New York City may be one of the most populous, and densely populated urban areas in the world, but New York State is only the fourth biggest state in the union. Nevertheless, the Empire State is ranks pretty high in just about every metric surrounding the study and the practice of psychology.
- A study by the National Center for Education Statistics found New York to be second among states in terms of the number of students enrolled in psychology bachelor’s degree programs in the 2011-2012 academic year, with nearly ten thousand. The state was third in psychology master’s degrees in the same study, with just over two thousand.
New York is also a good place to practice psychology. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics ranked the following:
- The New York/Jersey City/White Plains area was at the top of the list for employment of psychologists in major metropolitan areas, with 6,850 professionals practicing in 2015.
- At $91,440, the average annual salary for psychologists in that area wall well above the national number of $76,040.
- The Nassau and Suffolk Country metropolitan division, which encompasses large parts of Long Island, was one the top regions in the country for psychologists salaries, with an average annual income of $100,510.
Region | Career | Total Employment | MeanAnnualWage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | Psychologists, All Other | 40 | $99,860 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | Marriage and Family Therapists | 60 | $50,240 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 470 | $81,490 |
2019 Occupational Employment Statistics and 2018-28 Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov.
As the second largest state for employment of psychologists in the country, New York is obviously a good place to train. The state boasts 26 schools with psychology programs accredited by the American Psychological Association; 22 with approval from the National Association of School Psychologists; and 22 with approval from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. The New York Office of College and University Evaluation lists 38 individual doctoral programs in the state that qualify graduates for licensure.
New York psychology licensing requirements
Psychologists in New York must be licensed at the state level, by the New York State Education Department’s Office of the Professions. The basic qualification is a doctoral degree in psychology from a accredited program. However, New York has specific guidelines for what this program must cover, including a lest three semester hours or five graduate quarter hours in seven discrete content areas: biological basis of behavior; cognitive-affective basis of behavior; social basis of behavior; individual difference; psychometrics; history and systems of psychology; research design, methodology, and statistics.
Here is a list of what’s required for licensure in New York:
- One year of supervised practicum, internship, field experience, or applied research
- Two years of full-time supervised experience (defined as 1750 clock hours per year), one of which can be in the form of the doctoral practicum/internship.
- Satisfy the Child Abuse Identification Reporting requirement by completing coursework or training in the identification and reporting of child abuse
- Take and earn a passing score on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology
Featured psychology schools in New York
Based on the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings for psychology programs in the country, here are the top five psychology schools in New York:
Columbia University
Columbia University effectively has two different psychology programs housed within its Ivy League campus. The university’s Psychology Department handles undergraduate psychology majors, who can also take advantage of a neuroscience and behavior major. It also offers a doctoral PhD program centered around behavioral neuroscience, perception, cognition, and social-personality psychology. Columbia University’s Teachers College, a graduate school of education that often simply referred to as Teachers College, has a range of doctoral programs in clinical psychology, with specialization in applied developmental and learning psychology, psychological counseling, school psychology, and social-organizational psychology.
- Department Columbia University Department of Psychology and Teachers College
- Location: New York, New York
- Online options: In addition to its campus-based programs in psychology, Columbia’s School of Professional Studies offers and online certificate in psychology.
Cornell University
The Psychology Department at Cornell University, the other Ivy in New York State, has at its disposal a full complement of 16 lab facilities. These include a music cognition laboratory, an experimental epistemology project, a computational physiology laboratory, and an attention, memory, and perception laboratory. Undergraduates can major and minor in psychology, and the department offers a specialization in cognitive science. Cornell University Graduate School has a doctoral program in psychology that includes concentrations in behavioral and evolutionary neuroscience; perception, cognition, and development; and social/personality psychology. The graduate in psychology at Cornell does not encompass clinical, community, counseling, or school psychology.
- Department: Cornell University Department of Psychology
- Location: Ithaca, New York
- Online options: Cornell’s School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions does offer a range of online courses, and the university offers additional certificate programs through eCornell. However, psychology degrees are not available through online or distance learning.
New York University
At NYU, the Psychology Department has three research centers that students have access to: a center for brain imaging, a center for experimental social science, and a center for neuroeconomics. The school offers a range of degrees in the field of psychology, including an undergraduate major in psychology, and master’s degree in general psychology and industrial/organizational psychology. At the doctoral level, research and training is broken up into three main areas: cognition and perception; social/personality psychology; and developmental psychology, with specializations in speech perception, racial socialization, perceptual exploration, and several other subspecialties. In addition, the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at NYU has a department of applied psychology that includes bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree options.
- Department: NYU Department of Psychology and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
- Location: New York, New York
- Online options: The NYU School of Professional Studies does offer a range of undergraduate and master’s degrees, but not in the field of psychology.
State University of New York at Stony Brook
SUNY Stony Brook, also known as Stony Brook University and just plain Stony Brook, is home to Brookhaven National Laboratory and a large Research and Development Park. The Psychological Center at Stony Brook also has a number of facilities to its credit, including the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, the Relationship & Forensic Assessment Clinic, and the SCAN Center (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience). Stony Brook emphasizes four main areas of research and training in psychology: clinical psychology, cognitive science, integrative neuroscience, and social and health psychology.
- Department: Stony Brook University Department of Psychology
- Location: Stony Brook, New York
- Online options: Stony Brook’s School of Professional Development offers a range of degree and certificate programs online. However, psychology degrees are not offered online.
University of Rochester
The Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester administers the school’s doctoral program in psychology, and much of its undergraduate coursework. The university’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Science also offers courses in psychology. And both departments have doctoral programs. Clinical, social, and developmental are areas of emphasis in the clinical and social sciences, and that department specializes in research into motivation, developmental psychopathology, and interpersonal relationships. The graduate program in brain and cognitive science includes a focus on behavioral, computational, and neural sciences.
- Department: University of Rochester Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology and Department of Brain and Cognitive Science
- Location: Rochester, New York
- Online options: The University of Rochester does offer a range of online courses and some degree and certificate programs. However, these are not in the field of psychology.