As in most states, Mississippi’s colleges and universities have widely adopted online learning as a significant part of their educational delivery system. This being the case, you can more easily work toward your undergraduate or graduate degree in industrial organizational (IO) psychology without having to attend in-person classes or spend undue amounts of time on campus.
Another advantage of online learning is that you aren’t limited to getting your degree from a Mississippi school. Sure, there are some good online programs in psychology, but most aren’t focused on the IO niche. Looking to nearby states for more specific IO degrees is common for people like you who want to learn online.
With that in mind, this list outlines some of the popular excellent in-state and out-of-state options to consider for your degree in IO psychology. Each program is offered fully online by an accredited institution. The most difficult task is likely choosing which of the four is the best one!
Industrial Organizational Psychology Programs in Mississippi
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering industrial-organizational psychology programs in Mississippi:
- Mississippi State University
- Grand Canyon University
- Walden University
- Southern New Hampshire University
- Purdue Global
- National University
- Columbia Southern University
- Auburn University
- Austin Peay State University
Mississippi State University
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Mississippi State’s Bachelor of Science in Psychology is a customizable program that allows you to take IO psychology-related classes without completing a specific IO degree or minor. This flexibility means you can utilize the required psychology electives and general electives more freely to explore business, management, human resources, and psychology classes that best prepare you for an IO career.
The psychology department at Mississippi State has a world-renowned faculty and provides you with opportunities to conduct important research in this field. The program is highly flexible, too. You can enter as a first-year student and complete all four years of studies at Mississippi State, or you can finish your general education coursework at a community college and transfer those credits (up to 62) to Mississippi State, where you’ll complete the major-area requirements for the degree.
Another flexible component of this program is the course sequencing. In all but one or two cases, the classes you need to take are not sequenced, meaning you can take whatever classes you wish in whatever semester you choose.
To graduate, you must complete 124 credit hours. Half of those credits are general education classes and general electives. General education classes are the categories of coursework that all undergraduate students are required to complete. At Mississippi State, that means taking anywhere from 39-48 credits in the following fields:
- English Composition
- Fine Arts
- Mathematics
- Public Speaking
- Foreign Language
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Humanities
- Natural Sciences
Then, you’ll need roughly 34 or so general elective credits. As noted earlier, the electives you take can be in any undergraduate field of study. To prepare for a career in IO psychology, you might take classes that focus on organizational development, leadership, and human resource management. You may also be able to take classes on topics related to personnel, management, marketing, and business administration.
When it comes to the psychology coursework for this degree, you must complete 27 credits of required classes and 18 elective credits. The required coursework covers the basics of psychology. For example, you’ll take Careers in Psychology, which offers a general overview of the type of careers you can pursue with a bachelor’s degree or higher. You’ll also take Introduction to Developmental Psychology, which explores how humans grow and develop from birth to death.
A course that has implications for IO psychology is Introductory Psychological Statistics. Many IO psychologists are trained in psychological research, testing, and assessment, so having a solid understanding of common data analysis procedures is essential for your future in this field.
Yet another required class that’s applicable to IO psychology is Social Psychology. This course examines the impact of social occurrences–language, culture, religion, and other shared experiences–on individual behavior. In a workplace setting, these and many other factors can heavily influence how people communicate and work together in small and large group settings in an organization.
Other required psychology classes are as follows:
- Psychology of Abnormal Behavior
- Experimental Psychology
- Psychology of Learning
- Cognitive Psychology
- Biological Psychology
The psychology elective component of the degree offers more customization opportunities. For example, with an interest in IO psychology, you might take the Motivation class to learn more about what fuels motivation and how to enhance motivation in different workers to become more reliable, productive, and functional in the workplace.
Likewise, the Positive Psychology course can be helpful in IO psychology work because of its focus on facilitating healthy living and a fulfilling life. You might find that some people who work within an organization need to be lifted up and encouraged, not just in their work life but in their lives in general. This class can help prepare you to do just that.
Other elective options for this program include the following:
- Behavior Modification
- Human Sexual Behavior
- Drug Use and Abuse
- Theories of Personality
- Psychology and the Law
You can apply to Mississippi State online at any time. You must meet the following criteria to be considered for full admission to the university as a first-year student:
- Complete the application for admission linked above.
- Pay a $40 application fee.
