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A detailed look at SLU's COAMFTE-accredited MA and PhD in medical family therapy—costs, curriculum, clinical training, and career outcomes.
Saint Louis University is one of a small number of COAMFTE-accredited MFT programs in the country housed within a School of Medicine, giving its graduates direct exposure to integrated behavioral health settings that most standalone counseling departments cannot replicate. SLU offers two on-campus degree tracks in St. Louis, Missouri: a Master of Arts in Couple and Family Therapy and a Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy, commonly known as an MFT doctoral degree.
That medical integration comes at private-university pricing, and the program runs exclusively in person, which narrows the candidate pool to those who can relocate or already live in the St. Louis metro. For prospective students weighing SLU against lower-cost public alternatives or more flexible online MFT degrees, the core question is whether the medical family therapy specialization and COAMFTE credential justify the investment.
Saint Louis University offers two COAMFTE-accredited MFT degrees on its St. Louis, Missouri campus: a Master of Arts in Couple and Family Therapy and a Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy. Both programs prepare clinicians for licensure, with the doctoral track uniquely suited to those drawn to healthcare-integrated therapy and medical settings.
Saint Louis University's MFT program is a strong choice for aspiring therapists who want clinically rigorous, medically integrated training, but it is not the right fit for everyone. Here is an honest breakdown of what makes SLU stand out and where it falls short.
SLU holds COAMFTE accreditation for its M.A. in Couple and Family Therapy and its Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy.1 That dual-level accreditation is significant. COAMFTE is the gold standard for MFT education, and graduating from an accredited program streamlines your path to licensure in virtually every U.S. state and Canadian province. You will not need to petition licensing boards for course-by-course equivalency reviews, and your clinical training hours carry full weight when you apply for the LMFT credential. For students who may relocate after graduation, this portability alone is a major asset.
The ideal SLU MFT student is drawn to the intersection of family therapy and healthcare. Both programs are housed within the Department of Family and Community Medicine inside SLU's School of Medicine, a placement that shapes every aspect of the curriculum, practicum network, and faculty expertise. If you want to work alongside physicians, in primary care clinics, or in hospital-based behavioral health settings, SLU's ecosystem is purpose-built for that trajectory.
No program is perfect, and SLU has trade-offs worth weighing carefully.
SLU may not be your best path if cost is your primary decision driver, if you need an online or hybrid format, or if your clinical interests lean toward specializations outside the medical family therapy lens, such as sex therapy, play therapy, or community-based advocacy models. In those cases, exploring COAMFTE-accredited programs at public universities or institutions with distance-learning options will likely serve you better. For example, the Kansas State University MFT program offers a public-university cost structure worth comparing.
Tuition at a private Jesuit university like Saint Louis University represents a significant investment, and understanding the full cost picture is essential before you commit to a master's or doctoral MFT program. Because SLU updates its tuition schedule each academic year, the figures below are meant to help you frame your budget rather than serve as a final quote.
SLU's graduate tuition for the MFT programs is set through the School of Medicine, where the Department of Family and Community Medicine houses both the MA in Couple and Family Therapy and the PhD in Medical Family Therapy. The university publishes per-credit-hour rates on two key resources:
Because tuition can shift by several percentage points from one year to the next, always confirm the current rate for the upcoming academic year directly through these sources before finalizing your financial plan.
The MA program typically requires roughly 50 to 60 credits, while the doctoral track adds coursework, dissertation hours, and additional supervised clinical requirements that push the total credit load considerably higher. Students exploring MFT doctoral programs should note that multi-year PhD timelines amplify the cost gap between private and public institutions. At a private-university rate in the range commonly charged by SLU's graduate programs, a master's student should budget somewhere in the ballpark of $55,000 to $75,000 in tuition alone, with the PhD costing substantially more over its longer timeline. Keep in mind that these estimates do not include university fees, course materials, liability insurance for clinical placements, or living expenses in the St. Louis metro area.
SLU's Financial Aid Office administers federal loans, work-study, and merit-based awards for graduate students. Beyond those standard channels, the Department of Family and Community Medicine may offer graduate assistantships or research positions, particularly for doctoral students, that include a tuition stipend or a modest living allowance. These opportunities are not always listed publicly, so reaching out to the department's program coordinator directly is the most reliable way to learn what is available for a given admission cycle.
Outside the university, professional organizations such as the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy maintain scholarship directories aimed specifically at MFT students. Applying to multiple external awards can meaningfully offset private-university tuition.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a national median annual wage for marriage and family therapists that, as of recent data, sits in the mid-$50,000 range, with higher earnings common in medical settings, private practice, and states with strong demand. SLU's medical family therapy emphasis positions graduates for roles in integrated healthcare, a sector that often commands salaries above the national MFT median. Still, the math matters: if you can secure assistantship funding or employer tuition reimbursement, a private-university MFT degree becomes far easier to justify on a therapist's salary. Without financial aid, compare SLU's total cost against cheapest MFT programs at public institutions, where tuition may be half as much, and weigh whether SLU's specialized curriculum and clinical network tip the balance in your favor.
