There are a variety of options available to those looking for careers with a master's in psychology. For example, with appropriate licensure and certification, you could work as a behavioral counselor, family services worker, advocate, or psychiatric technician. And this list is just the beginning.
Continue reading to learn about these common fields in psychology with available careers to those with a master’s degree and to find schools from partner institutions.
While there are many subfields in psychology, there are three main fields that require master’s degrees:
Each of these fields draw from psychology’s key principles and theories and applies them to specific populations and situations.
written by Annie Rose Stathes
To work in the field of psychology, typically professionals must have at least a PhD. However, there are many careers in psychology that only require a master’s. Check out the three careers below and the colleges and universities that offer that particular concentration in psychology.
Median Annual Salary (2017): $55,410i
Projected Job Growth: 13%ii
Job Responsibilities:iii
Some of the common courses in school and developmental psychology master’s programs include:
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For more than 65 years Grand Canyon University has been Arizona’s premier Christian university and the gateway to success for countless scholars and industry leaders.
Designed for students pursuing a career as a professional counselor, the M.S. in Professional Counseling with an Emphasis in Childhood and Adolescence Disorders teaches how to identify and assess childhood and adolescence disorders, such as:
A nonprofit, regionally accredited university that has more than 90,000 online students and an alumni network of over 84,000, Southern New Hampshire University is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation.
As you pursue the MS Psychology with Concentration in Child and Developmental Psychology, you’ll examine current research and theories about assessment, intervention, and consultation strategies that address the individual, cultural, and psychological needs of children and families.
Capella University is dedicated to providing an exceptional, professionally-aligned education to help you succeed in your field. Offering a challenging curriculum, unparalleled support, and a faculty of experienced and engaging instructors, Capella is specifically designed for professionals who want the most efficient way to jumpstart their career.
The MS – Child and Adolescent Development teaches how to address mental health, social, and educational issues so that you can make a positive impact on the lives of children and adolescents as a professional.
Median Annual Salary (2017): $87,100i
Projected Job Growth: 8%ii
Job Responsibilities:iv
Some of the common courses while earning a master’s degrees in industrial/ organizational psychology include:
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As the second-largest Catholic university in New England, Sacred Heart University has more than 8,500 total students, including 2,940 graduate students. At SHU, they challenge you to be fearless in your curiosity and courageous in your service to others.
The curriculum while earning a Master of Science in Applied Psychology – Industrial-Organizational Psychology covers topics such as:
Other psychology master’s degrees at Sacred Heart include:
Master of Science in Applied Psychology – Community Psychology
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology offers an M.A. in industrial and organizational psychology entirely online or on campus. For those passionate about helping businesses, non-profits, governments, and other organizations succeed, the I/O psychology program teaches how to identify the motives of individuals and teams and assess whether they’re helping an organization fulfill its mission or hindering its success.
You can also learn how to use psychology to select personnel, appraise performance, and enhance training, leadership, and employee motivation.
For 45 years Walden University has been serving adult learners through programs that reflect current market trends and promote positive social change to help you achieve your goals and enabling you to make a difference in your career and in your community.
Through a curriculum focused on deepening your understanding of employee behavior and attitudes and discovering techniques for improving individual and organizational performance, the M.S. in Psychology – Organizational Development is designed to meet the growing demand for I/O practitioners.
Other psychology master’s degrees from Walden include:
Median Annual Salary: $97,740 (Psychologists, all other)i
Projected Job Growth: 11% (Psychologists, all other)ii
Job Responsibilities:v
While pursuing a master’s in forensic psychology, some of the common courses you may take include:
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Liberty University offers a world-class education with a solid Christian foundation, which is one of the reasons why the school has more than 250,000 alumni. Plus, Liberty has been a pioneer in distance education since 1985 and offers knowledgeable and accessible academic advisors.
Designed to equip you with the tools you need to successfully understand the law and legal practice of the criminal justice system while applying your knowledge of social-cognitive psychology, while pursuing a Master of Science in Criminal Justice: Forensic Psychology from Liberty you’ll study topics such as trends in criminal justice and rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
Named after the 17th century leader devoted to freedom of conscience and social justice, Roger Williams University continues to pursue excellence in education, academic accomplishment, and community service rooted in critical thinking and inclusiveness.
While earning the M.A. Forensic and Legal Psychology you’ll work with faculty to design and implement studies addressing empirical questions in clinical and forensic or legal psychology. Some of the key topics include:
Marymount University offers an M.A. in Forensic and Legal Psychology strives to teach how to apply psychology to areas such as probation and parole, victim assistance, law enforcement, intelligence, trial consultation, policy, and advocacy. Through programs like these, students often learn the legal system and how to apply psychology to various components of it.
As a blossoming psychologist, you might also be interested in studying other areas of psychology such as social, clinical, cognitive, counseling, or applied behavioral analysis. Check out each of these concentrations and colleges that offer that degree below.
