Popular Accredited Industrial Organizational Psychology Programs in Arkansas [2025]

Last Updated: December 29, 2024

As an Arkansas college student, you can pursue your dream of becoming an IO psychologist from the comfort of your own home. Arkansas colleges and universities offer undergraduate programs that you can customize to your industrial-organizational interests. With a bachelor’s degree in this field, you’ll be ready to tackle entry-level jobs in businesses and industries nationwide.

You can also earn a graduate degree in IO psychology online. This guide offers insights into some of the popular options to get your career started. Explore each one and decide which meets your needs the best!

Industrial Organizational Psychology Programs in Arkansas

Listed below are some of the popular schools offering industrial-organizational psychology programs in Arkansas:

  • Walden University
  • Capella University
  • National University
  • University of Arkansas at Little Rock
  • Arkansas State University
  • Purdue Global
  • American Public University
  • The Chicago School
  • Southern New Hampshire University

Walden University

Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Walden University offers a Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology program that you can complete remotely.

This program requires you to complete 48 quarter credits to earn your degree. Though this is not a licensure-track program, you’ll still get a thorough and specific education in industrial-organizational psychology principles and practices.

The curriculum begins with a Foundations of Graduate Study in Psychology class that helps onboard you to online graduate work. Think of it as a “welcome to graduate psychology studies” course that informs you of what to expect during your degree program. You’ll also learn about the resources available to you, set long-term goals, and establish connections with your professors and peers.

The curriculum continues with 15 credits of core coursework in foundational IO psychology areas. These courses include the following:

  • Themes and Theories of I/O Psychology
  • Psychology of Organizational Behavior
  • Consulting for Organizational Change

In each case, these classes help you build essential IO psychology skills. For example, the Themes and Theories course encourages you to explore which IO psychology theoretical model aligns most with your perspective. As another example, the Organizational Behavior class informs you of how individual differences from one employee to the next affect their on-the-job performance.

Ten credits of research-oriented classes are also required. On the one hand, you’ll take Research Theory, Design, and Methods, which fosters the development of essential research skills. You’ll learn about mixed methods research designs, research processes, and the philosophy of science. You’ll also examine psychology research as a social change agent and analyze ethical considerations in research.

On the other hand, you’ll take Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis, which helps you build must-have skills for conducting high-level psychological research. You’ll focus on quantitative research methods and learn about quality assurance and common statistical tests, and you’ll also gain a deep understanding of data analysis.

Walden University offers IO psychology graduate students the choice of six specializations within the degree. Each specialization below has a distinct focus on applying psychological principles in workplace settings:

  • Consulting Psychology
  • Evidence-Based Coaching
  • General Practice
  • Human Resource Management
  • International Business
  • Self-Designed Specialization

In each case, at least 15-17 credits are required to complete the specialization. For example, let’s assume the Human Resource Management specialization is of the most interest to you. You can earn 15 credits by taking just three courses:

  • Organizational Behavior Performance and Evaluation
  • Human Resource Strategy, Legal, and Ethical Considerations
  • Human Resource Talent Management

Naturally, these classes examine the interplay between psychology and human resources. You’ll integrate critical business topics, IO psychology principles, and best practices for human resource management in an effort to enhance an organization’s ability to achieve its goals.

The program’s final component is a Capstone experience. This five-credit class requires you to design a project in which you promote positive social change in a business or organizational setting. Not only that, but you must also complete an integrative paper focusing specifically on the specialization you choose. The paper must demonstrate your ability to blend psychological theory with practical knowledge you’ve gained throughout the program. Likewise, you must also demonstrate competency in conducting social scientific research.

You can apply to Walden University at any time. You must meet the following criteria to apply:

  • Complete the application linked above, including your personal, employment, and academic history.
  • Have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.

If you wish to apply to Walden’s FlexPath option (a self-paced version of the guided curriculum discussed above), it’s strongly recommended you have a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA.

Capella University

Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology

The Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Capella University is yet another option you might consider for completing your IO degree from the comfort of your own home. This 53-credit program includes ten classes and one integrative project that prepares you for high-level work in organizational settings.

Once you complete this degree, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to make any number of positive changes in workplace settings. This includes creating a safe working environment, improving productivity levels, and emphasizing mental health as a priority for workers and management alike.

What’s more, you’ll learn the essentials of motivation, so you can create programs that enhance employees’ attitudes about their work. This, in turn, ensures the workplace is effective, streamlined, and functional.

The curriculum includes both core coursework and specialization classes. The four-course core sequence features studies in the following areas:

  • Quantitative Design and Analysis
  • Survey of Research Methods
  • Foundations of Theory and Practice for Master’s Psychology Learners
  • Tests and Measurements

As you might guess, these classes help you develop the necessary research and analytical skills to design workplace research, interpret the results of that research, and implement changes to improve the work environment. You’ll also learn about various tools IO psychologists use to collect data, such as tests that measure achievement, aptitudes, interests, and attitudes.

