Important: The button below will take you to University Admissions. Use the following advice to correctly identify your interest in this program.
Graduate School Application:
Complete Application to the UMSL Graduate School
As you progress through the application, be certain to select the following for select your degree...:
Complete Supplemental Assessments:
Candidates must complete and pass the
supplemental assessments
.
Personal interview with members of the school psychology faculty.
Coursework:
Minimum 60 hours consisting of psychological and educational foundations, assessment, and direct interventions. The program emphasizes prevention and early intervention of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional problems through consultation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and systems-level interventions. Prerequisite coursework in developmental psychology and statistics is required for admission.
Internships:
Thank you for choosing UMSL!
School psychologists have specialized training in both psychology and education. They use their training and skills to team with educators, parents, and other mental health professionals to ensure that every child’s academic and social-emotional and behavioral needs are met in a safe, healthy, and supportive environment. School psychologists understand school systems, effective teaching, and successful learning. They provide educational and psychological services in schools that include various combinations of assessment, academic and behavior consultation, individual and group counseling, and development and evaluation of prevention and early intervention programs. School Psychology consistently has been ranked among the top 10 of all professions for many years. In addition to being an exciting and rewarding career, the field has highly favorable supply and demand ratios, as retirement rates have exceeded graduation rates in recent years. Consequently, the job prospects are excellent, especially for specialist level school psychologist practitioners and doctoral level university faculty.
School psychologist certification in Missouri and most other states requires completion of an Educational Specialist in School Psychology (Ed.S.) degree. The Ed.S. degree is a 60-hour, three-year, full time program that includes a yearlong internship. To work as a school psychologist, one must be certified by the state in which services are provided. In most states School Psychologist certification is granted by the state’s Department of Education and supports practice within school or educational settings. The provision of independent psychological services via private practice or community mental health agencies requires a doctoral degree in Clinical or Counseling Psychology and licensure by the State Board of Examiners in Psychology as a Psychologist. The UMSL Ed. S. in School Psychology degree has been a program of National Recognition with full NASP-Approval since 2009. Our current NASP-Approval is effective through Fall 2023.
Please scroll down to view the various program documents provided here including the Ed.S. curriculum, program FAQs, and the required Supplemental Application. For additional information regarding admission and degree requirements, please see the REQUIREMENTS tab below.
School Psychology Program’s 100th Graduate Blazes a Trail of Advocacy and Action
State conference Taps Graduate Student’s Expertise, Invites Her to PresentThe Ed. S. in School Psychology degree program consists of 60 graduate semester hours that includes coursework in psychological and educational foundations, psychoeducational assessment, and direct and indirect service delivery. Prevention and early intervention of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional problems through consultation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and systems-level interventions are highlighted throughout the program. The Ed. S. degree is a small-cohort program consisting of 10-12 candidates per cohort that maximizes close relationships with faculty and field-based practitioners to develop professional skills and competencies.
Admission requirements include a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, current GRE General Test scores (Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical Writing scores at or above the 50th percentile), three letters of recommendation, a personal statement describing personal goals (not to exceed five double-spaced typed pages) and a curriculum vita detailing relevant experience with children, adolescents, and families. Prerequisite coursework in the areas of Developmental Psychology, and Psychological Statistics is required for admission. Following initial screening, finalists will be invited for an on-campus interview with the School Psychology Program faculty and current Ed. S. candidates. All required application materials will be considered equally when making admission decisions. Applications are reviewed annually with a February 15 deadline.
Transfer credit may be granted for graduate coursework completed prior to entering the program, but strict limitations apply. The Ed. S. in School Psychology degree program involves a minimum of three years of intensive study. Though it is possible to complete the first year of the curriculum on a part-time basis, please note that practicum during the second year involves two days per week working in a school with a school psychologist, and internship is a yearlong fulltime supervised experience. Consequently, full-time study is recommended and preferred. Graduates of the program are immediately eligible for School Psychologist Certification from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Nationally Certified School Psychologist credential from the National Association of School Psychologists. As such, graduates from the program will meet or exceed certification requirements in the majority if not all states in the country.
ED PSY 6226 Pending Faculty Senate approval.
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer | Hours |
| ED PSY 6530 | 3 | CNS ED 6220 | 3 | ED PSY 6115 or CNS ED 6030 | 3 |
| ED PSY 6532 | 3 | ED PSY 6111 | 3 | ED REM 6710 | 3 |
| ED PSY 6545 | 3 | ED PSY 6550 | 3 | ||
| ED REM 6718 | 3 | ED REM 6719 | 3 | ||
| 12 | 12 | 6 | |||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| CNS ED 6600 | 3 | ED PSY 6226 | 3 | ||
| ED PSY 6540 | 3 | ED PSY 6542 | 3 | ||
| ED PSY 6590 | 3 | ED PSY 6591 | 3 | ||
| ED REM 6730 | 3 | ED REM 6732 | 3 | ||
| 12 | 12 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||
| ED PSY 6598 | 3 | ED PSY 6599 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 3 | ||||
| Total Hours: 60 | |||||
