61% |
All 13 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American College of Financial Services | King of Prussia | Private not-for-profit | 3,439 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State University - World Campus | University Park | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Marywood University | Scranton | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Erie - Behrend College | Erie | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Robert Morris University | Moon Township | Private not-for-profit | 11 | 1 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Elizabethtown College | Elizabethtown | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Westmoreland County Community College | Youngwood | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Peirce College | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| DeSales University | Center Valley | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Immaculata University | Immaculata | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Keystone College | La Plume | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus | University Park | Public | 1 | 1 |
What credit counselors earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $52,230. Pennsylvania pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Credit Counselors page.
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
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
Common questions
Answers for people weighing credit counselors programs in Pennsylvania.
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 3,512 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 99.8% 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 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services. Together they graduate about 3,520 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do credit counselors earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $58,330 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.7% above the U.S. median of $52,230. 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 in Pennsylvania?+
13 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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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