2025 Best Pastoral Studies/Counseling Associate Degree Schools

an associate degree in pastoral studies/counseling is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #380 out of 1020 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Pastoral Studies/Counseling Associate Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 42 associate degrees in pastoral studies/counseling during the <nil> academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on pastoral studies/counseling students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other pastoral studies/counseling students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized pastoral studies/counseling related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for pastoral studies/counseling students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Pastoral Studies/Counseling Associate Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Pastoral Studies/Counseling in the United States

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in pastoral studies/counseling.

Top Schools for an Associate in Pastoral Studies/Counseling

1

Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global
Marion, IN

Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type

20 Annual Graduates

Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in pastoral studies/counseling. Located in the rural area of Marion, IWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in pastoral studies/counseling from Indiana Wesleyan University - National & Global

2

Valor Christian College
Canal Winchester, OH

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

18 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in pastoral studies/counseling has to check out Valor Christian College. Valor Christian College is a fairly small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Canal Winchester.More information about a associate in pastoral studies/counseling from Valor Christian College

Pastoral Studies/Counseling by Region

View the Best Pastoral Studies/Counseling Associate Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Rankings in Majors Related to Pastoral Studies/Counseling

One of 6 majors within the Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries area of study, Pastoral Studies/Counseling has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Pastoral Studies/Counseling

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Lay Ministry	58
Other Pastoral Counseling & Specialized Ministries	33
Youth Ministry	4
Urban Ministry	3
Chaplain/Chaplaincy Studies	2
Women’s Ministry	1

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.