2 accredited MFT programs sit in Minnesota at master's level, and every one of them is ranked below. Each carries a score out of 100 built from published results, from whether those results were published at all, and from the standing of its accreditation.
Every accredited master's MFT program in Minnesota, ranked
All 2 of Minnesota’s accredited master's MFT programs carry a score out of 100. Two have a full published record behind their outcomes component.
- #1
Capella University (MS)
Minneapolis, MN
88.4
program score
OnlineMaster's4 yearsAccredited since May 1, 20137 scored cohortsWhat Capella University publishes about its graduates, against the median for comparable programs - Finish on time73.2%typical is 77.8%
- Working in the field97.9%typical is 98.3%
- Reached licensure76.4%typical is 71.1%
From 7 completed cohorts the program published itself. The mark on each bar is the median for comparable programs.
Where it leads in Minnesota
Few states carry this work the way Minnesota does, at 9.9 times the typical state's rate per head and a median of $72,470. Ten per cent earn under $54,430 and ten per cent over $99,920, a spread driven more by whether you are salaried or in practice than by years served.
What to know about it
Capella University has held accreditation on this degree since 2013. The direction of travel is good: earlier cohorts graduated 66% on time, later ones 79.3%. Finishing is the hard part here rather than getting hired: 73.2% graduate on time, and 97.9% of those who do find relevant work. Budget for travel regardless of format, because it requires on-campus residencies. Expect scheduled time on campus whatever the delivery mode suggests. Six or more completed cohorts is enough history to trust the pattern rather than the latest year.
Why it sits here Scored 88.4 of 100, with 49.5 of 60 from a record covering 7 completed cohorts and 3340 students.
Cohort by cohort
Cohort Admitted Graduated Placed Licensed 2024-2025 487 – – – 2023-2024 469 – – – 2022-2023 420 – – – 2021-2022 372 85% 100% 75% 2020-2021 386 74% 96% 75% 2019-2020 178 79% 91% 76% Score breakdown
- Outcomes 49.5/6082.5 across 7 completed cohorts
- Transparency 25/25publishes 7 completed cohorts at the address COAMFTE lists
- Standing 13.9/15accredited without conditions, current term runs to 2032-05
3340 students admitted since 2015
- #2
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (MA)
Minneapolis, MN
87.1
program score
Campus-basedMaster's2.3 years7 scored cohortsWhat Saint Mary's University of Minnesota publishes about its graduates, against the median for comparable programs - Finish on time82.4%typical is 77.8%
- Working in the field98.7%typical is 98.3%
- Reached licensure65.8%typical is 71.1%
From 7 completed cohorts the program published itself. The mark on each bar is the median for comparable programs.
Where it leads in Minnesota
Minnesota is one of the few states where this license is genuinely concentrated, carrying 9.9 times the jobs per head of the typical state, at a median of $72,470. The range behind that runs from about $54,430 to $99,920, and where you land in it is mostly a question of setting rather than of seniority.
What to know about it
The program teaches this one in Minneapolis, MN over 2.3 years. Direction of travel is the worry, falling from 90.4% in the earlier cohorts to 70.7% in the later ones. Finishing is the hard part here rather than getting hired: 82.4% graduate on time, and 98.7% of those who do find relevant work. Coursework named on its own page covers play therapy. Applicants are told the GRE is not required. A concentration in substance use and addiction sits alongside the core degree. Disclosure runs deeper than most, 7 cohorts complete out of 10 published. Its licensure rate, 65.8% against 71.1% across the field, is the number to put to the program directly.
Why it sits here Scored 87.1 of 100, with 50.9 of 60 from a record covering 7 completed cohorts and 470 students.
