Psychology PhD and PsyD programs in New Jersey offer you advanced training to prepare for careers in clinical practice, research, and academia. These doctoral programs, available at universities such as Rutgers, Seton Hall, and Kean, provide specialized education in areas like clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and school psychology.
You will complete rigorous coursework, practicum experiences, internships, and research or dissertation projects designed to develop both scientific and applied skills. With APA-accredited options, New Jersey programs equip you to qualify for licensure, pursue faculty positions, or work in healthcare, education, or private practice settings.
Psychology PhD and PsyD Programs in New Jersey
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering psychology PhD and PsyD programs in New Jersey:
- Rutgers University
- Kean University
- Georgian Court University
- Seton Hall University
- Princeton University
- Fairleigh Dickinson University
- University of Arizona Global Campus
To find out how we select colleges and universities, please click here.
Rutgers University
PsyD in Clinical Psychology
Rutgers University’s Clinical Psychology (PsyD) program prepares you for direct clinical practice and applied professional work by giving you a strong background in clinical methods supported by current scientific knowledge of mind and behavior. You receive instruction in broad psychological principles while also developing practical skills through step-by-step training in assessment and intervention.
The program takes a pluralistic approach, introducing you to three major perspectives: cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and systems theories. Your education consistently emphasizes awareness of individual differences related to age, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, language, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, and national origin.
You will be trained within the practitioner-scholar model, gaining clinical practice skills while also engaging with psychological science. Training is closely connected to the community, as community-based psychologists often serve as supervisors and help bring evolving clinical challenges into your training.
Faculty at Rutgers conduct research that directly informs clinical practice. You will participate in applied community-based research focused on evidence-based prevention, assessment, and treatment approaches that are both culturally appropriate and practical to implement. Students often work alongside faculty on federally funded projects improving care for children, families, and adults.
The program can be completed in four years, though you are encouraged to consider a five-year plan for deeper professional development. You will complete coursework, practicum experiences, a dissertation, and a year-long internship. In total, the program requires 81 credits, 1,080 hours of pre-internship practicum experience, and a 1,750-hour internship.
Program structure is as follows:
- First Year: Courses include Child Psychopathology, Adult Psychopathology, Theoretical Foundations of Intervention (Organizations, Analytic, Cognitive Behavioral), Observation and Interviewing, Psychodynamic Interview, and Cognitive Behavioral Assessment. You will also complete practica and take courses in Cognitive Assessment, Psychopharmacology, Cognitive/Affective Psychology, and Social Psychology.
- Second Year: Courses include Interventions with Minority Clients or Diversity and Racial Identity, Statistics, Advanced Statistics, Individual Cognitive Assessment, Community Psychology, Professional Development, Psychopharmacology, and electives. Practicum continues.
- Third Year: You will take Philosophy and Systems of Psychology (or an approved substitute), electives, and begin your dissertation. Practicum experiences continue.
- Fourth Year: You will complete electives, dissertation credits, and practica. You will also apply for internship.
- Fifth Year: You will complete your full-year internship in clinical psychology.
While you are encouraged to develop a broad understanding of the origins of modern clinical practices, the program also supports the growth of both your interests and faculty interests in clinical and applied work that is innovative in nature.
Faculty members participate in applied research programs that focus on new intervention strategies and new ways of addressing societal issues, and you are encouraged to contribute to these projects.
Clinical training in a professional school of psychology allows you to be directly involved in issues that are highly relevant to clinical and applied practice. You are guided to create a specialty cluster in an area of your particular interest. This focus might take the form of a concentration within a theoretical orientation such as cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, or systems.
Alternatively, your cluster may be based on an applied area such as children, community/organizational work, marital counseling, behavioral medicine, forensics, substance abuse, or sport psychology. You will design your specialty area in consultation with your adviser.
To apply, you must have:
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree, preferably in psychology.
- Strong academic performance.
- CV/resume.
- At least three recommendations from individuals who can speak to your qualifications.
- Personal Statement (1.5–2 pages, 750–1000 words) describing your experiences and commitment to a career in professional psychology.
