The Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School welcomed its online student cohort to its Center City, Minnesota, campus last week.
The school, which admitted its first students in 1999, offers a master’s in addiction counseling and calls itself the longest continuous, accredited provider of substance use counselor training in the U.S. Its parent organization, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, offers mental health and addiction treatment services at locations in nine states as well as virtually.
“It’s just a magical week, they love meeting their classmates and they love meeting their professors,” Kevin Doyle, president and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview.
On average, about 200 students enroll in its programs, which range from in-person to online. To date, it has educated students from 47 states and 44 countries, though about a third of its students are from its home state of Minnesota. The school requires its online students to come to its campus several times a year for instruction and interactive learning.
There were 35 graduates from the online program in 2024. The school boasts a perfect pass rate on credentialing exams from 2019 through 2023, as well as a high job placement rate six months post-graduation (89%) for the same period.
A small portion of students—15%—opt for the grad school’s in-person program. The online program, which launched about a decade ago, has grown rapidly since then. “We were well-positioned to withstand [COVID-19],” Doyle noted.
The average student in the program is 44 years old. They might be in recovery themselves, a parent or working full-time already. "Our students really want and need that flexibility,” Doyle said of online learning. Also part of the program are career changers, including lawyers, priests and physicians. Some even used to be patients at Hazelden Betty Ford, a pathway Doyle celebrates.
The school offers a summer semester for maximum flexibility for students. It also has a newer Alternative Admissions Pathway program to allow people without a bachelor’s degree to apply. Central to these applications is a person’s work experience, per Doyle. They may be a tech in the field, have a military background or have an associate’s degree. About 50 students participate in this program. The school’s website notes some states may still require a bachelor’s degree to be licensed.
The alternative admissions pathway is important, Doyle stressed. There are plenty of students who are qualified and end up wonderful counselors. Though some other schools also offer a similar option, Doyle said, “they don’t really publicize it.”
“The traditional disciplined bachelor’s degree should not be the only pathway to a master’s level program,” Doyle noted. “All of our analyses show that those students do just as well as those with bachelor’s degrees.”
The school offers tuition discounts to partners such as provider organizations or professional associations. Hazelden Betty Ford employees also get tuition reimbursement benefits. The school offers scholarships and participates in federal financial aid.
“It’s not cheap to do a graduate program, so we’re always trying to find ways to make this more accessible,” Doyle said.
In 2024, there were 18 addiction counseling programs in the country accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP). That number has steadily grown since 2020, though addiction counseling remains among the least popular specialties in counseling. By contrast, there were 400 clinical mental health counseling and 273 school counseling programs accredited by CACREP in 2024. These two specialties also see the highest enrollment figures, per CACREP data.
None of the other addiction counseling programs, Doyle says, have a treatment affiliate like Hazelden Betty Ford. But the school does not see its mission as pushing students to employment with the treatment organization after graduation.
“Ultimately, that’s really up to the student. We certainly don’t pressure them or try to make them become a Hazelden Betty Ford employee,” Doyle said. The Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School has a strong network of community partners to offer internship placements for students, where most of the hands-on learning happens.