2019 -22
- In line with the 2019-23 Strategic Plan, APAGS sought to address the financial burden of psychology training on graduate students.
- The APAGS Student Debt Workgroup identified student debt as a critical issue affecting graduate students. It developed recommendations based on:
- Advocacy
- Financial Literacy
- Affordability
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Based on these recommendations, the APAGS Student Debt Workgroup continued its efforts to tackle student debt by:
- Developing a program innovation award focused on reducing financial burden within training programs
- Compiling a list of financial literacy resources.
- Exploring affordability practices in other disciplines.
- Convening stakeholders through summit-style programming.
- APAGS created the FEES Tool, which helps students evaluate the programs they are considering applying to in order to score them on various aspects of affordability and financial support.
2023-26
- APAGS created the Affordability Working Group. The group’s purpose was to research potential causes of student financial burden and potential solutions. The results of their research guided APAGS’ priorities in 2025.
- The Affordability Working Group identified major contributing factors to student financial burden including tuition and fees, living expenses and housing costs, insufficient stipends, program length, healthcare costs, limited financial transparency, structural inequities affecting students from historically marginalized backgrounds, and lack of financial planning and support resources.
- The review also identified factors associated with greater affordability, including increased stipends, financial transparency, scholarships and grants, affordable healthcare, childcare supports, loan repayment and forgiveness programs, financial literacy resources, and institutional accountability and advocacy
- The working group also identified best practices and policies in other countries that are associated with greater affordability.
- These findings suggest that affordability is not solely a student debt issue, but a systems-level challenge requiring coordinated action across training programs, professional organizations, and policy stakeholders.
- The results of the Affordability Working Group were presented to the boards and committees at the 2024 Spring Consolidated Meeting.
- At the 2025 Spring Consolidated Meeting, APAGS were advised of initiatives currently underway based on the Affordability Working Group’s findings. These initiatives, spearheaded by ACT, include:
- Advocating for student affordability and loan forgiveness
- Increasing awareness of Public Service Loan Forgiveness and National Institutes of loan repayment programs
- Increasing graduate students’ awareness of advocacy initiatives at the state, federal, local, and campus levels.
- APAGS continues to advance efforts to improve the affordability of psychology graduate education through resource development, research, and advocacy. These efforts include expanding awareness and dissemination of the FEES Tool to help psychology graduate students better understand the costs associated with graduate education, continuing to advocate for funding opportunities and policies that support the financial well-being of psychology graduate students, and identifying financial challenges associated with completing internships and exploring opportunities to advocate for improved financial support for graduate students.
Last updated: October 2026Date created: 2010