Cohort by cohort
Cohort Admitted Graduated Placed Licensed 2024-2025 36 in process in process in process 2023-2024 39 in process in process in process 2022-2023 44 in process in process in process 2021-2022 51 61.4% 90.8% 8.2% 2020-2021 43 64.2% 100% 45% 2019-2020 51 86.5% 100% 61.1% Saint Mary's University of Minnesota program page Its published outcome table
Score breakdown
- Outcomes 50.9/6084.8 across 7 completed cohorts
- Transparency 25/25publishes 7 completed cohorts at the address COAMFTE lists
- Standing 11.3/15accredited without conditions, current term ran to 2025-11 and is due for review
470 students admitted since 2015
How is this ranking of Minnesota MFT programs ordered?
This ranking of Minnesota MFT programs is ordered on published results, and every accredited master's program in the state publishes them, which is not true of most states, so every score below carries its outcomes component in full. The score is out of 100: 60 points for published results, 25 for whether the disclosure COAMFTE requires is actually there and reachable, and 15 for accreditation status and how long the current term runs.
The distinction matters: a program scoring low for publishing nothing has not been judged on its teaching, because there is nothing to judge it on. No figure is estimated in its place. What has been marked is a disclosure obligation that comes with the accreditation, and the card says as much.
For the full scoring model, including what it refuses to measure, see the methodology.
What do marriage and family therapists earn in Minnesota?
Marriage and family therapists in Minnesota earn a median of $72,470, against $66,940 nationally, on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for May 2025. That is $5,530 above the national figure , and 9th highest of the 45 states that publish one. The range runs from about $54,430 at the tenth percentile to $99,920 at the ninetieth.
The state employs 4,870 of them, which is 3.85 times the national rate per head of population. At that size the state's wage figures describe a real labor market rather than a few unusual employers. The full state-by-state and setting-by-setting breakdown is on the salary page.
How do you get licensed as an MFT in Minnesota?
To get licensed as an MFT in Minnesota you need a qualifying master's degree, which two accredited programs in the state can supply. The hour counts, coursework rules and examination requirements that follow are the Minnesota board's to set and to change, and this page does not reprint them, because a stale figure copied from a directory is worse than no figure at all.
What accreditation buys is a shorter conversation with the state board, which is why all two master's MFT programs listed here are accredited and no unaccredited one appears. Qualifying here also means qualifying into an unusually dense market: Minnesota carries 3.85 times the national rate of these jobs per head, so staying after graduation is a more realistic plan than it is in most states.
The Minnesota state board is worth contacting before you apply, not after. Its answers on supervised hours and on out-of-state experience are the ones that bind, and they occasionally differ from what accredited programs tell prospective students.
Both halves of that are covered elsewhere: the route on the career page, the scoring on the methodology page.
MFT programs in Minnesota by city
One city in Minnesota has a page of its own, covering the programs based there and what the license pays in that metropolitan area. Programs in the rest of the state are on this page and nowhere else.
Where else can you study if Minnesota does not have what you want?
If Minnesota does not have what you want, you are in ordinary company, because a shortlist built only from this state would have two names on it.
The nearest alternatives with accredited master's MFT programs are Illinois (five), Indiana (four), Iowa (one). 17 states have no accredited programs at this level at all, which is the gap the accredited distance programs exist to fill.
The online and hybrid master's ranking covers what you can study from Minnesota without moving.
Every scored program at this level, 59 of them, sits on the national ranking.
Cities near Minnesota with their own page
These sit elsewhere in the midwest, and each has a page covering the programs based there and what the job pays in that metropolitan area rather than statewide.
Common questions about MFT programs in Minnesota
How many accredited master's MFT programs are in Minnesota?
Can you get licensed as an MFT in Minnesota with an online degree?
What do marriage and family therapists earn in Minnesota?
Should you study in Minnesota or move for a program?
Where do these figures come from?
The figures here come from the record each fact belongs to. What is accredited is the accreditor's to state, what a program achieved is that program's to publish, and what the work pays is the federal survey's to measure.
- COAMFTE Directory of Accredited Programs Accredited programs in Minnesota, their level, city and status. Read 2026-08-21.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 release, SOC 21-1013, all Minnesota postholders.
- Ranking methodology The three factors, their weights, and the eligibility floor.
Show all 2 program pages cited
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota (MA) Capella University (MS)