School Psychology PhD

The Foundations of Professional Psychology MA is awarded as part of the PhD program in School Psychology at UNC. You must be admitted to the School Psychology PhD program to earn this master’s degree.

This MA is not a standalone program. Instead, it serves as a milestone on the way to the doctorate. Students who complete the master’s degree and make satisfactory progress are automatically advanced in the School Psychology PhD program.

Before the program reviews your application, you must apply to the Graduate School at UNC. Missing materials may delay your evaluation.

To be considered, applicants must:

• Hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited institution (or equivalent from a recognized foreign institution).
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher (on a 4.00 scale) for your most recent or current degree.

Still completing your degree?

• Admission is based on your current GPA.
• You must submit your official transcript showing your conferred degree and final GPA during your first semester.
• If your final GPA is below 3.00, the program may set additional requirements that must be completed within one year to remain enrolled.

*If you have completed 18 or more credit hours of a master’s degree, your master’s GPA will be used for admission evaluation.

Learn about the Application Process

Total Credits: 89–91

Program Highlights:

• Hands-on Training: Practicum, externship and internship experiences working with children, adolescents, families and school systems.
• Research and Dissertation: Advanced research methods, statistical analysis and original dissertation research contributing to the field.
• Comprehensive Preparation: Coursework in assessment, consultation, trauma intervention, ethics, diversity and equity prepares students for licensure and professional practice.

View Full Course List & Requirements

• Element 1: Student demonstrates the ability to conduct research and engage in other scholarly activities.
• Element 2: Student demonstrates the ability to use knowledge of research and statistics to critique research.
• Element 3: Student evaluates and disseminates research through publication/presentation.

• Element 1: Student is knowledgeable about and acts in accordance with APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and NASP Principles for Professional Ethics, as well as laws, regulations, rules and policies governing health service psychology practice in school and community settings.
• Element 2: Student recognizes and responds to ethical dilemmas as they arise.
• Element 3: Student behaves ethically in all aspects of professional behavior and health service psychology practice.

• Element 1: Student can articulate an approach to addressing diversity in health service psychology practice that is based on knowledge of current literature and an analysis of how their own history, attitudes, and biases affect how they interact with others different from themselves.
• Element 2: Student integrates awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences in health service psychology practice and uses an informed approach to working effectively with diverse groups.

• Element 1: Student behaves in ways that reflect values and attitudes of psychology, including integrity, deportment, professional identity, accountability, lifelong learning, and concern for the welfare of others.
• Element 2: Student engages in self-reflection regarding personal and professional functioning and in activities to maintain and improve performance, well being and professional effectiveness.
• Element 3: Student actively seeks and demonstrates openness and responsiveness to feedback and supervision.

• Element 1: Student develops and maintains effective relationships with a wide range of individuals, including colleagues, communities, organizations, supervisors, and those receiving professional services.
• Element 2: Student produces and comprehends oral, nonverbal, and written communications that are informative and well-integrated, and student demonstrates a thorough grasp of professional language and concepts.
• Element 3: Student demonstrates effective interpersonal skills and ability to manage difficult communication well.

• Element 1: Student selects and applies a wide range of empirically-based assessment methods, and student collects data appropriate to identified goals and questions of the assessment and relevant diversity characteristics of the client.
• Element 2: Student interprets assessment results, following current research and professional standards, to inform case conceptualization, classification, and recommendations, while guarding against biases. Student distinguishes the aspects of assessment that are subjective from those that are objective.
• Element 3: Student communicates orally and in written documentation the findings and implications accurately and in a manner sensitive to a range of audiences.
• Element 4: Student uses assessment procedures to evaluate systems for the purposes of program planning and evaluation.
• Element 5: Students demonstrate current knowledge of diagnostic classification systems and functional/dysfunctional behaviors, including consideration of client strengths and psychopathology; demonstrate understanding of behavior within family, social, societal, and cultural contexts, and be able to apply knowledge of functional and dysfunctional behaviors, including context, to the assessment and diagnostic process

• Element 1: Student establishes and maintains effective relationships with the recipients of psychological services and others involved in service delivery (e.g., parents, site personnel).
• Element 2: Student develops interventions informed by the scientific literature, assessment findings, diversity characteristics and contextual variables.
• Element 3: Student skillfully uses a variety of intervention modalities appropriate to the situation.
• Element 4: Student evaluates intervention effectiveness and adapts interventions consistent with ongoing evaluation.

• Element 1: Student demonstrates knowledge of models of supervision for health service psychology practice.
• Element 2: Students demonstrates knowledge of supervision practices.

• Element 1: Student demonstrates knowledge of models of supervision for health service psychology practice.
• Element 2: Students demonstrates knowledge of supervision practices.