For a personalized cost estimate, use SLU's online net price calculator and request a financial aid projection before you submit your application.
The MA in Couple and Family Therapy and the PhD in Medical Family Therapy differ substantially in both credit requirements and sticker price. PhD students, however, typically offset a larger share of their total cost through graduate assistantships, tuition remission, and stipends, making the net out-of-pocket expense closer than the raw figures suggest.
SLU's COAMFTE-accredited MFT programs are built on a curriculum that meets national accreditation standards while carving out a distinctive niche in medical family therapy. Whether you pursue the 60-credit M.A. in Couple and Family Therapy or the Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy, expect rigorous coursework paired with intensive, supervised clinical training that prepares you for licensure and real-world practice.1
The master's curriculum covers the foundational knowledge areas required by COAMFTE, including:
Students also complete 18 prerequisite credits that build the academic foundation needed before advancing into clinical work.2
What sets SLU apart from most MFT programs is its explicit focus on medical family therapy training requirements. This concentration trains students to work at the intersection of mental health and physical health care.2 Coursework addresses integrated behavioral health, collaboration with physicians and interdisciplinary medical teams, and the psychosocial dimensions of chronic illness and health-system settings. Rather than learning therapy in isolation, students develop the skills to function within hospitals, primary care clinics, and specialty medical environments, a model that is increasingly in demand as health systems adopt collaborative care.
Clinical training is substantial. The M.A. program requires a minimum of 500 direct client contact hours, including at least 100 relational hours (working with couples or families together) and at least 50 telehealth hours.2 Students complete 6 practicum credits, 7 internship credits, and 1 externship credit across their training.1 For a closer look at what this stage of training involves, see our guide on what to expect in an MFT clinical internship.
Supervision follows a systemic model that incorporates live supervision and video review, giving students immediate, actionable feedback on their clinical work.3 This approach moves well beyond the "talk about your cases after the fact" model common at many programs. Training sites include SLU-affiliated hospitals, community mental health centers, and placements serving specialty populations such as pediatric patients, individuals managing chronic illness, and those affected by trauma.
The Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy, designed as a roughly four-year program, layers additional scholarly and pedagogical training onto the clinical core.4 Doctoral students complete advanced research methods coursework, a dissertation contributing original knowledge to the field, and a teaching practicum that prepares them for faculty roles. The doctoral track is ideal for students who want to shape the profession through research, training, or leadership in academic medical settings, not just practice within it.
Taken together, the curriculum at SLU is designed to produce therapists who are clinically sharp, research-literate, and uniquely equipped to practice in health care environments where MFTs are increasingly valued.
Both the MA in Couple and Family Therapy and the PhD in Medical Family Therapy at Saint Louis University admit students for fall entry only, with a single review period each cycle.12 That means there is no rolling admissions window. Missing the deadline means waiting a full year, so planning ahead is essential.
SLU requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for both the master's and doctoral programs.1 The university does not publicize a policy of evaluating only the last 60 credits, so applicants should assume the full undergraduate (or graduate) transcript is under review.
For the MA program, applicants need at least 18 undergraduate credits in the social or behavioral sciences.1 If you majored in an unrelated field, you may need to complete additional coursework before applying. Contact the department directly to ask whether conditional admission is possible if you are a few credits short.
The PhD program requires a completed master's degree in marriage and family therapy or a closely related field.2 No additional prerequisite credit hours beyond that degree are specified.
This is one of the most common questions prospective students ask. For the MA in Couple and Family Therapy, SLU offers a GRE waiver, meaning you can apply without submitting GRE scores.1 For the PhD in Medical Family Therapy, a GRE waiver is not available, so you will need to take the exam and submit official scores.2 Confirm current testing requirements on SLU's admissions page before you begin your application, as policies can shift from year to year.
Both programs share a similar document checklist:
The application deadline for both programs is early January. For the most recent published cycle, the cutoff was January 3.1 Because SLU conducts one review period per year with no rolling consideration, treat this as a hard deadline rather than a suggested target.
After an initial file review, select applicants may be invited to a Zoom interview. Not every applicant receives an interview invitation, so a strong, complete application package is your best chance to move forward in the process. If you are invited, expect questions about your clinical interests, your understanding of systems-based therapy, and how SLU's specific strengths (such as medical family therapy at the doctoral level) align with your career goals.
If you are searching for an online path to an MFT degree at Saint Louis University, the short answer is that one does not exist. As of the 2025-2026 academic year, both the MA in Couple and Family Therapy and the PhD in Medical Family Therapy are delivered entirely on campus. There is no fully online or hybrid option available.
This is not unusual. COAMFTE accreditation standards place heavy emphasis on clinical competency, which is difficult to develop through a screen alone. Programs must provide:
These requirements make a fully online COAMFTE-accredited MFT program rare, though a small number do exist at other institutions. If remote delivery is a non-negotiable factor in your decision, exploring those alternatives is worthwhile before ruling out an on-campus commitment.
