Best APA-Accredited Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Programs for 2024

The Psy.D. program at Georgia Southern University was designed specifically to fill a desperate need for qualified, licensed psychologists in underserved remote areas, particularly those in the rural South. The program still serves that mission to this day, preparing students for clinical practice in disadvantaged rural communities in Georgia and the surrounding region. The full-time day program follows the practitioner-scholar model and trains students to deliver psychological consultation services, psychological assessment, and psychotherapy to underserved rural residents. The first year of the program focuses on didactic and skill-building coursework followed by a second-year practicum. The following two years are dedicated to practicum experience, with the third year focusing on rural practice and the fourth year shifting to professional development. The fifth year is dedicated to a predoctoral internship.

Program Highlights

The Psy.D. program offers a high licensure achievement rate of 96%, but the competitive program admits only eight new students every year—only those with a minimum GPA of 3.3 will be considered. The program offers four graduate assistantships (GAs) to those eight students, and the others can apply for GAs in other departments. All GAs, no matter the department, come with a stipend and a full tuition waiver, including out-of-state tuition, in exchange for 20 hours of work per week.

A service-oriented degree based on a practitioner-scientist model, the Psy.D. program at the Florida Institute of Technology holds the distinction of being the first Psy.D. program in the Southeast. Elective emphasis areas include integrated behavioral health, child and family psychology, forensic psychology, and neuropsychology. The program accepts 20 applicants a year, all of whom have opportunities for research internships in environments like mental health centers, hospitals, schools, military facilities, private practices, and prisons. Clinical training begins in the Community Psychological Services Center, which is located on campus, and during the first year, students will shadow an on-campus clinician. The small program size gives each student the opportunity to collaborate with faculty on doctoral research projects, internships, and assistantships.

Program Highlights

Aside from the standard practicum, research, and internship opportunities, students may also participate in three clinical psychology trainings offered by the Scott Center for Autism and Treatment, the Concussion Management Program, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Aside from classes and seminars, academic training includes supervised experiences in therapy, counseling, diagnosis, and testing. This integration of practicum opportunities has helped the program’s graduates earn a 95% licensure rate.

Although the Psy.D. program at La Salle University is based on a five-year full-time schedule, students may take courses on a part-time basis for as long as two years. The program, which is open to both bachelor’s and master’s students, follows the practitioner-scholar model and emphasizes cognitive-behavioral theory. All students can utilize an on-campus training clinic for at least two years. There are three areas of concentration: clinical health, child clinical, and general practice. Training opportunities are offered in more than 10 concentrations. The program includes a two-year practicum progression with an optional third year, followed by a full-year clinical internship and a clinical dissertation.

Program Highlights

The program offers limited, need-based tuition assistance for full-time students in the first part of the program. Other highlights include an annual Diversity Forum and the Annual Showcase for the Science of Psychology and its Application. The program boasts an annual employment rate of 98% in 22 different types of settings, its match rate is consistently at or above the national average, and the licensure rate is 94%.

Students accepted into the Xavier University Psy.D. program will choose a concentrated area of interest chosen from options that reflect Xavier’s Jesuit Catholic tradition of serving people and communities in need. The options for those areas of interest are: individuals with severe and chronic psychopathology problems, health-care psychology across the life span, and clinical child and adolescent psychology. Each area of concentration is four of eight elective credits. The full-time, five-year program includes four academic years and one internship year. The practitioner-scientist model addresses the need for research skills while also developing applied skills that allow practitioners to contribute to the field of clinical psychology in a meaningful way.

Program Highlights

The program boasts a 100% employment rate among its graduates, who work in settings such as medical centers, counseling centers, mental health centers, and forensic or correctional agencies—its licensure rate is 94%. One standout feature that makes the program unique is the option to earn the certificate in the Foundations of Health Sciences Administration. The certificate confirms training in the way health care is delivered in the United States, particularly as it pertains to the economics of health care. Students have the option of using the four remaining elective credits not dedicated to their concentration to pursue the certificate.

The Psy.D. program at Wheaton College Graduate School begins with two years of academic coursework and assessments that culminate in a comprehensive examination at the end of the second year. The third year is dedicated both to practicum experience and to dissertation preparation and proposal. Year four involves advanced practicum work and dissertation continuation. Also that year, students will take a professional qualifying exam and apply for predoctoral internship work. During their fifth year, students will complete an internship and defend their dissertation. Christian theology is woven into the curriculum throughout, and the program’s clinical training portion is based on the school’s “serving the unserved” social philosophy. All students are assigned to “practicum seminar groups” supervised by Christian clinical psychologists.

Program Highlights

Wheaton highlights several impressive statistics that reflect well on its program, including the fact that 99% of its students have matched at predoctoral internships since 2013 and 94% of eligible graduates went on to earn professional licensure in the past 10 years. The school is home to eight active research labs. There are several financial assistance opportunities, including research assistance, dissertation support, grants, and general scholarships ranging from $6,000 to $10,000.

