Many psychology doctorates take on debt, often at high levels, to finance graduate education. The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) surveyed recent psychology doctorates about debt in late 2014. For 2013 and 2014 graduates, the median debt was $82,000.1
Median debt increased over time from $64,000 for 2003 graduates2,3 to $77,000 for 2009 graduates3,4. Debt varied according to subfield and type of degree.
Median debt was highest for health service psychology (HSP)5 PsyD graduates ($200,000).6
Estimated monthly payments7 for median debt were $863 (HSP PhD degrees), $2,302 (HSP PsyD degrees) and $518 (non-HSP degrees).
Because of education debt, respondents reported delaying saving for the future (73 percent), retirement planning (67 percent), purchasing a home (57 percent), having children (46 percent), purchasing a car (40 percent) and getting married/settling with a partner (25 percent).8
— Karen Stamm, PhD, Jennifer Doran, MA, Amanda Kraha, PhD, Laura Reid Marks, EdS, Eddy Ameen, PhD, Nabil El-Ghoroury, PhD, Luona Lin, MPP, and Peggy Christidis, PhD
For more information, contact APA's Center for Workforce Studies or the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students.
1 American Psychological Association. (2015). 2014 APAGS debt survey. [Unpublished special analyses]. Washington, DC: Author. This report includes debt incurred for graduate education. It does not include debt from undergraduate education.
2 Wicherski, M., & Kohout, J. (2005). 2003 Doctorate employment survey, table 9. Retrieved from www.apa.org/workforce/publications/03-doc-empl/table-9.pdfopens in new window
3 Rounded to nearest $1,000 and inflation-adjusted to 2014 dollars using: www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htmopens in new window
4 Michalski, D., Kohout, J., Wicherski, M., & Hart, B. (2011). 2009 Doctorate employment survey, table 9. Retrieved from www.apa.org/workforce/publications/09-doc-empl/table-9.pdfopens in new window
5 Subfields classified as health service psychology can be found in Table 4 of the 2009 Doctorate Employment Survey: www.apa.org/workforce/publications/09-doc-empl/table-4.pdfopens in new window. Non-HSP degrees include only PhD degrees, as the number of non-HSP PsyD degrees was zero.
6 The bottom and top of the bars represent the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively. The lines represent the 50th percentile (median).
7 Estimated monthly payments were calculated for a 10-year loan with a 6.8 percent interest rate using www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtmlopens in new window.
8 Respondents were asked to select all that apply.