While the program is not online, SLU does build in some scheduling considerations common to professional graduate programs. Classes are typically offered on a structured cohort schedule, and practicum placements are coordinated across the greater St. Louis metro area to accommodate varying student schedules. The MA program follows a full-time format designed for completion in roughly two to three years, which limits part-time enrollment options. Students who need a shorter timeline altogether may want to explore accelerated MFT programs at other institutions. Prospective students who need evening-only or weekend-only coursework should contact the department directly to confirm whether any accommodations are available for their intended start term.
For readers who cannot relocate to St. Louis or attend classes in person, it is worth knowing that a handful of COAMFTE-accredited programs across the country do offer online or hybrid delivery. These programs still require in-person practicum hours, usually arranged in the student's home community, so "online" does not mean entirely remote. Our site can help you compare those options side by side. The key question is whether the clinical training model at a distance program meets the same rigor you would receive on campus at a school like SLU.
Graduating from a COAMFTE-accredited program positions you well for licensure, but the path from diploma to independent practice requires deliberate planning. Here is what to expect after completing your degree at Saint Louis University. For a broader overview of the full licensure journey, see our guide to becoming an MFT.
Missouri's pathway to full licensure as a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist (LMFT) follows a structured sequence:1
COAMFTE requires accredited programs to publicly report completion rates, licensure exam pass rates, and job placement rates. Check SLU's program page directly for the most current student achievement data, as these figures are updated on a regular cycle. If you cannot locate them online, the program's admissions office is obligated to share the information upon request.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data places the national median salary for marriage and family therapists in the range of roughly $58,000 to $62,000 per year in recent reporting periods. Missouri salaries tend to track slightly below the national median, reflecting the state's lower cost of living. For a detailed breakdown, consult our marriage and family therapist salary analysis. Graduates who leverage SLU's medical family therapy specialization may find opportunities in integrated healthcare settings, hospital systems, and behavioral health organizations where compensation can exceed the general MFT median due to the clinical complexity of the work and demand within interdisciplinary teams.
SLU's COAMFTE accreditation is a significant advantage if you plan to practice beyond Missouri's borders. Missouri offers licensure by endorsement, and most states treat COAMFTE-accredited degrees as meeting their educational standards without requiring course-by-course evaluation. Neighboring states like Illinois and Kansas each have their own supervised-hour and exam requirements, but holding a degree from an accredited program streamlines the credentialing process considerably. This portability matters if your career or family circumstances may lead you to relocate.
Connecting SLU's total program cost to early-career earnings requires honest math. A master's graduate entering the workforce at or near Missouri's median MFT salary will likely need several years to recoup tuition, especially if borrowing at graduate loan rates. That said, the medical family therapy lens SLU provides can open doors to roles in healthcare systems that pay above standard outpatient therapy positions. PhD holders gain access to even higher-earning career tracks, including academic faculty appointments, clinical supervision, program administration, and leadership within hospital or community health systems. If you are weighing cost against long-term trajectory, the doctoral route offers a broader ceiling, while the master's degree provides a faster entry into clinical practice with a more modest investment.
Completing your COAMFTE-accredited degree at Saint Louis University is a major milestone, but it is only the first stage on the road to independent clinical practice. Below is the typical pathway Missouri graduates follow to earn full LMFT licensure.
Choosing an MFT program is easier when you can benchmark it against national averages and competing program types. Below is a framework for evaluating SLU's Couple and Family Therapy MA and Medical Family Therapy PhD against broader trends.
As of 2021, roughly 121 institutions offered MFT programs across the United States, collectively enrolling over 192,500 students and graduating about 2,550. Of those schools, 39 were public and 82 were private. The national average tuition ran approximately $14,423 per year, with average fees adding another $1,161 annually. SLU sits in the private institution category, so its sticker price will generally exceed public program averages. However, private programs often offset that gap with merit scholarships, assistantships, and smaller cohort sizes that translate into more individualized clinical supervision.
Rather than relying on anecdotal rankings, use authoritative sources to make an apples-to-apples evaluation:
Program reputation matters most in your first few years of practice. To get a realistic read on how employers view SLU graduates, search LinkedIn for alumni job placements, review state licensing board surveys in Missouri, and browse professional forums for candid discussions about program reputation. Understanding the difference between LMFT and LCSW can also clarify how employers value the MFT credential relative to adjacent licenses. SLU's Jesuit brand carries weight in the Midwest healthcare corridor, and its Medical Family Therapy doctorate is one of only a handful of COAMFTE-accredited programs with that focus nationally, a differentiator that stands out to employers in integrated care settings.3 For a broader view of what career paths are available after graduation, the marriage and family therapist job outlook page offers useful context on demand and growth projections.
Choosing the right MFT program means matching your career goals, learning style, and budget to what a school actually delivers. Here is a straightforward verdict on whether Saint Louis University belongs on your shortlist.
Below are answers to the most common questions prospective students ask about the marriage and family therapy programs at Saint Louis University. Each response draws on the program details, costs, and licensure information covered earlier in this article.