- Brief essay (300–500 words) describing how your background and goals align with GSAPP’s mission.
- Required undergraduate coursework: Introduction to Psychology, Statistics, Abnormal Psychology, Biological Bases of Psychology (Biopsychology), and one or two courses in areas such as Cognitive Psychology, Perception, Learning, Developmental Psychology, Personality, or Social Psychology.
- GRE Psychology Subject Test.
Kean University
School and Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)
Clinical and school psychologists work with clients in a wide variety of settings, including schools, community health care facilities, medical centers, and university counseling centers.
At Kean University, you may enter the combined school and clinical psychology doctoral program, which equips you with training across both practice areas. This program blends rigorous coursework, structured clinical training, and individualized faculty mentorship. Each class is limited to approximately twelve students per year, ensuring that you receive direct attention and guidance.
Kean University’s Psy.D. program prepares you as a general practice, primary care, and health service psychologist with competence to serve in multiple professional and academic environments. The program reaches this goal by deliberately merging school psychology and clinical psychology training, giving you both breadth and depth in these practice areas.
Because the program integrates these disciplines, you are prepared to practice as a clinical or school psychologist in diverse roles, enhancing your career flexibility and competitiveness. You gain opportunities for research, externships, and collaboration with faculty, which often includes presenting and publishing.
Your doctoral education prepares you to:
- Assess contextual and behavioral factors influencing clients.
- Build intervention skills that enable clients to make meaningful changes.
- Connect scholarly inquiry to applied practice, engaging in evidence-informed work.
- Train with diverse populations through campus-based practica and community service placements.
- Participate in research across all program levels and complete a dissertation.
Beginning in your second year, you see clients at Kean Psychological Services, offering assessments and/or psychotherapy. Your final year requires a full-time internship in a clinical or school setting, typically arranged through the national match process.
The Psy.D. program requires at least 121 credits. Most classes are during the day, though some evening courses are included. You will also work with clients at the training clinic.
Externships follow a sequence: a school externship in year two, a clinical externship in year three, and an optional externship in year four. Alongside, you will carry a caseload at Kean Psychological Services.
Your dissertation culminates in submissions to ProQuest and to a professional journal. Most dissertations are empirical, using varied experimental and correlational designs. Research may take place in the training clinic, at externship sites, in schools, or other clinical contexts. You will be guided through dissertation seminars.
Degree Requirements:
- 121 credits
- Doctoral Practica I and II
- Foundations, Assessment, and Intervention Competency Exams
- Doctoral Dissertation
- Minimum 1,750 internship hours (school-based internships with fewer hours may affect licensure)
The program length ranges from five to seven years. Typically, four years are at Kean and the fifth year is the internship. Additional time may be needed for competency remediation or personal circumstances. A seventh year requires petition in advance.
As a graduate, you will be prepared for positions in:
- Mental health centers
- Educational institutions (K-12, colleges, universities)
- Academic medical centers and hospitals
- Correctional facilities
- Independent practice
This combined program is notable for its lifespan clinical scope, with faculty expertise in populations ranging from infants to older adults. You will engage with evidence-based practice while critically examining the nature of evidence and the sociocultural contexts of research and applied work. The program is accredited by both APA and the National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP).
Admission Requirements:
- Recommended minimum undergraduate GPA 3.3
- Recommended graduate GPA 3.5
- GRE within 5 years (Psychology GRE optional)
- PSYCAS GRE Code 2251
- Psy.D. Supplemental Application (PSYCAS)
- Statement of purpose
- Official transcripts
- Resume/CV
- Three recommendation letters
- Writing sample (through PSYCAS)
- Interview (in-person or remote) with faculty and current students
Prerequisite Courses:
- Theories of Personality or Developmental Psychology
- Abnormal Psychology
- Statistics
- Experimental Psychology
Funding Opportunities:
- A small number of Doctoral Assistantships (DA) awarded yearly, covering tuition and stipend for four years, involving work at Kean Psychological Services and other duties.
- Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA) available starting in year two, involving leading recitation sections with partial tuition remission and stipends.
