Psychology, Masters degree

Overview

The Psychology Master of Arts Program is offered by the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science.

The program offers a unique opportunity for study in one of the most prestigious departments of psychology, with a distinguished faculty of more than 35 full-time professors plus a large adjunct faculty. The MA Program is structured as a terminal degree open to qualified students with diverse backgrounds who wish to develop or improve their academic and work qualifications in psychology. Many of these students ultimately gain acceptance in a variety of doctoral programs across the country and during their stay with us benefit from an in-depth advisement process.

Two separate degrees are available from our MA Program:

1. MA in General Psychology: This program has the flexibility to suit students who wish to explore several areas of psychology, as well as students who wish to shape their coursework to fit special interests and needs, including preparation for admission to a doctoral program. Students may design their own specialization or choose an existing one, normally requiring 7 electives relevant to a specific area, with advisement and approval of the program director. Common specializations are Social Psychology, Cognition/Perception & Neuroscience, Clinical/Clinical Neuroscience, in addition to Forensic Psychology and Social & Consumer Psychology which have their own requirements. Students are not required to specialize.
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3. MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology: This program is designed to prepare graduates to apply research and principles of human behavior to a variety of organizational settings, such as human resources departments, and management consulting firms. The program can also be modified for students who are preparing for admission to doctoral programs in Industrial/Organizational and related fields.

After the MA

General Psychology: The majority of the students in the General Psychology MA Program share a motivation to improve their work status within the mental health field or wish to prepare for doctoral-level degrees, either the PhD or PsyD. The mental health field is growing and includes job opportunities in health delivery in hospitals, clinics, and community social services, as well as research possibilities within a variety of applied agencies.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology: The MA in Industrial/Organizational Psychology opens up careers in a vast array of companies that hire psychologists with an academic background in employee relations, personnel administration, and the technical skills involved in testing, job analysis, research, etc. Most of our Industrial/Organizational graduates find employment as human resources generalists (with organizations such as law firms, hotels, and publishers) or human resources specialists for large corporations (such as banks, investment houses, and accounting firms). About a third of our I/O graduates find positions with management consulting firms (e.g., the Hay Group, Andersen Consulting, Personnel Decisions).