Master of Science in Psychology

Expected Student Learning Outcomes and Competencies
M.S. in Psychology

1. Students will have a fundamental command of the discipline’s empirical content and major theoretical perspectives.
2. Students will be able to distinguish empirical and scientific methods of inquiry from other sources of information.
3. Students will be able to design, conduct and analyze the results of psychological research.
4. Students will be able to effectively communicate psychological information in written and oral form.
5. Students will have practical knowledge regarding behavior and mental processes which can be used for self improvement.
6. Students will be able to demonstrate how psychological knowledge can be used to address health, interpersonal and social issues.
7. Students will have the foundation to assume a psychologically related career and/or continue with more advanced education in the discipline.
8. Students will be able to apply codes of professional and ethical conduct to a variety of professional situations.

    The M.S. program is, for most students, a two-year program (5-6 academic semesters) containing equal amounts of advanced foundation courses (e.g., learning, social, personality, statistics), applied course work (e.g., psychometry, counseling/therapy, psychopathology) and supervised internship experience in treatment facilities or research laboratories. The department operates a psychometric and clinical training facility and an animal and human research laboratory. Internship assignments are made at local agencies including a Veterans Administration Medical Center, a regional state psychiatric hospital, the Medical College of Georgia, a regional state school and hospital for the mentally retarded, a regional state training center for juvenile offenders, Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, and various other agencies.

    Augusta State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Presently, there is no official accreditation authority for master's programs in psychology. However, the Department and its faculty members maintain active relationships with the discipline's various governing and professional bodies, such as the American Psychological Association (APA), American Psychological Society (APS), Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP), Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology (CAMPP), and North American Association of Master's in Psychology (NAMP).

    Applications for admission will be accepted until August 1 for fall admission.  It is preferred that the application for admission be made several months prior to the anticipated admission date. A final decision regarding acceptance into the graduate program can be made only upon receipt of official GRE scores, official transcripts, three letters of reference, and a personal statement of educational and professional goals. Under special circumstances students may be granted permission to enroll in certain courses in a post-baccalaureate status while the application is being processed.

    Inquiries are encouraged especially from members of minority groups and older persons, from human service personnel employed by local community agencies, and from persons possessing otherwise adequate credentials but who may have a deficit in a single credential such as quantitative GRE scores or freshman grade point average, or who may lack specific undergraduate preparation in psychology. In such cases, the department may use appropriate other information in the admission decision, and may require satisfactory remediation of any academic deficits prior to full acceptance.

l. Completed requirements for the bachelor's degree in a regionally accredited college/university. Successful applicants for regular graduate status will, at a minimum, have satisfactorily completed undergraduate courses in general psychology, research methods, abnormal psychology and quantitative methods. A course in learning and cognition and tests and measurement is strongly recommended.
2. A minimum grade point average equivalent to 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
3. Have taken the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) within the past five years with a minimum score of 400 on one of the subtests and at least
450 on the remaining two.  If the GRE was taken after 10/01/02, the analytical score must be 3.5 or higher, one of the remaining scores must be 400 or better, and one score must reach 450 or better.
4. Satisfactory letters of recommendation (3) and transcripts.
5. A 150-200 word statement regarding personal and professional goals with respect to graduate study at Augusta State University.
6. For students whose native language is other than English, the examination scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). An oral expression and comprehension evaluation may also be required.
7. For foreign students, a financial form provided by the Office of Admissions.