Best Mental Health programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
Assess and treat individuals with mental, emotional, or substance abuse problems, including abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drugs.
14 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,299 people a year. The job pays a median of $64,240 in Virginia across about 3,670 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 44.0701In Virginia → | 1,299 | 100.0% | 14 | $37,264 | $26,140 |
Top 14 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 452 | Social Work | $34,088 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 2 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 317 | Social Work | $38,828 | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 3 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 165 | Social Work | $38,559 | 68% | — | 87% |
| 4 | Norfolk State University Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 99 | Social Work | — | 38% | — | 88% |
| 5 | Radford University Radford, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Social Work | $38,272 | 49% | — | 90% |
| 6 | Virginia State University Petersburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Social Work | $28,527 | 39% | — | 89% |
| 7 | James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Social Work | $31,687 | 80% | — | 72% |
| 8 | Mary Baldwin University Staunton, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Social Work | $37,537 | 39% | $18,500 | — |
| 9 | Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Social Work | — | 72% | — | 86% |
| 10 | Longwood University Farmville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Social Work | $41,160 | 61% | — | 90% |
| 11 | Virginia Union University Richmond, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Social Work | — | 34% | $21,249 | 98% |
| 12 | Eastern Mennonite University Harrisonburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Social Work | — | 67% | $21,933 | 100% |
| 13 | Virginia Wesleyan University Virginia Beach, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Social Work | — | 42% | $20,171 | 73% |
| 14 | Ferrum College Ferrum, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Social Work | — | 32% | $22,258 | 89% |
All 14 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond | Public | 452 | 1 |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 317 | 1 |
| George Mason University | Fairfax | Public | 165 | 1 |
| Norfolk State University | Norfolk | Public | 99 | 1 |
| Radford University | Radford | Public | 82 | 1 |
| Virginia State University | Petersburg | Public | 45 | 1 |
| James Madison University | Harrisonburg | Public | 44 | 1 |
| Mary Baldwin University | Staunton | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Christopher Newport University | Newport News | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Longwood University | Farmville | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Virginia Union University | Richmond | Private not-for-profit | 15 | 1 |
| Eastern Mennonite University | Harrisonburg | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Virginia Wesleyan University | Virginia Beach | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 1 |
| Ferrum College | Ferrum | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What mental health and substance abuse social workers earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $60,280. Virginia pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Virginia
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 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers page.
How to become a Mental Health
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 Virginia
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 44.0701Social Work
- 44.0799Social Work, Other
- 51.1503Clinical/Medical Social Work
Common questions
Answers for people weighing mental health and substance abuse social workers programs in Virginia.
What degree do you need to become a Mental Health?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Social Work, which awarded 1,299 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Mental Health?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Social Work. Together they graduate about 1,299 people a year in Virginia.
How much do mental health and substance abuse social workers earn in Virginia?+
The median is $64,240 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.6% above the U.S. median of $60,280. 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers growing?+
BLS projects a +9.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 13,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Virginia?+
14 institutions in Virginia reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Therapist, Case Manager, Social Worker, Mental Health Therapist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 21-1023.
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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