The 30-credit specialization sequence includes six classes that focus on IO psychology. One of the first classes you’ll take in the specialization is Lifespan Development. By studying the human experience from birth to death, you’ll learn how developmental issues can impact a worker’s motivation, attitudes, and communication in a workplace setting.

Another specialization course is Psychology of Leadership. In your capacity as an IO psychologist, you’ll often work with managers and executives who want or need to learn how to be more effective leaders. This class enables you to facilitate that process by learning about leadership development, leadership styles, and critical leadership principles. This class also includes an extensive multicultural component.

The remaining four specialization courses explore the following topics:

  • Principles of Industrial-Organizational Psychology
  • Consultation Psychology
  • Industrial-Organizational Psychology Practices in Personnel and Human Resource Management
  • Ethics and Multicultural Issues in Psychology

Capella University offers two pathways for completing the graduation requirements of this degree. As outlined above, the GuidedPath option operates like a traditional degree program – there are specific deadlines and weekly online interactions with your peers and professors. However, if you are more of an independent learner, Capella’s FlexPath option allows you to set your own deadlines and complete courses at your own pace.

The following requirements must be met to be considered for admission:

  • Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
  • Have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.3 or higher.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Provide a copy of a valid government-issued photo ID.

A 3.0 undergraduate GPA is highly recommended if you opt for the FlexPath program.

National University

Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology

A popular online option for your graduate education in IO psychology is the Master of Science offered by National University. This program is suitable if you are looking to start a career or plan to continue your education through a doctoral program. National University offers a “FastForward” option, allowing you to transition to the Ph.D. program more quickly and at a reduced cost.

To complete this program, you are required to take 10-12 courses and complete 30-36 credits. Most students finish these requirements within 16 months, though you may take longer to complete the program if needed.

A foundational course you’ll take is Foundations in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, focusing on applying psychological principles to organizational contexts. This course introduces topics such as training and development, leadership, work-life balance, and personnel selection. You’ll also develop essential graduate-level skills, such as conducting research and writing scholarly articles using APA formatting.

Another required course, Organizational Development, covers key roles of IO psychologists, including enhancing productivity, developing leadership, and managing organizational interventions. You’ll then move onto Personnel Selection and Recruitment, where you’ll learn evidence-based practices for recruiting and selecting employees.

The program also requires courses in psychological research and statistics. Research Design focuses on qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. You’ll learn to design research projects, ensure ethical standards, and apply these concepts in real-world contexts.

Another course, Applied Statistics in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, focuses on hypothesis testing, data analysis, and data visualization. You’ll study specific statistical concepts, like ANOVA, chi-squares, correlation, and regression.

Two additional courses in research and statistics are required. Tests and Measurements in Industrial-Organizational Psychology covers essential theories and issues related to testing and assessment, while Survey Methods and Organizational Behavior introduces you to implementing surveys to measure data on job satisfaction and employee attitudes.

Electives allow you to tailor your studies. You must choose any two from the following:

  • Psychology of Leadership
  • Work and Motivation and Employee Engagement
  • Training and Evaluation
  • Survey Methods and Organizational Behavior
  • Small Group Theory and Team Processes

Your program will conclude with a capstone project or internship. The capstone project provides an opportunity to apply what you have learned, showcasing skills in communication, critical thinking, and ethical application. You’ll review evidence-based practices related to a topic of personal interest in IO psychology.

Alternatively, the internship offers real-world experience in a setting related to IO psychology. National University will work with you to identify an appropriate placement near your location. In addition to your internship responsibilities, you’ll meet weekly with both your site supervisor and an NU professor.

You can start your application online. The admission requirements are as follows:

  • Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution.
  • A minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or higher, or 2.75 or higher in the final 90 quarter credits.
  • Unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

The online Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a 120-credit, four-year program. Though there is no specific emphasis on IO psychology, you can tailor your psychology electives and general electives to your interest in this field.

With a bachelor’s degree like this, you can explore many different job opportunities. On the one hand, you might focus on working in human resources for a large business or organization. On the other hand, you might focus more on psychological research with applications in the workplace. There are many other possibilities for a career in between, too.

This program begins with a first-year colloquium that introduces you to the rigors of college life. You’ll learn how to be an attentive student and explore the support services available to you as an online student.

From there, you’ll begin work on the 35-credit university core. These core courses focus on general learning in a broad range of subjects, such as English, humanities, art, science, and social sciences. You must also satisfy credit requirements in communications, history and government, and math.

You must also complete a cultural awareness component. The university offers multiple pathways for satisfying this requirement:

  • Complete a second semester of a foreign language or demonstrate equivalent proficiency.
  • Complete a three-credit foreign language course or demonstrate equivalent proficiency as well as an additional three-credit cultural awareness course.
  • Complete two three-credit cultural awareness courses.

There is a long list of acceptable courses to fulfill the cultural awareness requirement. For example, you can take classes like Judaism, the Philosophy of Race, or Linguistic Anthropology, to name just a few.

