Online Psychology Degrees

If you’re interested in pursuing a degree in psychology, you’ll find that there are numerous options for study and training, including online programs. Online psychology degrees are offered at bachelor’s and graduate levels in general psychology and in many different concentration areas. For example, you could choose to earn a degree in psychology and specialize in a niche field like substance abuse, organizational psychology, sport-exercise psychology, children’s psychology, or criminal psychology. Psychology is a good program to combine with another field of study, like business, criminal justice, public health, management or counseling. Depending on the level of your program, you’ll receive the training and education you need to prepare for a job in social work, teaching and counseling, and health care environments like hospitals, clinics and group practices. And while psychologists usually are not allowed to prescribe medication, they do work with other health care providers to recommend treatment options to patients.

There are undergraduate and graduate level education and training options for students interested in earning an online psychology degree. A bachelor’s degree will prepare you for work assisting other psychologists and health care providers, or it can be paired with a degree in business or another field to make you a more competitive job candidate with a specialization. Master’s degree holders can work on research projects and alongside advanced-degree holding psychologists in their group practice. In order to be an independent practicing psychologist, however, you must hold a doctorate degree, which can take five to seven years to complete on top of the four-year bachelor’s degree. Independent psychologists must also be licensed or certified depending on the state in which they live. Courses in the curricula for online psychology degrees will include studies in general psychology, social psychology, community psychology, research, abnormal psychology, brain and human behavior, child and adolescent psychology, and more.

Those graduating with an online psychology degree will find that the job outlook for their industry is good. Students with more advanced degrees will have better chances of finding work and will be able to open up their own practice or join an existing group practice of psychologists. Professionals with bachelor’s or master’s degrees may find it more difficult to find work since there are a limited number of positions for their experience and training level. Your specialization will also affect your likelihood of finding employment, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of job openings for psychologists will increase by 15 percent by 2016. Master degree holders will typically find jobs in industrial-organizational psychology and as assistants to psychologists, while bachelor’s degree holders will find work in research or teaching. The BLS also estimates that psychologists working in their own offices will earn the highest average salaries, while those who work in schools will earn the second highest average.