School Psychology - Educational Specialist

To apply, you will need 18 credit hours of undergraduate psychology courses. There is no required amount of education credit hours.

Classes meet weekly from 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., or 4:30-7:30 p.m. Occasionally, we have an earlier course from 3:15-5:15 p.m. or 3:45-5:15 p.m., one or two times per week, usually combined on a day you have a later course. Summer and winter courses are often online either asynchronous or blended. Summer classes may have a daytime face-to-face schedule.

January 15th is the deadline for admission beginning summer/fall. For those who miss the January 15th deadline, applications are due June 1st for admission beginning fall on a space-available basis. For students beginning the program in the spring, the application deadline is October 1st.

For students with a GPA of 3.0 or lower, Millersville requires a minimum of 150 on the verbal and quantitative sections and a minimum of 29 on the analytical writing section.

Students looking to transfer graduate coursework from another institution will need to schedule an appointment with a faculty member to discuss specific cases. BEFORE making an appointment to review individual transcripts, prospective students should compare previous Master's coursework with the coursework required in Millersville’s program. Typically, these courses include Child Development/Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Statistics, and Biopsychology.

As per the Graduate Student Catalog, Transfer credit may amount to a maximum of nine credit hours from other accredited institutions. Students must complete a minimum of two-thirds of their graduate degree at Millersville. Except in the most extenuating circumstances, no transfer credit will be allowed for work completed more than five years prior to admission to Millersville University and credits used for degree completion at another institution may not be transferred to a Millersville degree program.

The Educational Specialist degree is the degree that will prepare students for certification as a school psychologist. The Master of Science (M.S.), Psychology degree is a foundational degree that is needed as part of the Educational Specialist training, but by itself would not be sufficient for certification as a school psychologist.

For individuals who have already earned a Master’s degree in a closely related field, such as School Counseling, a post-Master's Educational Specialist plan may be developed under advisement of the Program Coordinator prior to, or a part of, admission. In this scenario, if previous Master’s courses are equivalent to our Master's course competencies, then those course requirements may be waived as part of the Ed.S. in School Psychology. Students in this post-Master's scenario are only earning their Ed.S., not receiving a second Master’s degree.

The Master’s program is for individuals who have not earned a Master’s degree. These students will receive a M.S. and their Ed.S. upon completion of the program.

Visit the Financial Aid Office's website for information relating to grants, financial aids, and scholarships. For tuition and fee information, visit the Office of Student Accounts' website. Both the Financial Aid and Office of Student Accounts' websites are available through Millersville’s Graduate Admissions website.

Yes, many students work and attend school either full-time or part-time. This is a rigorous graduate program with field-experiences built in to many of the courses, gradually increasing in year two. Careful consideration of your own work habits and personal responsibilities is necessary to ensure success. Students who work full-time are advised to follow the four-year schedule, with two-classes per semester. Students who work part-time or who have a graduate assistantships, can follow the three-year plan with three-classes per semester.

All students must plan to commit 1,200 hours full-time in the last year of the program to their internship (which should be a paid internship). It is typically not possible to maintain your original full-time employment during that year. It may be possible to arrange a part-time internship over two-years, 600-hours each year. Any alterations to the standard internship agreement must be discussed with and approved by the advisor and Program Coordinator prior to the internship.

Graduate assistantships are available to master’s degree students across campus in a variety of administrative offices and academic departments. Students interested in graduate assistantships should see the Graduate Assistantship page on the Graduate Studies website or call the Office of Graduate Studies for an application. The deadline date to submit a graduate assistant application to the Office of Graduate Studies is February 1.
Assistantships are awarded for a nine-month period (fall and spring semesters only) to students admitted to a master’s degree program and are renewable for a second academic year. Graduate assistants awarded a full-time assistantship receive a tuition waiver up to 24 graduate credits and a stipend of $5,000 for their first year. In their second year as a full-time graduate assistant, the student will receive a tuition waiver up to 24 graduate credits and a stipend of $5,400 .

A few classes are offered online, but the majority of courses are in the classroom.

Full-time students take 9 credits each semester (fall, spring, and summer). Part-time students vary from 3 to 6 credits a semester, but sometimes take 9 credits in the summer or when their schedules allow.

Classes range from about 7 to 25 students depending on the nature of the course. We aim for small class sizes in our courses where close supervision is required and provided. Class sizes for general classes (such as Child Development) are around 25. Classes specific to School Psychology skill development (such as Assessment or Consultation) have around 7-16.

In the first year, we provide field-based experiences to orient students to the field. The types of activities include shadowing a school psychologist for the day, attending and observing school functions, and professional workshops.

Many courses, such as Consultation and Assessment, give students the opportunity to work with both children and teachers in a hands-on setting.

Yes, there are specific faculty members for the School Psychology program. Dr. Lauren Kaiser is a full-time faculty member, and we have adjunct professors specific to our program.

Yes, our program shares some classes with students from the Clinical Psychology, School Counseling, Special Education, and Elementary Education Masters programs.

Following the completion of the 3 core courses, Child Development, Research Design and Statistics, and Seminar in School Psychology, students are evaluated on their skills in applying their knowledge through answering an integrated question for each course. The CCEs (core competency exams) are offered on the Saturday of the 12th week of the fall and spring semester, and the first Saturday in August. An hour is given for each question and all 3 questions are taken at one sitting. Students are required to take the CCEs during the semester in which they anticipate completing their 3rd core course (for full-time students, this will be the first semester of the program). Students must successfully pass all 3 CCEs to continue with coursework.

After picking classes with your advisor, find your registration day by visiting Millersville’s Registrar's website. The Registrar's website also has clear instructions on how to register for classes. To register, you will need to access your MAX account - make sure you can access this account before you attempt to register.

Each student applies for internships that he/she wants based on location/stipend/faculty/etc. Flyers are posted on the School Psychology bulletin board and via our learning management system notifying students of some districts offering internships, although students are welcome to find their own internships.

You should apply for internships the winter before you plan to start the year-long field experience. Each school district has its own deadline for internship applications; however, applications are generally due between December and March. For more complete information on applying for internships, please see the form "Hints for Applying to Internships" which is posted on the School Psychology homepage or on the bulletin board outside of 213 Luek.

Yes, out-of-state internships are fine, although students will need to complete certain guidelines and receive approval for out-of-state internships. When completing an out-of-state internship, a student’s certification as a School Psychologist will still be from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Internships are an entire school year, from August to June, and counts for 9 credits. Yes, the internships are usually paid. Stipends vary with each district, but a general range is $5,000 - $15,000.

The certification is specific to Pennsylvania, although students may take their credentials to other states’ Departments of Education and apply for certification in that state. Students are also eligible to apply for national certification upon completion of the program. For information on national certification, visit the NASP website. For further questions about certification, contact Millersville’s Certification Office or certification@millersville.edu.

Most students find employment during the spring semester of their internships. The remaining students find employment shortly after they have completed the program.