Post-baccalaureate (post-bacc) programs in psychology are designed for students who have a bachelor’s degree (in any discipline) and who are seeking additional preparation for psychology-oriented graduate programs and/or careers. Post-bacc programs are a relatively recent development in psychology, but such programs have been available for decades in other disciplines (e.g., medicine/biology). For example, there are currently over 125 medical post-bacc programs across the United States, including programs at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine. Recently, the demand for post-bacc programs in psychology has increased, and a number of programs have been created at both public and private institutions including UC Irvine, Columbia University, Northwestern University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Who benefits from completing a post-bacc program?
Many psychology post-bacc programs are designed to benefit individuals who are planning to apply to graduate school. Competition for psychology-related graduate programs is high, and many college graduates who apply are not accepted. For example, during the 2016-2017 academic year, the typical social psychology master's degree programs accepted only 33% of their applicants, and the typical clinical psychology doctoral programs accepted only 8% of their applicants. In a nationwide survey of psychology graduate programs, admissions directors indicated that having taken psychology courses, having research experience, having psychology-oriented work or internship experience, and having strong letters of recommendation were all important factors in admissions decisions. If you are weak in any of these areas, post-bacc programs may be able to help you strengthen your application, in so much as they offer psychology-oriented courses, research opportunities, internship opportunities, networking opportunities and/or individualized advising.
Similarly, students who are applying to medical school (or other health-oriented graduate programs) may find value in psychology post-bacc programs. In 2015, the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) was revised to include a section that focuses on psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior, and this section will make up one-fourth of a student's total MCAT score. Given the acknowledgement by the Institute of Medicine that psychology is an important component to a complete medical education and a career in the medical field, some students with a bachelor's degree in biology or related fields may wish to gain a deeper understanding of the field of psychology prior to entering medical school in order to better prepare for the MCAT and/or better prepare for a career as a physician, especially if the student is considering a specialization in psychiatry.
Finally, some post-bacc programs are also designed to benefit individuals who are seeking a career change or advancement in a career that values psychology-related knowledge and skills. For example, the professions of social/human service assistant, mental health counselor, and child care worker require a background in psychology. In addition, a number of careers require the ability to conduct statistical analyses, design research projects, and conduct program evaluation (e.g., evaluation manager, research assistant, market research analyst), and some post-bacc programs offer research-oriented courses and training that would be beneficial for these types of careers. Individuals interested in careers related to the intersection of psychology and law, such as probation officer or addiction specialist/substance abuse counselor, may benefit from the courses and training related to forensic psychology that are available in some post-baccalaureate programs.
What kind of training is offered by psychology post-bacc programs—and how much does it cost?
Currently, there are 15 psychology post-baccalaureate programs offered at public or private universities in the United States. Although they all offer psychology-oriented courses, the programs do differ from each other quite a bit, with respect to the number of courses required to complete the program, research training, internship opportunities and cost. Some programs require as few as four courses in order to earn a certificate (e.g., National Lewis University), whereas other programs require as many as 18-24 courses to complete the program (e.g., UC Berkeley – Main Campus). Six programs provide extensive research training by offering a combination of research-oriented courses and hands-on research assistantships (UC Irvine, UC Berkeley — Main Campus, Columbia, University of Pittsburgh, Yale and Massachusetts Institute of Technology), whereas most programs provide research training only in the form of courses (and a couple programs — such as California Southern University — do not provide any research training). Furthermore, three programs (UC Irvine, UC Berkeley — Main Campus, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock) offer structured internship opportunities. Three programs are fully online (California Southern University, National Lewis University and Northcentral University), whereas the remaining 12 are in-person programs. Finally, tuition varies widely, from no cost (e.g., fully-funded programs at University of Pittsburgh, Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology that are designed for students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds) to over $40,000 (e.g., Columbia and UC Berkeley — Main campus). In addition, some programs (e.g., UC Irvine) offer diversity fellowships that pay for a portion of the program fee for some eligible students.
If I want to be more competitive for doctoral programs. Should I do a post-bacc program or a master’s degree program?
If you are interested in applying for doctoral programs — but your record is not yet strong enough to get into the doctoral programs you are interested in — you could complete either a post-bacc program or a master’s degree program, seeing as both types of programs should make you a stronger applicant for doctoral programs. In that scenario, which makes more sense: completing a post-bacc program or completing a master's program? Ultimately, the answer to this question depends on a number of factors. When deciding between a post-bacc program or a master's degree program, it is helpful to consider the following questions about each of the programs that you are considering:
- What is the price of the program?
- Will the program allow you to get hands-on research experience? (If your ultimate goal is a PhD program, it is very important to choose a program that will provide you with meaningful research experience).
- Will the program allow you to get hands-on experience in the field/working with clients (which may be important for clinical programs, especially if you don’t already have relevant experience in this area)?
- How much time does the program take to complete?
- Is your record (and psychology background) currently strong enough for you to get into a master's program without first completing a post-bacc program?
- Does the program offer a faculty advisor who can guide you through the program, help you with your doctoral program applications, and answer any questions that you have about your progress in the program and/or the application process?
- When is the program application due, and how soon can you start?
- What is your undergraduate GPA? (If your undergraduate GPA is below a 3.0, a master's degree program — if you can get into one — is likely to be a better choice than a post-bacc program, given that a master's degree GPA will "overshadow" your undergraduate GPA more strongly than a post-bacc GPA will).
- What percentage of students go on to doctoral programs after completing this program?
The answers to these questions will vary depending on the specific post-bacc and master's degree programs you are looking at, so you'll need to do some research on the programs that you are considering before you can decide how you want to proceed.
Where can I find more information about specific post-bacc programs?
Below is a list of psychology post-baccalaureate programs, as of January 2020 (in alphabetical order):
- Columbia University
- Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- National Louis University
- Northcentral University
- Northwestern University
- Rhode Island College
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
- University of California, Berkeley — Extension
- University of California, Berkeley — Main Campus
- University of California, Irvine
- University of Pittsburgh
- Yale University
About the author
Joanne Zinger, PhD, is an associate teaching professor in the department of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). She completed her PhD in social/personality psychology at the University of California, Riverside in 2005 and her postdoctoral studies at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California in 2007. Since arriving at UCI in 2007, she has won several awards for her teaching, including Professor of the Month (2009), Professor of the Quarter in the School of Social Ecology (2010), Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research in the School of Social Ecology (2012), UCI Lecturer of the Year (2012), Outstanding Professor in the School of Social Ecology (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014), Professor of the Year in the School of Social Ecology (2012, 2017 and 2018), the UCI Black Leadership Advancement Coalition Bridge Builder Award (2017), and the Social Ecology Dean’s Honoree for the Celebration of Teaching (2019). In addition to her teaching activities, Zinger is the director of the post-bacc program in Psychological Science and the Coordinator of the Social Ecology Excellence in Research Program at UCI.
