Affordable online human services bachelor’s degrees (2026)

Human services, social work or counseling: which fits?

A human services bachelor’s prepares you for direct support, case coordination, advocacy and community work, such as case manager, family services coordinator or outreach worker. It is not a social work or counseling degree and does not by itself qualify you for a license.

• Social work: license categories and exam approval are set by each licensing board. ASWB describes a social-work degree, application or exam preapproval, and the appropriate exam as the usual steps. Clinical or independent practice also requires supervision. CSWE recognizes comparable international social-work degrees, so check your board’s education and equivalency rules rather than assume a human-services degree qualifies.
• Counseling: licensed professional counseling generally requires a master’s degree (CACREP).
• What to do: if you want licensed clinical practice, plan for graduate study and check the licensing board in the state where you intend to work before choosing a bachelor’s program. If you want case management, advocacy or program work, a human services degree can take you there. Cumberlands draws the same line: human services and social work are related but distinct, and social work “often requires a more specialized focus and licensure” (Cumberlands).

Program accreditation is a separate signal. The Council for Standards in Human Services Education is the national accrediting body for human services degree programs, and some employers and graduate schools look for it (CSHSE). Its current list names North Georgia, Maine at Augusta and Alaska Anchorage, all described below. None of the nine programs priced in the table appears on it as of October 13, 2026 (CSHSE list).

How much will an online human services bachelor’s cost?

The nine programs in the table are a selection, not a national ranking. Most of these schools do not publish a complete fee list, so no total is shown. The estimate uses each school’s published per-credit rate in the unit it is quoted in (semester credits for most programs, quarter credits for Purdue Global and Walden) and the accepted credits you enter. It cannot confirm admission or whether a required placement is available where you live.

How the programs compare

• Cumberlands: an online rate of $220 per credit that bundles digital textbooks and technology. The rate has no current-year label.
• Metro State: $322 per credit (2026–27) plus $42.30 per credit in standard course fees. It requires a 160-hour community-agency practicum.
• SNHU: $354 per credit (2026–27) plus a $100 graduation conferral fee. It ends in a capstone.
• CSU Global: $385 per credit (2026–27) with $0 student fees, plus a $25 application fee unless waived. It ends in a capstone. Books are separate.
• Ohio: $349 for Ohio residents and $359 for nonresidents per credit (2026–27), including the general fee. Two small per-credit fees are capped, and the degree includes a two-credit internship course.
• UNI: $377 per credit (2026–27), plus $48 per course and $115 at graduation. Full-time billing is capped, and some sections and internships carry surcharges, so get a course plan.
• Purdue Global: $371 per quarter credit, or $280 for Indiana residents, for 180 quarter credits. A term resource fee has exceptions that depend on your enrollment.
• Walden: $360 per quarter credit, effective February 23, 2026, for 181 quarter credits. The $185 quarterly program fee grows with the number of quarters you enroll.

Other ways schools charge

These are outside the table because of pricing or delivery conditions. Compare them by entry route, course load and how the school bills tuition.

• Columbia College: $430 per credit online for 2026–27, with educational fees and books included. Its Human Services catalog entry is archived for 2025–26, so check the current degree plan and online pathway in the 2026–27 catalog before estimating a whole-degree cost.
• BYU-Pathway: the tuition estimator, with United States and completed PathwayConnect selected, lists $89 per credit and $7,298 for 82 charged credits. That is a published example for church members; non-members pay 25% more. Billable credits, free religion credits, membership and entry pathway are separate conditions, so ordinary transfer credits are not subtracted from that example.
• Liberty: $410 per credit full-time and $475 part-time, plus a semester technology fee. Ask which enrollment load applies to your course plan.
• SUNY Empire: the schedule switches from per-credit to term billing at full-time enrollment and adds capped and term fees. You need a complete plan to estimate a bill.
• Maine at Augusta: a 121-credit Mental Health and Human Services BS with fieldwork. Confirm a complete online course path and applicable fees before using its tuition schedule as an estimate.
• North Georgia: includes substantial field practice. A cost-of-attendance budget is not the school’s billing schedule.
• Rasmussen: the current catalog lists $274 per credit part-time and $234 full-time for human services, with a $200 fee per faculty-led course. Your course load picks the rate, and the number of courses you still need sets the total.

Placements and entry pathways

Online coursework and field placements are separate requirements. A fully online program can still expect you to complete hours at a local agency.

• Cumberlands: practical experiences may require in-person attendance. Students who do not meet its placement guidelines, including academic performance and staff recommendations, take a professionalism course instead of the internship.
• Practicum or fieldwork hours: Metro State, 160 practicum hours at a community-based agency; North Georgia, 450 hours across three semesters; National Louis, 300 fieldwork hours; Belmont Abbey, at least 135 hours, or 360 in the addictions concentration; Maine at Augusta, a nine-credit field placement.
• Internships: Ohio’s BAS includes a two-credit internship course, and UNI includes an internship.
• Capstone instead of a placement: CSU Global and Walden.
• Everyone else: not every program page says, so confirm in writing whether a placement is required, where students in your area are placed and who finds the site.

Entry pathways also differ. Some programs are full degrees open to first-year students; others assume prior college work.

• Indiana Wesleyan: a 45-credit online core at $405 per credit that requires at least 60 transferable credits before entry. Prerequisite and elective courses cost extra. Up to 75% of undergraduate requirements and 50% of major coursework may transfer, subject to evaluation (IWU).
• Lees-McRae: a 60-credit bachelor’s built on associate-level coursework.
• Gardner-Webb: an online completion of 39 credit hours.
• Ohio: invites previously earned credits and admits transfer applicants with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. It says graduates are prepared to enter graduate programs in counseling, social work and psychology (Ohio), which helps if you expect a licensure-track master’s later.

More schools to consider

These schools are not in the table because a per-credit price cannot describe them, or because of the program type or attendance. For each, the reason comes from its official program or tuition page.

• Great Basin College: rates are tiered by course level.
• FSCJ: rates are tiered by course level.
• UW Oshkosh: rates are tiered by course level.
• Alaska Anchorage: rates are tiered by course level. The program is on the CSHSE accredited list.
• Indiana Wesleyan, Lees-McRae, Gardner-Webb: published prices cover only the completion portion (see entry pathways above).
• National Louis: full-time students are billed per term rather than per credit, and published prices cover only a completion portion.
• Clayton State and Bluefield: psychology degrees with a human services element, not human services degrees.
• Clark College: requires weekly campus attendance, so it is not an online program.

Questions to ask before you apply

• Transfer credits: ask for a written transfer-credit evaluation against this specific degree, and ask how many credits you must earn there. Published transfer ceilings are maxima, and several of these programs are built around prior college work.
• License: if your target role needs one, this degree is probably a step toward graduate study rather than the qualification itself.
• Cost: confirm the rate for the terms and course mix you will take, and every mandatory fee attached to those courses. The estimate labels semester and quarter units and does not convert credits between them. Residency prices apply only where the school’s own rule covers you.
• Placement: confirm where you will complete required hours.

See our methodology for how the estimate is built and our FAFSA guide for aid applications.