Social psychology master’s degrees teach how individuals think about, influence, and relate to one another. Therefore, similar to other psychology degrees, courses focus on research methods and statistical analysis, but also include topics such as:
Purdue University offers an M.S. in social psychology that focuses predominately on research in social psychology. Designed to help students prepare for doctoral programs, it immerses students in the key theories, principles, and research that shapes social psychology and its historical and contemporary application.
In this program and similar ones, students analyze the various social psychology topics, such as gender, sexuality, aging, dying, and numerous others.
Other partner programs include:
When pursuing a master’s degree in clinical psychology your curriculum and coursework focuses on examining human behavior through competency-based and scientific study of topics such as:
Typically, programs also strive to develop a foundation in research design, analytics, and ethics to provide educational and research exposure to the main areas of the field. Many programs also offer concentrations in areas such as:
This may provide you with more options when pursuing your degree and the ability to tailor your curriculum to meet your future career goals.
Vanguard University offers an M.S. in clinical psychology that helps students pursue careers as Christian mental health specialists. Through earning this type of degree, students typically pursue work as counselors and therapists who support people through a variety of issues and experiences. This particular program presents students with opportunities to pursue licensure to practice in the state of California.
These partner schools also offer master’s degrees in clinical psychology:
Modern cognitive psychology master’s degrees examine how people perceive, think, and act by combining aspects of different fields, such as neuroscience and cognitive science. Typically, programs and curriculum analyze topics and fields such as:
In addition, programs are designed to teach you a foundational knowledge in the field through analyzing current research and providing access to all research tools necessary. This includes research design, theory formulation, and experimental and computational methods.
The University of Oregon offers a master’s degree in cognitive psychology, which includes a study of neuroscience and the cognitive and neural bases of perception, cortical sensory information processing, molecular and cellular basis of memory, visual cognition, selective attention, and other topics.
Other partner schools including the ones above that offer master’s degrees in cognitive psychology include:
With a focus on diversity, many master’s in professional counseling programs analyze the various theoretical approaches to counseling a variety of patients. As a result, many programs examine issues such as:
In addition, many counseling programs teach the various subjects in the field, such as grief counseling, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress, and positive psychology. In fact, some programs may offer concentrations in these fields to focus your curriculum even further.
Grand Canyon University offers an M.S. in professional counseling with an emphasis in trauma. The program helps students understand how to assess and treat developmental, childhood, and adulthood trauma-related disorders. Students who complete these programs successfully may be able to test for counseling certification in Arizona.
Other partner schools that offer master’s degrees in community counseling include:
While pursuing an applied behavior analysis master’s degree you’ll study how to identify and assess behavioral problems in children and adults, as well as various treatments and interventions.
These programs typically focus curriculum and coursework on experimental, theoretical, and methodological aspects of the analysis of behavior, and how to solve social/emotional, behavioral, and learning problems, such as developmental disabilities and autism-spectrum disorders.
Nova Southeastern University offers an M.S. in developmental disabilities with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis, or ABA, which helps students learn how to address issues associated with developmental disabilities throughout the lifespan.
Other partner schools that offer master’s degrees in developmental psychology include:
No matter what topic you study, there are a variety of careers in psychology that become available once you’ve earned a master’s degree in psychology. Here are some common positions in the field:
Alternatively, and more broadly, you might work as a consultant, strategist, therapist, or program director. Keep in mind that man fields require a doctorate degree in psychology including management, research positions, or educators, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have plenty of career options with a master’s in psychology.
Depending on which of the other master’s degrees in psychology you decide to pursue, there are a variety of career options for you to pursue. Check out some of these careers below, the median annual salary, and projected job growth for the ten years from 2016 to 2026 according to the BLS.
#1: School Psychologists
#2: Rehabilitation Managers
#3: Marriage and Family Therapists
#4: Training and Development Managers
#5: Human Resources Managers
In addition, those with a master’s in psychology can work as a psychologist assistant in the clinical, counseling, or research settings under the supervision of a doctoral psychologist.xvi
In many of these positions, you could work in setting such as:
Plus, if you decide to pursue a master’s in psychology with a concentration, you may focus your degree even more to fit a specific setting or career.
When looking for careers with a master’s in psychology, consider what aspect of the field you’re most passionate about and the various certifications and licensures in that area.
Once you’ve decided which career you want to pursue, check out any of the sponsored listings above or complete the form on this page to get matched to the perfect program for you!
[i] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm#tab-5 [ii] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm#tab-6 [iii] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm#tab-2 [iv] onetonline.org/link/summary/19-3032.00 [v] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-2 [vi] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-5 [vii] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-6 [viii] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/rehabilitation-counselors.htm#tab-5 [ix] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/rehabilitation-counselors.htm#tab-6 [x] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/marriage-and-family-therapists.htm#tab-5 [xi] bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/marriage-and-family-therapists.htm#tab-6 [xii] bls.gov/ooh/management/training-and-development-managers.htm#tab-5 [xiii] bls.gov/ooh/management/training-and-development-managers.htm#tab-6 [xiv] bls.gov/ooh/management/human-resources-managers.htm#tab-5 [xv] bls.gov/ooh/management/human-resources-managers.htm#tab-6 [xvi] bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm#tab-4