Should I get my masters in educational psychology? Job prospects?

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happynonsense

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I'm currently a college sophomore. I'm thinking of getting my bachelors in psych and the apply to the masters program for educational psychology. (Hunter College)

I have a few questions about this field.

How tough is the competition to become an educational psychologist in NYC or NYS?

Do I need to get a PhD to work in educational psychology?
Is a masters degree sufficient to work in the field?

Is this degree in demand?
What are the job prospects?
Are these kinds of jobs secure? I live in NYC.

In terms of career objectives, I would like a career where I would be involved in program evaluation, institutional research, assessment and testing, and instruction and curriculum development.

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I'm not familiar with the NY market, but educational psych is less appealing than before. Based on your interests, have you considered M.Ed, Ed.D or related degrees?
 
Is this degree in demand?
What are the job prospects?
Are these kinds of jobs secure? I live in NYC.

In terms of career objectives, I would like a career where I would be involved in program evaluation, institutional research, assessment and testing, and instruction and curriculum development.

Are you asking whether the degree is in demand (are you going to be competing with people for entry?) or are people with the degree in demand (can I get a job easily?)? The reason why I ask is because the answer to the first is "maybe, but historically not so much as other degrees in psychology and education." The answer to the second question is, "if you want job entry with a degree, become a nurse."

This will depend on your experience before, during, and after graduation and graduate school. Always be looking at what the demands are in the immediate area. Do this by asking school officials what they need or what they may have money for, and network with them regularly so they will know you well when you try to sell your services.

From what I've heard from everyone in education, no jobs are really secure. Even in the north where you have unions, new employees are always at risk.

These job functions tend to fall under the research/theory side of educational psychology and are typically (from what I've read) done by people with degrees in educational psychology.

This is venturing into the realm of School Psychology, a far more competitive field to get into. It's kind of the applied mix of Educational Psychology and Clinical Psychology, but mostly Clinical Psychology.
 
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I'm not familiar with the NY market, but educational psych is less appealing than before. Based on your interests, have you considered M.Ed, Ed.D or related degrees?

I have heard great things about a masters in education (M.S.Ed). Many professional schools (health professions, law, etc) are now considering the importance of education theory in building up professional school curriculum, thus some are even combining the educational theory with something else - such as health professions education, mental health counseling, etc.
 
Dear Happynonsense,

I finished my master's degree in educational psychology a year ago. I very much loved the program as I am interested in both higher education AND psychology (though my program also covered the developing learner - infants to seniors). I felt that I received an excellent education and really beefed up my writing and research skills. I did choose a school that was well-known for their program which was probably helpful.

Then I graduated. In all honesty, there really aren't any jobs for educational psychologists. You have to be creative and willing to work in something that may not be exactly what you were trained to do. You can use the degree to enter into a non-traditional pathway to teaching in secondary education (some states allow this), though you'll have to eventually earn a teaching certificate. I thought the degree would help me secure a job as a high school counselor but surprise, those are generally for school psychologists (at least from what I've been able to conclude). I thought maybe I could teach at the community college level but what with all of the nepotism and competition with Ph.D.s trying to make a side income, you can pretty much kiss that option good-bye.

Some people have been "lucky" enough to work as consultants, but it is difficult to break into that field because there are SO many others competing for jobs, and those people have years of expertise under their belts. It is also risky as it is generally contract work so as soon as it ends, you're jobless again. Frankly, those jobs go against my own personal morals anyway... you're generally working for a for-profit "university" writing syllabi, courses and assessments so that the school can hire a "teacher" (ahem, warm body) to grade discussion posts and papers in a pre-designed course. Something about not allowing an experienced professional to develop their own courses makes my stomach churn.

You may be able to find a corporation that is looking for experts to develop their employee training programs. From what I have been able to find, you generally need both the experience in their field (say, banking or insurance or wherever the job is posted) in addition to the degree... and then they'll want evidence of how you've applied your education to your field in the past. If you have that, great... but seeing as how you're still in your undergraduate program, I'm going to guess you don't. Maybe that'd be something to look into while you're still in school?

I cannot speak for all of those who hold RECENT master's degrees in educational psychology, but from what I have found, the only thing my master's degree really qualified me for is to earn a Ph.D. I have considered it but have frankly seen several major universities (including Arizona State University) shut down their Ph.D.s in ed psych because there isn't much of a demand for it and the universities aren't making enough money to maintain the programs. If this is the case, I am assuming that it would be next to impossible to secure a position in academia (pretty much the only thing you can do with a Ph.D. in educational psychology) upon graduation. I'm not really sure it would be worth my time and money.

