Phoenix City Guide
ABA Programs in Phoenix
Phoenix is a one-university market. Arizona State runs the metro's only BCBA-track programs, on the Tempe campus and through ASU Online. No Arizona institution holds ABAI accreditation, and the other options people are pointed toward — Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, the University of Arizona — do not survive checking for different reasons.
Key Takeaways
- 01Arizona State is the only university running BCBA-track coursework in the Phoenix metro. Its M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis is 46 credit hours, in person, on the Tempe campus.
- 02No Arizona institution is ABAI-accredited. ABAI's directory lists no accredited program anywhere in the state, so every Arizona route runs through BACB Pathway 2 coursework.
- 03Grand Canyon University does not have a BCBA-qualifying ABA master's. Its applied behavior analysis content sits inside a special education master's, which is a different degree — we could not verify a dedicated ABA or BCBA program on GCU's own site.
- 04The University of Arizona is in Tucson, about 115 miles away, and its ABA master's is 100% online with no residency. It is a distance option, not a Phoenix one.
- 05Because the local program list is short, the more useful Phoenix question is where the fieldwork and the jobs are — and the metro has considerably more of both than it has universities.
Most city guides pad this page out. Phoenix has one university running BCBA-track coursework, and pretending otherwise does a prospective student no favors, so this page leads with the employment and fieldwork picture instead of a program table with one real row in it.
Arizona State University runs an M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis: 46 credit hours, taught in person on the Tempe campus, full time over two years, with a curriculum designed to align with the BACB's current test content outline. ASU separately runs an online M.A. in Special Education with an applied behavior analysis concentration through ASU Online, which is a different degree with a different framing. Those two are the metro's options, and they come from the same institution.
Three things people are commonly pointed toward do not hold up. Grand Canyon University is in Phoenix, but we could not verify a dedicated BCBA-qualifying ABA master's on its own site — the ABA content we found sits inside a moderate-to-severe special education master's, which is not the same qualification. Northern Arizona University is in Flagstaff, 145 miles away. The University of Arizona is in Tucson and its ABA master's is fully online with no residency requirement, which makes it a distance option available from anywhere rather than a Phoenix program. And no Arizona institution appears in ABAI's accredited-programs directory at all.
Metro scope
Includes: Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria. The Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro, from Phoenix proper out through Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler and Gilbert. Tucson is roughly 115 miles south and Flagstaff roughly 145 miles north — both outside any reasonable commute, which is why programs there are treated as distance options rather than local ones.
The programs
The one university running ABA programs in Phoenix
1 programs
Arizona State University — M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
Tempe campus · Tempe, AZ · On campus in Tempe; Valley Metro Rail serves the campus from central Phoenix
- Tuition
- Via ASU's tuition estimator
- Length
- 2 years, full time
- Format
- In person, on the Tempe campus
- Accreditation
- Curriculum designed to align with the BACB's current test content outline. Not ABAI-accredited — no Arizona program is.
- Part-time
- Not offered; this is a full-time program
- 46 credit hours: 27 core, 5 electives and research, 9 other requirements, 5 culminating experience
- The only in-person BCBA-track master's in the Phoenix metro
- Practicum is completed across the Phoenix metropolitan area
- Taught in Tempe, which Valley Metro Rail reaches from central Phoenix
- Aligned to the BACB test content outline, but not ABAI-accredited
Cost of living
What studying ABA in Phoenix actually costs you
Phoenix is a moderate-cost metro by national standards, and the practical constraint on ABA students here is not rent — it is that the one in-person program is a full-time two-year commitment in Tempe. If you need to keep working, the realistic route is ASU's online M.A. or an online program from outside the state, and in that case where you live stops mattering.
The metro is also large and car-dependent in a way that affects fieldwork specifically. Valley Metro Rail runs a single spine through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa; placements in Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale and Peoria are a car proposition.
