Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy Online

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Credit Hours

100% online, 8-week courses

Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total

Next Start Dates: January 19, 2026 | February 16, 2026 | March 23, 2026

Help Build Stronger Families with a Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy

Families are the backbone of society. They are the smallest social units, yet familial relationships are critical to mental health from the individual to the global level. As someone who has worked in or studied mental health, you probably understand how important these relationships are.

Are you eager to help couples and families work through their problems and find healing? If so, conferring Liberty University’s Doctor of Education (EdD) in Community Care and Counseling – Marriage and Family Counseling may be for you. This program is an advanced, terminal degree designed to help you learn how to counsel families. Whether you are a licensed counselor, marriage and family therapist (MFT), or ministry associate looking for further training, an EdD or PhD in marriage and family therapy online can help.

Please note: This EdD degree is not designed to meet state counseling licensure requirements. If you are interested in a state counseling license, please see our Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy, or Master of Education in School Counseling.

Backed by a brick-and-mortar campus ranked as Niche.com’s #2 Best College Campus in America for 2026

Private Nonprofit University
600+ Online Degrees
No Standardized Testing for Admission
Transfer in up to 75% of an Undergrad Degree
Transfer in up to 50% of a Grad/Doctoral Degree

Top 10 Reasons to Choose Liberty

Why Choose Liberty University’s EdD in Community Care and Counseling – Marriage and Family Therapy Doctorate?

With a marriage and family therapy program, you can gain ethical, evidence-based knowledge. As a Christian university, we prioritize biblical principles to help you become a leader of integrity. You can learn to effectively minister to people in a complex, diverse society.

Here are some of the benefits of earning Liberty University’s MFT online doctorate:

Current state licensure in clinical counseling is not required to pursue this degree. Our program is designed to advance your skills and knowledge, whether or not you are in a licensed clinical counseling role.
Our online EdD in marriage and family counseling is a practice-focused degree that emphasizes solving real-world problems with advanced research.
The integrated dissertation process allows you to work on this part of your education while completing other coursework. You can receive a clear, step-by-step path to finishing your doctoral studies in 57 credit hours.
This EdD program contains content that can potentially apply towards numerous marriage and family counseling certifications, including Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts (SYMBIS) and Prepare and Enrich (PE).

What Will You Study in a Marriage and Family EdD in Counseling?

Throughout this program, our professors provide a robust foundation in research while preparing for the integrated dissertation project. You will study counseling topics such as applied counseling theories and teaching and learning techniques. You can learn how to apply your new skills to advanced counseling theories and real-world human services problems.

The EdD in marriage and family therapy focuses on specialized assessment tools and methods to help your clients develop better relationships and build stronger families. This degree may help you advance your counseling skills and apply theories to specific issues for married couples, families, and the counseling field in general.

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Tuition & Aid

At Liberty University, a private Christian education is less expensive than you think. Over the last 10 years, Liberty University’s Online Program has only raised its standard tuition costs by less than 5% – and most of our online tuition rates rank in the top 35% for affordability for 2025 when compared to our leading online competitors.

EdS and EdD Full Time	$610/Credit
EdS and EdD Part Time	$675/Credit
Military EdS and EdD	$375/Credit

These rates are reflective of academic year 2025-2026. Tuition rates may change annually. For the current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.

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Admission Requirements for Our EdD in Community Care and Counseling

Admission Requirements

Apply online or over the phone with an admissions counselor by calling (800) 424-9596.
- A non-refundable, non-transferable $50 application fee will be posted on the current application upon enrollment (waived for qualifying service members, veterans, and military spouses – documentation verifying military status is required).
Send official college transcripts (mailed as sealed, unopened copies or sent via a direct electronic transcript system). A regionally or nationally accredited master’s degree with at least a 3.0 GPA is required for admission in good standing.
Applicants lacking a graduate-level statistics course will be required to complete MMFT 515 Research Methods and Evidence Based Practice in MFT (3 credit hours), or EDUC 518 Educational Research and Assessment (3 credit hours), or its equivalent prior to EDCO 735 in the EdD
Applicants whose native language is other than English must submit official scores for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an approved alternative assessment. For information on alternative assessments or TOEFL waivers, please call Admissions or view the official International Admissions policy.

The Office of Graduate Admissions may request additional documentation while conducting admission reviews to evaluate a candidate’s record before a final admission decision can be made.

Preliminary Acceptance

If you are sending in a preliminary transcript for acceptance, you must:

Be in your final term and planning to start your doctoral degree after the last day of class for your master’s degree.
Complete a Master’s Self-Certification Form confirming your completion date. You may download the form from the Forms and Downloads page or contact an admissions counselor to submit the form on your behalf.
Submit an official transcript to confirm that you are in your final term. The preliminary transcript must show that you are within 6 credit hours of completion for a 30-48 credit hour master’s degree or within 9 credit hours of completion for a 49+ credit hour master’s degree.
Send in an additional, final official transcript with a conferral date on it by the end of your first semester of enrollment in the new doctoral degree.

Transcript Policies

Official College Transcript Policy

An acceptable official college transcript is one that has been issued directly from the institution and is in a sealed envelope. If you have one in your possession, it must meet the same requirements. If your previous institution offers electronic official transcript processing, they can send the document directly to luoverify@liberty.edu.

Admissions Office Contact Information

Submit your application online or over the phone.

Start Online Application

Apply by phone: (800) 424-9595

Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe.

Who May Qualify?

Active Duty
Reserve/National Guard
Veterans/Retirees
Spouses of Service Members and Veterans/Retirees
Current Department of Defense Employees

Available Benefits:

Tuition discounts – $375 per credit hour for EdS and EdD courses
8-week courses, 8 different start dates each year, and no set login times (may exclude certain courses such as practicums, internships, or field experiences)

These rates are reflective of academic year 2025-2026. Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.

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*Some restrictions may occur for this promotion to apply. This promotion also excludes active faculty and staff, military, non-degree-seeking, DGIA, Continuing Education, WSB, and certificate students.

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EdD in Community Care & Counseling: Marriage & Family Transform Families and Communities

Help Build Stronger Families with a Doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy

What Sets Us Apart?

Why Choose Liberty University’s EdD in Community Care and Counseling – Marriage and Family Therapy Doctorate?

What Will You Study in a Marriage and Family EdD in Counseling?

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Admission Requirements for Our EdD in Community Care and Counseling

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