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Northern Illinois University

Department of Psychology

Ph.D. Program in School Psychology

Our program has recently received American Psychological Association (APA) accreditation!  Ask us for more information. Please contact the APA Commission on Accreditation with any questions.

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC  20002-4242

Phone: 202-336-5979
TDD/TTY: 202-336-6123
Fax: 202-336-5978
E-mail

The Ph.D. program in the Department of Psychology offers school psychology as a field of study designed to prepare students for careers in academic and applied settings. The Ph.D. program is APA  accredited and approved by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards and the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (ASPPB/NR).

Our Ph.D. program typically takes a total of five years (including the master’s program and internship) and involves:

  • A minimum of 90 semester hours of coursework including:
    • Certification coursework
    • Departmental foundation requirements
    • Breadth requirements
    • Tool course requirements (statistics courses)
    • Doctoral course work
    • Specialization cognate courses
  • Second year competency exam
  • Candidacy exam
  • Practica including:
    • First year practicum (75 hours)
    • Second year practicum (350 hours)
    • Doctoral-level practicum (700 hours)
  • Thesis
  • Dissertation
  • Internship
  • Development of a Portfolio

Residency Requirement

The Ph.D. program requires each student to complete at least 3 academic years of full-time graduate study at Northern Illinois University prior to awarding the doctoral degree. For students entering post-Masters, we require each student to complete at least 2 academic years of full-time graduate study at Northern Illinois University.