So here I am, graduated and with a GREAT education, but no job in my field of choice. I'm not saying I'm not willing to work in another field, I'm just saying that it stinks to have to do something far less intellectually stimulating and interesting than that for which I went to school. I'm now tens of thousands of dollars in debt for a graduate degree and am looking for jobs as an insurance adjuster. Again, I'm willing to do the work, but I could have stopped at my BA for said job and would have had a lot less debt to repay.

If you are interested in counseling, I know there are some programs that offer it along with their ed psych degrees, but my friend who just graduated with an MSW told me that most of the entry-level positions are paying $11-15 per hour, which is not really a livable wage when you have substantial student loan debt.

Good luck to you!

P.S. The majority of students in my program were current K-12 teachers who were returning to earn their master's degrees in order to meet state requirements or boost their paychecks. It doesn't seem to do a whole lot for the rest of us!
 
If you are interested in counseling, I know there are some programs that offer it along with their ed psych degrees, but my friend who just graduated with an MSW told me that most of the entry-level positions are paying $11-15 per hour, which is not really a livable wage when you have substantial student loan debt.

Good luck to you!

Sally has given what I think is great advice, I would just like to expound on the above really quick. Yes, right out of school the MSW prospects are all over the place. However, once you get the LCSW license, the outlook improves greatly. I avoided an MSW for many years because I had a friend working in child welfare for $27,000 a year. That was ridiculous to me.

However after researching it myself, I discovered the big jump in pay usually comes with the LCSW. Unless you are
lucky enough to get on with the government -- they pay you decently provisionally. I know I sound like a broken record if you look up my posts, but research the population you want to work with and the state you plan to live in.
 
I'm currently a college sophomore. I'm thinking of getting my bachelors in psych and the apply to the masters program for educational psychology. (Hunter College)

I have a few questions about this field.

How tough is the competition to become an educational psychologist in NYC or NYS?

Do I need to get a PhD to work in educational psychology?
Is a masters degree sufficient to work in the field?

To use the title of "psychologist", you must be doctorally-trained, so a masters degree would not be sufficient. As for job viability...NYC is a very bloated market for all psych services, so it'd be tough in the best of circumstances.
 
Having finished my master's in ed psych a year ago, I should know this, but it was never discussed in my program, so please correct me if I am wrong.

It is my understanding that one can technically call him or herself an "educational psychologist" with a master's degree, they just cannot be a LICENSED psychologist without a doctorate. The same would go for a school psychologist. I have met many master's-leveled professionals who call themselves "school psychologists..." the state just doesn't license them as actual psychologists because they do not have doctorate-level degrees. Now, they DO have master's-level counseling licenses, if that makes sense.

Am I incorrect? Please let me know if I am mistaken. You may be teaching me something new here...
 
It is my understanding that one can technically call him or herself an "educational psychologist" with a master's degree, they just cannot be a LICENSED psychologist without a doctorate....

FYI: http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/psych/article153.htm

Of note:

§7601. Use of title "psychologist".

Only a person licensed or otherwise authorized under this article shall be authorized to practice psychology or to use the title "psychologist" or to describe his or her services by use of the words "psychologist", "psychology" or "psychological" in connection with his or her practice.
 
Thanks for this information! I will let my acquaintances know this!! :)
 
Having finished my master's in ed psych a year ago, I should know this, but it was never discussed in my program, so please correct me if I am wrong.

It is my understanding that one can technically call him or herself an "educational psychologist" with a master's degree, they just cannot be a LICENSED psychologist without a doctorate. The same would go for a school psychologist. I have met many master's-leveled professionals who call themselves "school psychologists..." the state just doesn't license them as actual psychologists because they do not have doctorate-level degrees. Now, they DO have master's-level counseling licenses, if that makes sense.

Am I incorrect? Please let me know if I am mistaken. You may be teaching me something new here...

As T4C posted, it's going to depend on state law. I know many school psychologists typically practice with a masters, although I honestly don't know if "school psychologists" or "educational psychologist" is seen as different than "psychologist." My guess is no (unless the state law has a stipulation about the term other terms), although it might also realistically depend in part on how much the state board and/or licensed psychologists in the state is/are willing to pursue the matter with the potential offender(s).
 
Sorry to revive an old thread, but there isn't much on this topic from what I have seen. Is there anyone else out there with experience in Ed. Psych. that can share their experience with occupational opportunities? I see a lot of these programs that are not licensure tracked, and are typically stats track or learning/cog. I am planning to apply to an array of Ph.D. programs this year and there is an Ed. Psych. program that I am looking at. It's funded and has a lot of stron points, but I am not interested in getting my degree in a perishing field.

I am also curious if you are able to get your LEP by pursuing practica outside of the program. Reading about it a little bit it appears it may be possible if you can find locations to gain the experience. I'm sure that's not too hard since most schools wouldn't mind the free help.
 
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