New Jersey Psychology Education Overview
Psychology Licensure in New Jersey
Human services professionals who are licensed Psychologists in New Jersey, will find that there is a tremendous diversity of potential careers available to them. A wide array of Institutions, organizations and corporations, are in need of licensed Psychologists. Some are drawn to set up their own private practice in Trenton or a work at a school in Newark. New Jersey has a tremendous diversity of options for those who wish to become licensed as Psychologists. New Jersey boasts a population of over 8.8 million people, this size of a population will have need of licensed Psychologists in many different organizations. A quick trip to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics website will reveal that a mean yearly wage of $96,2001 for a Psychologist in New Jersey. If working in an ever changing and stimulating environment sounds appealing, you may wish to consider employment with one of New Jersey’s 120+ Major hospitals2. If you have a degree concentration with an emphasis on child psychology, then you may want to look into finding work at one of New Jersey’s 483+ school districts3. With your license to practice psychology in hand, a whole array of potential careers opens up for you. We have created a guide to help you streamline the process of earning your license to practice psychology which you will find below.
Required Educational Background
Getting your Psychology license in New Jersey is a wonderful career goal that will give you tremendous rewards once attained. In order to apply for your license in psychology you will need to have already gained your Ph.D. in Psychology. That in turn means that you have already earned both your Bachelor and Master of Psychology.
Regardless of whether you decide to continue your schooling to go for your license in Psychology or that you find that to be a career that is unappealing; you will find that a Bachelor of Psychology is one that gives you many career options and is a sought after Bachelor’s degree in the human services field. It is also of course, a necessary rung on the ladder of getting your psychology license.
While New Jersey does not allow licensing for those who have only their Master’s degree, having a Master of Psychology is still a wonderful item to have on your resume. With a Master of Psychology, you will find that a tremendous variety of job opportunities in human services are available for you. This is true even if you choose not to continue on towards your doctorate and licensure in psychology.
Once you have been awarded your Ph.D. in psychology from an APA approved school you will need to begin accumulating your required hours of field experience.
Field Experience
To verify your field experience component, you will need to take the following actions:
- You will need to complete 2 years of supervised professional experience. This equates to 3500 hours of experience under the direction of a Psychologist who is licensed in the state of New Jersey.
- You will need to apply for licensure, get approval and take your examination as explained below.
You will want to familiarize yourself with the New Jersey specific rules and regulations for licensure. These laws change so it is good to make sure you have current information, you can find that information here:
Examination
Once you have completed your field experience you can apply to take the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
Pass the EPPP with a score meeting the New Jersey minimum.
You can find some helpful information about your EPPP here: