College of Education, Dept. of Educational, School, & Counseling Psychology Counseling Psychology (M.S.)

Students graduating from our doctoral preparation M.S. program who apply to doctoral programs have a strong track record (87% success rate as of November 2025) of obtaining offers of admission to counseling psychology PhD and/or PsyD doctoral programs.

We seek to train future health service psychology (HSP) professionals, by using a broad focus on biological, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of health and behavior. The philosophy of the program is rooted in the values and goals of a society that prioritizes the optimal health and well-being of all persons in that society. We envision a society where everyone has access to healthy environments that support healthy development and functioning. By preparing our scholars to facilitate optimal well-being at many levels, from individual to community to systems approaches, we empower them to address structural challenges and foster well-being through science and practice.

The program is not designed for people who may want to stop their graduate education after getting their master’s degree (i.e., for people who want to get licensed at the master’s level as a mental health counselor or psychological associate in order to provide psychological health services to clients). Students who may want to become licensed as master’s-level talk therapists/counselors should consider other programs, such as UK’s 60-credit hour CACREP-accredited Counseling master’s program.

Through rigorous courses, supervised clinical practica, and research lab involvement, our students learn the research, psychotherapy, professional, and cultural humility skills needed to succeed in advanced doctoral study. Students received doctoral preparation mentoring from faculty and doctoral students during both years of the program to help students learn how to navigate the higher education environment (e.g., rules and norms, resources, community engagement, support, and belonging), doctoral admissions, succeeding in graduate school, and crafting a sustainable career path in counseling psychology.  Students receive tailored feedback on their doctoral application materials and interviewing skills to help them make the right impression during the doctoral application process. Our students can also complete clinical practicum at our in-house community mental health clinic.

To keep class sizes small, we accept a limited number of students each year.  This ensures an excellent student-to-faculty ratio (4 students to 1 core counseling psychology faculty member), which is an important metric to consider when choosing a master’s program.

To ensure the highest-quality training, students complete the program on-site in Lexington, KY, where they work face to face with faculty.  The program cannot be completed part-time or via online distance learning.

There are limited on-campus funding opportunities (e.g., graduate assistantships) available to M.S. students via the UKJobs website (https://ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/search).  During 2023-2024, 37% of our M.S. students were able to secure full-time funding (i.e., a 20/hrs/wk graduate assistantship/fellowship that provides full tuition remission, monthly stipend [minimum of $14,520 for 9-month assistantship], student health insurance plan).  This percentage is higher than the percentage of many mental health master’s programs across the country (be sure to ask each program you are applying to for this percentage so that you can incorporate this into your admissions decision making). Second year students are significantly more likely to receive funding than first year students, as they have the opportunity to apply when many positions for the next academic year are posted the prior December-March.

A detailed description of the requirements for the M.S. program are fully described in the M.S. Handbook

We use a competency-based approach to training. Our training model aligns with the prevailing standards of our field, as articulated by CCPTP’s Counseling Psychology Model Training Values Statement Addressing Diversity and APA’s Preparing Professional Psychologists to Serve a Diverse Public and Professional Practice Guidelines.

A detailed description of the requirements for the M.S. program are fully described in the M.S. Handbook