Georgian Court University
PsyD in School Psychology
Earn your Psy.D. in School Psychology at Georgian Court University in a program aligned with the principles of NASP. At GCU, you benefit from close mentorship with faculty, exposure to diverse research interests, and the integration of Mercy values—respect, compassion, justice, integrity, and service—throughout your academic and training experience.
By earning this degree, you gain the foundation for a career that allows you to help students grow into their best selves while also advancing education at the systems level. With school psychologists in high demand, you will enter a profession that offers competitive pay and work-life balance, consistently ranked among the Best Jobs by U.S. News and World Report.
At GCU, your Psy.D. program incorporates a social justice perspective and equips you with evidence-based skills in assessment, counseling, consultation, prevention, intervention, and implementation science. You will follow a rigorous, hands-on curriculum with ongoing faculty interaction that prepares you for both professional success and fulfillment.
- Advanced Standing Option: Designed for certified school psychologists or those completing a 60+ credit master’s or specialist degree in school psychology. This three-year program enables you to strengthen your school-based practice and expand into hospitals, clinics, or private practice.
- Five-Year Option: Designed for bachelor’s degree holders (with 12–18 psychology credits). In the first two years, you earn an M.A. in School Psychology and the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS). You focus on developing as a socially conscious professional providing evidence-based services to children, schools, and districts. You also have the option to earn the BCBA credential since GCU includes the required coursework. The final three years transition into the Advanced Standing Psy.D. program.
The full program requires 110–113 credits over five years for undergraduate-entry students. You must complete 420 practicum hours, a 1,500–1,750 hour internship (at least 600 in Pre-K–12 settings), and a dissertation. Internship supervision must be provided by a licensed psychologist for licensure eligibility. The program is full-time only and meets NASP standards.
Advanced Standing: This 47-credit program spans three years for certified school psychologists. It requires 120 practicum hours, a 1,500–1,750 hour internship, and a dissertation. It is also full-time only. Professionals without school psychology certification are not eligible.
Both pathways prepare you to serve children in schools, hospitals, and clinics while emphasizing diversity and social justice. You will also learn to respect the contexts of multicultural societies and apply GCU’s Mercy values.
Courses are taught by full-time faculty with expertise across school and private practice. Field experiences place you in schools and clinical settings, and you may conduct research aligned with your interests and present at national conferences such as NASP.
Advanced Standing students may receive fellowships that reduce tuition by one-third, involving roles such as research assistant or teaching assistant, adding valuable experience.
The curriculum follows NASP’s 10 domains of practice, including:
- Data-Based Decision-Making
- Consultation and Collaboration
- Academic Interventions
- Mental and Behavioral Health Services
- School-Wide Practices
- Services for Safe and Supportive Schools
- Family, School, and Community Collaboration
- Equitable Practices for Diverse Students
- Research and Evidence-Based Practice
- . Legal, Ethical, and Professional Practice
To apply, You must submit your application by February 1. Interviews occur in February and March, with notifications by April 15. The program begins in the fall.
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
- Minimum GPA 3.4
- At least 18 psychology credits: Intro to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology/Psychopathology, Child/Adolescent/Lifespan Development, Statistics or Research Methods, and 6 additional psychology credits
- Completed self-managed application packet including: $40 application fee, graduate application form, personal statement (addressing career motivation, influences, experience with children, doctoral goals, research interests, and professional plans), official transcripts, two recommendation letters, resume/CV, and writing sample.
Admission depends on the outcome of an interview with faculty, often including individual and group sessions and a writing exercise.
Seton Hall University
Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology
The APA-accredited Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Seton Hall University is a 94-credit, full-time program. This program prepares you as a counseling psychologist within the scientist-practitioner model, equipping you to serve as a capable and responsible member of the health service psychology community.
You will learn to value research in informing practice, appreciate the role of practice in shaping science, and develop the skills, knowledge, and insight to help individuals gain responsibility and control in their lives, while considering human development and the systems that influence them.
You will follow a structured sequence of training in theory, multicultural competence, research, and practice. From your first year, you will participate in research as an assistant to faculty, and this will progress into independent research projects and your dissertation.