The psychology major includes 36 credits of lower-division and upper-division courses. Half of these credits are required. For example, you’ll Take Psychology and the Human Experience, which gives you insights into psychology as a science and its ability to explain why people behave the way they do. You’ll also take an applied psychology class that examines the many different ways in which psychology can be used to enhance our understanding of the human condition.

Other required courses focus on research and statistics. These classes introduce you to experimental methods, research ethics, and statistical analyses you can use to interpret the data you collect. A capstone experience follows the research and statistics courses and serves as a summative assessment of your competencies in psychological research and writing.

Another nine credits of required coursework come in three focus areas. You must take at least one upper-division class from each area. For example, you’ll take one of the following to complete the Focus Area A requirement:

  • Health Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Abnormal Psychology

You’ll then take at least one of the following courses to complete the Focus Area B requirement:

  • Sensation-Perception
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Physiological Psychology
  • Learning and Memory

Lastly, Focus Area C offers the following classes to choose from:

  • Industrial Psychology
  • Psychology of Consumer Behavior
  • Personnel Psychology
  • Organizational Psychology

Beyond that, you’re required to complete nine upper-division elective credits in psychology as well as an 18-credit minor. This is where you can focus your studies more specifically on industrial-organizational psychology topics.

So, for example, you might use one of the Focus Area C classes listed above as one of the three required focus area courses, then use the remaining three classes in that group as your psychology electives. Then, you could minor in business, management, or a similar field to acquire additional expertise in workplace issues.

The application for undergraduate admission to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock is available online. Be sure you meet the following requirements for admission:

  • Complete the application linked above.
  • Pay a $40 application fee.
  • Submit official high school transcripts indicating you graduated.
  • Provide official transcripts from every college or university you’ve attended.
  • Submit ACT or SAT scores.

Arkansas State University

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Arkansas State’s Bachelor of Arts in Psychology is another excellent, fully online option worth considering for completing your undergraduate degree in this field. Like the program above, you can tailor your studies to meet your needs in IO psychology more directly.

This program requires you to complete 120 credits to graduate, which typically takes four years. However, Arkansas State allows you to transfer up to 90 credits toward your degree. Assuming you do so and transfer the maximum number of credits, you could complete your degree in as little as a year.

This program is divided into three components: general education requirements, major requirements, and electives. The general education component includes coursework in diverse academic fields such as:

  • Communications
  • Mathematics
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Social Sciences
  • Life and Physical Sciences
  • English

As is typical of general education coursework, a variety of classes meet each requirement, so you can take courses that are most interesting to you. For example, to complete the social sciences portion of the curriculum, you might be able to choose from classes like U.S. History Until 1876, U.S. History Since 1876, Modern U.S. History, or American Legal History, as just a few options. The same is true for most of the other required categories of classes.

As for the psychology requirements, you’ll take 10 classes that give you a breadth and depth of understanding of critical psychology topics. For example, one of the first psychology classes you’ll take is Psychology as a Science and a Profession. This course provides a general overview of this field and introduces you to the various skills, tools, and techniques you’ll need to master to be an effective psychology student and psychology worker in the future.

You’re also required to take a Research Design and Analysis in Psychology class that provides insights into psychological research. You’ll learn how to design experiments, implement them with subjects, and analyze the data rendered from your research. Additionally, you’ll learn how to use descriptive statistics, correlations, and various experimental methods, too.

Yet another required course is Abnormal Psychology. This class explores various mental illnesses and their causes, symptoms, and treatments. You’ll learn about risk factors for common disorders, incidence levels of common disorders, and how to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to diagnose mental illnesses.

Several of the required psychology courses can be applied to IO psychology. A good example of this is the Motivation course. This class looks at research on motivation in human and non-human subjects. You’ll use this research to gain an understanding of motivational mechanisms, such as intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation. You’ll also learn about biological drives, emotions, and associated behaviors. As an IO psychologist, you must have a thorough understanding of human motivation to provide services like personnel selection or conflict resolution to businesses and organizations.

An additional course with IO psychology implications is Learning Processes. Many IO psychologists aid organizations in improving productivity. Understanding how people learn new information and acquire new skills is an essential component of being able to effectively boost productivity. Likewise, you’ll learn about classical and instrumental conditioning, both of which can be used to adjust behaviors in the workplace, such as increasing worker productivity or extinguishing unwanted worker behaviors like arriving to work late.

Other required courses include the following:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Cultural Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Professional Preparation Capstone

You must complete at least 52 elective credits to finish this degree. Again, this is where you can customize your degree to focus more on business and organizational issues. Classes like Human Resources Management, Organizational Behavior, and Leadership would all be excellent choices for preparing yourself to be an entry-level IO psychology worker.

The application requirements are as follows:

  • Complete the online application linked above.
  • Pay a $30 application fee.
  • Have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
  • Have a 2.75 high school GPA or higher or a GED score of 525 or higher.
  • Submit official SAT or ACT scores.
  • Submit official transcripts from every college or university from which you’ve earned credit. You must have a cumulative 2.0 undergraduate GPA for all college coursework.

Furthermore, you cannot enroll in this degree if you are required to take remedial English or math coursework.

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