PsyD Requirements: Admission to Graduation

APA’s graduate-school FAQ is the plainest statement of what programs look for. It says “Requirements for admission vary from program to program.”

“Most, but not all, psychology programs prefer or require significant undergraduate coursework in psychology, often the equivalent of a major or minor. In addition, many graduate programs prefer students with substantial research experience, beyond laboratory classwork. Having completed an undergraduate honors thesis or served as a research assistant in a research lab usually meets this requirement.”

APA, Frequently Asked Questions About Graduate School

On the application itself, APA says it “also usually includes some type of personal statement, test scores and letters of recommendation.” It adds that “Some programs will also require a writing sample, such as a completed research paper or an undergraduate thesis.” For 2022-23 applications, “doctoral programs placed the highest importance on letters of recommendation (85%), personal statements (84%), and interviews (74%).” Those figures cover doctoral programs of every kind, PsyD and PhD together.

“APA also has a centralized service that students can use to access applications from multiple programs called the Centralized Application Service for Graduate Psychology (PSYCAS).” Application fees vary by program; in APA’s 2018 report, based on 2015-16 data, fees ranged in dollars from $0 to $125 per application, with a mean of $57 and a median of $55.

On entry level, the ranked programs’ own pages are specific. Of the 107 that state it, 98 accept applicants with a bachelor’s degree and 9 ask for a master’s degree.

Standardized-test requirements have fallen quickly. APA’s Monitor on Psychology reported that “The percentage of doctoral programs requiring GRE Quantitative and GRE Verbal scores decreased from 45% to 14%, and GRE Writing score requirements decreased from 40% to 13%.” That covers the 2020-21 through 2022-23 academic years.

The next year showed the same direction. For 2023-24, the Monitor reported that GRE verbal requirements fell “from 14% to 7% for applicants to doctoral programs,” and that the share of doctoral programs requiring quantitative scores “decreased from 14% to 8% for doctoral programs.” It also reported that “For doctoral programs, 13% recommended GRE verbal scores, 12% recommended GRE quantitative scores, and 11% recommended GRE writing scores.” The data are from APA’s Graduate Study in Psychology survey: “For the 2023–24 cycle, 339 departments and schools in the United States and Canada responded about 866 graduate programs in psychology.”

The ranked PsyD programs’ own pages agree. Of the 62 ranked programs that state a GRE policy, 54 say it is optional or not required (87%) and 8 require it. The table below gives the policy for each program that states one.

Each row is a ranked program’s own statement of its credit total, the entry level it accepts and its GRE policy, for the 25 highest-ranked programs that state a credit total, an entry level and a GRE policy. Credits are in each school’s own units, so a total in semester credits is not comparable with one in quarter units. A program that is accredited with an exception shows APA’s exact status under its name.

APA’s accreditation standards fix what every accredited program asks of its students.

• Years. Each student completes “a minimum of 3 full-time academic years of graduate study (or the equivalent thereof) plus an internship prior to receiving the doctoral degree.”
• Residency. “at least 2 of the 3 academic training years (or the equivalent thereof) within the program from which the doctoral degree is granted,” with at least one year in full-time residence. APA says residency obligations “cannot be met in programs that are substantially or completely online.”
• Practicum. “Practicum must include supervised experience working with diverse individuals with a variety of presenting problems, diagnoses, and issues.” Before internship, “The doctoral program needs to demonstrate that it provides a training plan applied and documented at the individual level, appropriate to the student’s current skills and ability.”
• Examination and dissertation. APA’s 2008 careers guide says “you must pass a comprehensive exam and write and defend a dissertation or other scholarly product.” Its student network adds that for PsyD programs, “Most programs require students to write a thesis or dissertation.”
• Internship. “The program must demonstrate that all students complete a 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time internship.” The APPIC internship guide covers the Match.

Graduation confers the degree. A license is a separate step with its own requirements. ASPPB describes the order: “both countries require an academic program that includes a practicum, an internship, and graduation.” After that come supervised experience, which ASPPB says may total “3,000 to 6,000 hours of supervised professional experience, including pre- and post-doctoral hours,” depending on the state, and the exam: “All 66 member jurisdictions require you to achieve a passing score on the EPPP (Part 1–Knowledge) prior to licensure.” The licensure guide has the rules by state and the EPPP guide covers the exam.