You will also have leadership and community involvement opportunities such as joining professional organizations and the Counseling Psychology Student Association. In your first year, you complete practicum placements with diverse populations. In the second through fourth years, you apply for externships in settings such as counseling centers, hospitals, and community mental health agencies. The program concludes with a full-time internship during the fifth year.
You will work alongside faculty engaged in research addressing inequity and social justice. The program is APA-accredited and the only Counseling Psychology Ph.D. in New Jersey. It follows a strengths-based approach with an integrative healthcare model, emphasizing lifespan development and the person-in-environment perspective. You will have multiple chances to publish and present research, strengthening your preparation for a career in counseling psychology.
Because counseling psychologists often work in diverse contexts, the program provides thorough grounding in psychological theory similar to other psychology specialties. At the same time, training emphasizes what distinguishes counseling psychology as defined by APA Division 17: a focus on culturally informed practices, well-being, prevention, education, and work and career issues.
Instead of fixed tracks, you will receive broad training in theory, research, and practice, with opportunities to specialize through electives, internship, or postdoctoral experiences. Graduates have entered careers in university counseling centers, healthcare and rehabilitation facilities, academic departments, private practice, consulting, and organizational work.
Admission to the program is competitive. Applicants are considered for the Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology program if they have completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology or a related field, or with a master’s degree in psychology or counseling. To apply, you need:
- Online application.
- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in psychology or a related field.
- Official transcripts from all institutions attended.
- Three letters of recommendation from faculty, supervisors, or colleagues.
- Resume or CV.
- Personal statement (750–1000 words) describing work experience, qualifications, and academic and professional goals.
- Brief essay (300–500 words) connecting your experiences and goals to GSAPP’s mission.
- Sample of work showing doctoral-level ability (encouraged especially if standardized test scores are not reflective of your potential).
- GRE scores are optional, but Psychology GRE scores are recommended.
Application Timeline
- Deadline: December 1 for Fall entry
- Faculty review applications to determine alignment with program goals based on GPA, test scores, research experience, writing ability, and professional interests.
- 20–25 applicants are invited to an on-campus interview.
- Offers are made to 6–8 applicants by mid-February.
- You may reapply if not selected, though applying more than twice is not encouraged.
University of Arizona Global Campus
Online Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
Earn your PsyD at the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) and prepare to positively influence the emotional and mental well-being of others. This online program gives you a strong understanding of the history and systems of psychology while allowing you to specialize in an area that aligns with your professional and research interests.
Earning this doctorate represents an important step if you wish to create meaningful change in society by promoting mental health and overall well-being.
The PsyD program at UAGC is not designed for licensure. Instead, it is structured for individuals planning to serve as practitioners in fields such as criminal justice, mediation and conflict resolution, sport and performance psychology, industrial organizational psychology, and other related areas that focus on improving emotional and mental well-being in community settings. The program concludes with an Applied Doctoral Project, where you contribute directly to the field through both practice and scholarship.
Through this program, you prepare for careers that require deep understanding of the human mind. You will strengthen your knowledge by studying psychology’s history and systems while customizing your PsyD degree with a chosen specialization to match your career and research goals.
This program supports specialization in areas such as Criminal Justice, Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Sport and Performance Psychology, Industrial Organizational Psychology, and other fields focused on serving communities.
When you complete the program, you will be able to:
- Apply best practices in psychology including professional values, ethics, and behaviors.
- Demonstrate cultural competence and integrate it into professional work with individuals, groups, and communities.
- Use knowledge grounded in theoretical models, evidence-based practices, and research.
- Strengthen your leadership skills within the psychology profession.
- Evaluate critically the trends, methods, and concepts in applied psychology research.
As a PsyD graduate, you may pursue work in settings including mental health, education, business, health care, counseling, and human services. If you bring prior experience from business or industry, you may also qualify for roles in consulting and marketing research.
The PsyD program is delivered fully online, giving you the flexibility to manage academic studies while balancing personal and professional responsibilities.
Admissions Requirements:
- Verification of English proficiency (through a bachelor’s degree in English or an English proficiency test).
- A master’s degree from an accredited institution.
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
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