Housing, 2024
121.2
21.2% above the national average
Everything, 2024
103.3
3.3% above the national average
Metro median pay covers
$63,911
of national-average spending
Housing runs 21.2% above the national average, which is the single biggest reason the overall cost of living lands where it does.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Transit
Valley Metro Rail
One line through central Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa; serves the ASU campus
Car
Effectively required for fieldwork
Placements spread across a very large, low-density metro
Study commitment
Full time, two years
The in-person M.S. is not a working-professional route
Clinical fieldwork
Where Phoenix students do supervised fieldwork
This is the section that matters more in Phoenix than the program list does. ASU states that its M.S. students complete practicum across the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the metro supports that: Arizona has a long-standing state developmental-disabilities service system, several large school districts, and a private ABA market that has grown quickly.
Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities
Arizona funds developmental-disability services through the Division of Developmental Disabilities within the Department of Economic Security, which underwrites a large share of the state's ABA service delivery and therefore a large share of its fieldwork capacity.
Large metro school districts
The Phoenix metro is served by many separate districts rather than one county-wide system — Mesa Public Schools is among the largest in the state. Special education departments across these districts host school-based fieldwork.
Pediatric health systems
Phoenix Children's is the metro's major pediatric system and runs developmental and behavioral health services.
Private ABA agencies
Phoenix has a substantial private-agency market, both national chains and Arizona-based clinics. Wherever you land, confirm your supervisor has completed the BACB 8-hour supervision training before your hours begin — no program in this metro places you.
Hiring market
Who employs BCBAs across the Phoenix metro
Phoenix has far more BCBA employment than it has BCBA programs, which is the structural fact worth planning around: many people working as BCBAs here qualified elsewhere or online. The state disability system, the school districts and the pediatric hospital are the employers where Public Service Loan Forgiveness generally applies.
Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilities (DES)
State agency
Funds and administers developmental-disability services statewide, underwriting much of Arizona's ABA service delivery; PSLF-eligible public employment.
Phoenix Children's
Pediatric health system
The metro's major pediatric system, with developmental and behavioral health programs.
Mesa Public Schools
Public school district
One of Arizona's largest districts, with special education services across the East Valley.
Arizona State University
University
Runs the metro's only in-person BCBA-track master's, with associated clinical and research activity.
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the Phoenix metro
Metro median
$66,020
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$44,590
90th percentile
$95,270
BLS metro median, May 2025
$66,020
$6,670 above the national median
Cost of living, 2024
103.3
3.3% above the national average
Worth nationally
$63,911
the same pay in national-average dollars
Because prices run 3.3% above the national average, $66,020 here goes about as far as $63,911 would nationally.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $66,020, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metro. That is $6,670 above the national median of $59,350 for the same code. BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles that do not require a master's degree plus board certification, so read $66,020 as a floor for the metro rather than as BCBA pay.
The same release puts the 10th percentile at $44,590 and the 90th at $95,270. Because BCBA-titled roles sit at the credentialed end of that category, the 90th percentile is the more useful marker for what an experienced behavior analyst earns here, and the median is the more useful one for what the wider category pays. Prices across the metro run 3.3% above the national average, so $66,020 here goes about as far as $63,911 would nationally. Housing on its own runs 21.2% above the national average.
Within the metro, the hospital systems and the large districts hire on published schedules while the agencies set their own. Arizona applies a flat 2.5% income tax, the lowest of any state on this site. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in Arizona
Phoenix is currently the only Arizona metro with its own guide. The state guide carries every program in Arizona plus the licensure picture.
Nearby metros
Tucson, Flagstaff, and online options
Because Phoenix has one in-person program, widening the search is more normal here than in most metros. Tucson and Flagstaff both host Arizona programs, and both are too far to commute — but the University of Arizona's is fully online with no residency requirement, which makes distance irrelevant. The statewide guide covers all four Arizona programs.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01What ABA programs are in Phoenix?+
02Does Grand Canyon University have a BCBA program?+
03Is any Arizona ABA program ABAI-accredited?+
04Can I do the University of Arizona ABA program from Phoenix?+
05Where do Phoenix ABA students do their fieldwork?+
Sources