- Have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
- Submit official high school transcripts or equivalency scores.
- Complete the College Preparatory Curriculum in high school. You must also satisfy one of the following:
- Have a 2.0 GPA or higher in all College Preparatory Curriculum coursework.
- Meet the standards for student-athletes as governed by the National Collegiate Athletics Association.
- Earn a satisfactory score on the ACT or SAT.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university from which you’ve earned credit.
Columbia Southern University
Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The online Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Columbia Southern University is a popular out-of-state online option for Mississippi students like you (Columbia Southern is in Alabama). Naturally, the focus of this degree is on helping you build the foundational knowledge and skills for improving the functionality and productivity of businesses and organizations.
You’ll gain the necessary skills for working in IO psychology over a 120-credit curriculum. You don’t have to earn all 120 credits at Columbia Southern, though. In fact, you can transfer as many as 90 credits to this program, making this an attractive program if you’ve already started your degree but still need to finish it.
The curriculum is divided into five parts:
- General Education
- General Electives
- Major Requirements
- Concentration Coursework
- Program Electives
The general education and general elective components are similar to those discussed earlier. On the one hand, the general education courses give you a broad overview of essential academic areas like English, math, social sciences, and natural sciences. On the other hand, the general electives allow you to take courses relating to your intended career. In this case, business, marketing, and management classes are perhaps the most pertinent.
You must complete 36 credits of major requirements. These classes cover broad topics within psychology, such as Abnormal Psychology, the Psychology of Learning, and Social Psychology. You’ll take Physiological Psychology, Psychological Assessment, and Developmental Psychology, too.
Though each of these classes has a different focus, the common thread is that they help you acquire a foundational understanding of the study of psychology. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to apply psychological principles in many different areas. Other major requirements include the following:
- Psychology of Adjustment
- History and Systems of Psychology
- Theories of Personality
- Industrial-Organizational Psychology
- Research Methods
You’ll undertake more directed and specific studies of IO psychology in your concentration courses. For example, you’re required to take Human Relations and Development, which takes a detailed look at the interpersonal relationship component of organizations. As such, you’ll learn how to help people improve their interpersonal skills, evaluate personality differences among workers in an organization, and ensure adherence to ethical behavior, to name a few.
As another example, you’ll take a course entitled Managing Diversity in Organizations. This course examines the various dynamics at play in organizations, such as gender, ethnic, racial, and sexual diversity. What’s more, you’ll gain a better understanding of how these forces should be addressed at the managerial level.
To complete the concentration sequence, you’ll take classes in Leadership, Team Building, and Negotiation/Conflict Resolution. These three classes are crucial for your success as a member of a managerial team. Not only that, but the skills you learn in these classes can make all the difference in helping guide an organization toward a more positive future.
The program’s final component covers your choice of program-related electives. You’re given wide latitude here; you can take classes ranging from Forensic Psychology to Mental Illness and Crime to Organizational Communication.
You can apply to Columbia Southern online if this program seems like a good fit for your needs. The requirements for admission are as follows:
- Complete the application for admission linked above.
- Submit official high school transcripts or equivalency scores.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university from which you’ve earned credit.
Auburn University
Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Auburn University’s Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology is available completely online and is therefore open to you as a Mississippi resident. It’s a short program, too–at just 30 credits, you only need about two years to finish the requirements to graduate.
This is a terminal master’s degree. That is, once you complete your studies, you’ll have the highest degree possible in this field and will be eligible to work in many different IO psychology settings.
The courses required for this degree are all asynchronous. This type of learning allows you to work at your own pace (while still meeting necessary deadlines) without the worry of being available for specific online class meeting times. If you have work or life obligations, this type of setup is the most flexible for completing your degree.
Your studies begin with coursework in Advanced Analytics in Social and Behavioral Sciences. As you might guess, this class focuses on data collection, analysis, and interpretation–all of which are essential skills for any psychology career, including those in industrial and organizational settings.
From there, you’ll take Foundations in Industrial Organizational Psychology. This class provides an overview of this field, including its history and development, historical and modern theories, and current issues in IO psychology. This class goes hand-in-hand with coursework in Training and Development in Organizations. Training and development procedures are constantly evolving; your future position as an IO psychologist requires you to be on the leading edge of best practices so you can deliver the highest-quality services to the businesses and organizations that hire you.
