Types of Psychology Programs and Degrees
(MA, MS, EdD, PsyD, PhD)

Psychology degrees include the Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS), Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Many licensed clinical psychologists receive the Doctor of Education (EdD) in Counseling Psychology from schools of Education. This section will review each of these degrees and their general place in Psychology education.

Masters Degrees

The MA and MS degrees have a long history in education. They have a standard definition in most Universities. In the Clinical Psychology area, they usually consist of coursework over two years, a Masters thesis and clinical practica. The MS degree usually has more research and coursework requirements than the MA degree. For the purposes of eventual psychology practice, it probably makes little difference whether you have a MA or MS degree. Either degree will meet the requirements of Masters-level employment in psychology.

In the history of professional Clinical Psychology, the MA and MS degrees were the first degree level that allowed psychologists to qualify for licensure and independent practice. In many states psychologists may still acquire a license and practice with a Master's degree. Throughout the 1970's, licensing boards of the states and the American Psychological Association adopted the doctoral degree as the "terminal" degree for Psychology practice. This meant that licensing laws should be established or modified to require a doctoral degree as the minimum education level for licensure. The majority of states adopted this standard. However, many still allow the Master's degree and virtually all states have a provision for a psychological examiner or technician level of practice. This level requires a Master's degree. Psychological examiners administer tests and provide counseling services. They are usually supervised by a doctoral-level psychologist.

The Master's degree is now considered a steppingstone to the doctoral degree. Many doctoral programs do not even offer a Master's degree as an intermediate step. The students attend the doctoral program for five years and are then awarded a doctoral degree. Other doctoral programs include a formal Master's degree with a thesis as part of the sequence of requirements to acquire the doctoral degree.

The situation of the Master's degree may change as a result of three factors. The first is that the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) will pay Masters-level psychologists to provide psychological services to their members. The second is that there is a movement in many states to reverse the doctoral requirement for licensure as a psychologist. Finally, a number of other Masters-level professionals, such as social workers and substance abuse counselors, have separate licensing and provide virtually the same service as psychologists. All these factors working together may produce a Masters-level training requirement for psychologists.

Doctoral Degrees

The PhD is the traditional doctoral degree in Psychology. Psychology departments at Universities were usually housed in the College of Arts and Sciences. This college usually only awards the PhD. From its beginnings in the 1940s, Clinical Psychology was designed as a specialty program within these departments. As a result, the programs were usually small and research oriented. Although students might have an introduction to clinical work in the first four years, training in clinical practice was supposed to be satisfied by the internship, a training experience the was conducted away from the predoctoral program. This combination of research and clinical training was designed at a conference in Boulder, Colorado, and thereafter referred to as the Boulder Model. It represented a compromise between the academic research interests of a department in the college of Arts & Sciences and the compelling need to train clinical practitioners.

There were two systemic problems associated with Boulder Model. The first was the incredible demand for Clinical Psychology training that emerged over the course of the 1960s and 1970s. The great number of undergraduate Psychology majors who discovered that an undergraduate degree did not prepare them for a career, eventually decided to attend graduate school. It was not uncommon for graduate programs in clinical psychology to receive 500 applications for 5 or 6 available positions. It was apparent that the Boulder Model could not accommodate this extremely high demand.

The second factor was relative stress on research vs. clinical training that characterized the programs. Many clinical psychologists felt that the programs stressed research training at the expense of clinical training. In addition, a variety of clinical theories and points of view were not represented in the research-oriented departments. This interest in clinical practitioner training programs resulted in the development of the PsyD degree. The PsyD programs offer practitioner training in much the same way that MD programs provide professional training for physicians. In the PsyD program there is far less emphasis on research. Most programs do not require the student to conduct research projects or an extensive empirical dissertation. They usually have greater clinical practica requirements than PhD programs. The downside to PsyD programs is that many are situated in educational settings that require the program to fund itself from the tuition of the graduate students. This results in large class sizes and reduced contact with the faculty. Some programs are far too large too meet a reasonable standard of education. You must evaluate this factor when considering PsyD programs. Some accredited PsyD programs are frankly diploma mills and others offer excellent clinical training. Be aware of this factor when you investigate the programs.

The EdD degree

Counseling psychologists working in education formulated a specialized degree in clinical practice. This is awarded as a Doctor of Education. The application process and training is similar to the doctoral programs in Psychology. All states allow licensure as a clinical psychologist with the EdD degree in counseling psychology. Counseling Psychology programs are also accredited by the American Psychological Association.

Accreditation

In the 1970s, the American Psychological Association initiated a rigorous program of accrediting clinical psychology programs. This compelled the programs to conform to a common model of training. It also created a credential for psychologists and streamlined the licensure process for people who had graduated from APA-accredited programs. Psychologists who do not graduate from accredited programs must usually provide extensive information about their training program and justify their training to the state licensing board. Virtually all state licensing boards allow more training options than just APA-accredited programs. However, the credential of APA accreditation makes the approval of the training program much easier. When choosing a doctoral program, it is crucial that you determine its accreditation status. The APA accredits both PsyD and PhD programs. Masters level programs are not accredited. The APA also separately accredits internship programs.