The Psy.D. program at Palo Alto University is a unique program offered as a consortium in conjunction with nearby Stanford University. The program, which follows the practitioner-scholar model, provides a generalist education and is designed for students pursuing careers in the direct delivery of clinical psychological services. The faculty is drawn from both Palo Alto and Stanford Universities, and the curriculum includes coursework and practicum placements designed to prepare students for a predoctoral clinical internship and, eventually, a career in the field. The academic and practicum portion takes place over the course of four in-residence, full-time years of study. The internship is a 2,000-hour external experience that takes place over the course of the program’s fifth year.

Program Highlights

The program offers several fellowships that are distributed based on criteria such as merit, need, and diversity. Research assistantships are also available to students who have completed the first year of the program. Also, several faculty members have been awarded research grants, which they sometimes use to hire students as assistants. The program boasts a 94% licensure rate among eligible graduates.

The 122-credit Psy.D. program at Divine Mercy University is broken down into 101 credit hours of psychology, 12 credit hours of integrative studies in philosophy and theology, and at least 9 credit hours of dissertation research. The program, which is based on the practitioner-scholar model, also requires students to complete 1,800 hours of clinical externship. The first year of practicum training takes place in the on-campus IPS Center for the Psychological Services. Additional training taking place in both secular and nonsecular off-site clinical settings. The program also requires students to complete a 2,000-hour approved predoctoral internship, to author and defend a doctoral dissertation, as well as to pass a comprehensive exam.

Program Highlights

The program, which has a licensure achievement rate of 93%, offers students the unique benefit of access to the IPS Center for Psychological Services. A training clinic exclusive to Divine Mercy, the facility provides area residents with low-cost mental health services including psychotherapy, educational assessment, personality assessment, and vocational/religious assessment. The center, and its six clinical offices, is where students complete their foundational practicum experiences.

Continuously accredited by the APA since 1989, the Spalding University Psy.D. program was among the first Psy.D. programs in the entire United States. The curriculum emphasizes ethical decision-making, social justice, and critical thinking through four years of practicum training that focuses on psychological assessment and the delivery of treatment. Students will have the opportunity to assess and treat underserved populations, particularly through the Center for Behavioral Health, which is Spalding’s community psychological services center. Students can also earn authorship on publications and presentations through participation in faculty-led research interest groups.

Program Highlights

Unlike so many Psy.D. programs, the doctoral program at Spalding has a generous transfer policy—up to 30 hours of master’s level credits from a qualifying university are eligible. Aside from its 93% licensure rate, the program also boasts an impressive internship match rate. It was 100% in 2017 and 97% in 2018. Additionally, two HRSA-sponsored grants can help students pay for their education. A $2.6 million federal grant provides many students with tuition scholarships, and a $1.15 million grant offers stipend support to students who have completed certain practicum work.

Marshall University tailored its Psy.D. program specifically to attract students who are likely to practice in underserved rural areas—particularly in West Virginia—when they begin their careers. Therefore, 50% of the slots are reserved for residents of West Virginia and the surrounding region. One of the central goals of the program is to promote an understanding of the unique psychological, behavioral, and mental health needs of rural communities, particularly those in Appalachia, and to develop delivery models that meet those needs. It’s designed as a five-year program, but there are full-time and part-time tracks, as well as an advanced standing track for applicants with master’s degrees. Aside from coursework, research training, practicum experience, and a one- to two-year internship, students are required to complete a year of academic residency.

Program Highlights

The program boasts a 93% licensure rate among eligible graduates. Much of that success can be credited to the program’s unique design, which explicitly draws students who are committed to careers in service-deprived rural regions in Appalachia. If you’re from the area and imagine a future serving the familiar community where you’ve spent your life, Marshall’s Psy.D. program offers a rare opportunity to study with a group of like-minded peers with similar backgrounds.

The Psy.D. program at Midwestern University in Glendale is designed to be completed in four years of full-time study. It’s based on the practitioner-scholar model and combines coursework and clinical training experience. The program offers three types of training experiences. The first is a clerkship, which is field training based on observational learning that serves as an introduction to the practicum. The practicum itself is a 12-month field experience, and the doctoral internship takes place over the course of one full-time year or two half-time years. There are also integrated health-care and interdisciplinary opportunities, as well as a five-year neuropsychology concentration, which clinical psychology students can apply for during their first year of study.

Program Highlights

The program stands out not only for its 92% licensure rate, but also its perfect 100% internship placement rate. It operates 45 clinical training sites, and because the program is based in a medical school, students have a unique opportunity for regular contact with medical professionals in a working healthcare environment.

The Marywood University Psy.D. degree program was designed to prepare students to provide clinical services in a way that is “ethical, humane, and culturally sensitive.” The 117-credit program includes training in both assessment and intervention strategies. Students will start with generalist foundational coursework and then engage in more concentrated and specific subject matter that students steer through elective selections. These concentrations could include practice with children, adolescents, and adults. The second year culminates with a comprehensive exam. That’s followed by the successful completion of an empirical master’s thesis or a professional contribution. The third year requires passage of the Clinical Qualifying Exam and completion and defense of a dissertation.

Program Highlights

Not only does the program have a 92% licensure rate for eligible graduates, but it also offers several clubs and organizations dedicated specifically to psychology students. There’s the Psychology Club, which is open to all students, as well as Psi Chi, which is the National Psychology Honor Society. The newest edition is the ANST Club, which is the acronym for the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training.