This degree further requires you to have specific training in personnel selection. The three-credit course on this subject trains you to have a keen eye for talent. Not only that, you’ll develop a better understanding of how to recruit top talent, onboard new employees, and put those employees in positions that make their success and the success of the organization most likely.
There is a research component to this degree, too. In fact, you’ll complete three courses with research implications:
- Research Methods in Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Ethics and Professional Issues in Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Practicum in Applied Psychology
The Research Methods class helps you develop high-level skills for designing and implementing relevant research to IO psychology. Meanwhile, the Ethics course ensures you understand how to conduct IO psychology-related research in a manner that protects the safety of the people you’re studying. The skills learned in these classes can then be applied in an on-site practicum, where you’ll be responsible for utilizing your knowledge to solve real-world problems in a supervised IO psychology setting.
The last element of this degree is a nine-credit sequence of psychology electives. You can choose three of the following four options:
- Occupational Health Psychology
- Coaching in Organizations
- Organizational Change
- Occupational Stress and Management
You must meet the following requirements to qualify for admission:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- Have a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA or higher.
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Provide a personal statement.
- Submit two letters of recommendation from references who can speak to your academic and professional capabilities.
Austin Peay State University
Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The online Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Austin Peay is another popular option if you want to stay in Mississippi but get a quality degree. Broadly speaking, this program offers high-level instruction in critical IO psychology topics like employee training, leadership, occupational health, and recruitment.
You’ll learn about these and other topics over the course of a 34-credit curriculum that takes about two years to complete. You have two options for finishing this degree: a non-thesis or a thesis track. The only coursework difference between the two tracks is that non-thesis students complete two elective classes and a comprehensive exam, while thesis students earn credit for pre-thesis and thesis work.
One of the first classes you’ll take is Foundations of Applied Psychology. This course offers a general overview of applied psychology. You’ll explore applications relating to personality, emotion, motivation, and intelligence, as well as cognition, learning, and social psychology. Each of these areas is relevant to IO psychology applications.
Next, the Professional Development in Industrial-Organizational Psychology course brings issues like professional identity, ethics, and legal considerations to the forefront. You’ll analyze current issues in industrial-organizational psychology, practice writing for professional audiences, and learn about the history of IO psychology as well.
Of course, many of the classes you’ll take are directly related to tasks you’ll be asked to complete as an IO psychologist. For example, you’ll take a Performance Management class that trains you to conduct performance appraisals of employees. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to quantify job performance criteria and evaluate employees on various metrics.
Research is a significant portion of this degree, too–even if you choose the non-thesis option. The Research Methodology in Applied Psychology class provides insights into the processes of conducting research. You’ll learn about both experimental and non-experimental designs, qualitative and quantitative methods, and ethical standards for research as well.
Other required courses include the following:
- Measurement and Statistics in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
- Training and Development
- Leadership and Organizational Change
- Organizational Psychology Personnel Psychology
Assuming you choose the non-thesis track, you’ll take two electives to acquire additional knowledge and skills. Currently, the available electives focus on Occupational Health Psychology, Cross-Cultural Industrial Organization, and Consulting in Organizational Psychology. You can also choose to enroll in a seminar course on selected topics in IO psychology.
Lastly, you’ll need to pass a comprehensive examination. The exam occurs near the end of the program and gauges your development as a pre-service IO psychologist by exploring the breadth of learning you undertook throughout the program. This is a pass-or-fail course, and you must pass the exam before you can earn your degree.
If, on the other hand, you choose to complete a thesis, you don’t have to take a comprehensive exam. Instead, your summative assessment is your thesis, which requires a tremendous amount of time and research. Usually, the thesis course is at least three credits, but more commonly, students take the thesis course for two semesters to adequately prepare. You’re required to conduct original research or analyze already published research. Your findings must then be presented in a publication-worthy paper that you orally defend to a thesis committee.
The admissions requirements are as follows:
- Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with at least 12 credits of psychology or related coursework.
- Have an undergraduate GPA of 2.0 or higher (most applicants have a 3.0 or higher GPA).
- Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
- Provide three letters of recommendation from academic or professional references.
- Submit a personal statement in which you explain why you’re interested in IO psychology and what interests you about Austin Peay’s program.
- Have relevant work experience or research in this field.
- Provide verification that you are lawfully in the United States.
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