There are degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in psychology. An associate degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master's degree, a PhD, and a PsyD are the five main types of degrees. A degree in psychology can help students get ready for jobs in many different fields, such as mental health, education, counselling, research, and applied fields.
For students who want to get a degree in psychology, it's important to know what level of education they'll need to get into that field. For some jobs, you might only need a bachelor’s degree. For some other jobs, you might need a graduate degree.
Here are the different types of psychology degrees, how long it takes to get each one, especially how long does it take to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology?
What is a major in psychology?
How long does it take to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology?
A psychology bachelor’s degree is an undergraduate degree that usually takes four years to finish. At many universities, students can choose between a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. In general, B.A. degrees tend to require more general education courses in the liberal arts, while B.S. degrees tend to require more general education courses in the sciences.
Most of the time, having a graduate degree in psychology opens up a lot more job options. But a bachelor's degree is a good foundation for further graduate study in psychology and can lead to a limited number of jobs at the entry level.
One survey found that only about 27% of people with a bachelor's degree in psychology end up working in a field that is close to what they studied.
People with this kind of degree often work as case managers, psychiatric technicians, career counsellors, and rehabilitation specialists, among other things. People with a bachelor's degree often work in other fields, like sales, management, or teaching.
How long does it take to get a master's degree in psychology?
A master's degree in psychology is a graduate-level degree that usually takes between two and three years to complete after a bachelor's degree. Students can usually choose between a Master of Arts (M.A.) or Master of Science (M.S.) in psychology, just like they could with a bachelor's degree.
Master's level jobs are much more common than bachelor's level jobs, which is why this is one of the most popular degrees. Some master's programmes offer what is called a terminal degree, which is an end-level degree that prepares students for the workforce. Other master's programmes focus on preparing students for doctoral-level study.
Graduates with a master's degree can work in many different fields, such as mental health services, government agencies, and business. There are some chances to teach at colleges and universities, but these jobs are usually limited and hard to get. A master's degree holder could work as a marriage and family therapist, a rehabilitative counsellor, a school counsellor, or a human resources manager, among other jobs.
How long does it take to get a Phd degree in Psychology?
A doctor of philosophy in psychology, or Ph.D., is a doctoral-level degree that can be earned after four to six years of graduate study. The Ph.D. is more focused on research than the Psy.D., but it still includes both theoretical and practical training.
You can also choose from a wide range of specialisations. What you want to do after you graduate will affect your choice a lot. If you want to work in psychotherapy or maybe even start your own private practise, you might want to get a Ph.D. in either clinical or counseling psychology.
You could get a Ph.D. in a field like social, developmental, industrial-organizational, or experimental psychology if you want to teach, do research, or work in an applied field.
How long does it take to get a doctor of Psychology degree (Psy.D.)?
As an alternative to the Ph.D., the Psy.D., or doctor of psychology, was made. Psy.D. programmes tend to focus more on how psychology is done in the real world. Those who get a Psy.D. in clinical or counselling psychology and pass the necessary licencing exams are qualified to diagnose and treat mental disorders, run psychological tests, and give psychotherapy.
Most of the time, it takes between four and seven years to finish a Psy.D. During this time, students learn a lot about how to diagnose mental illness, do psychological evaluations, and carry out clinical interventions.
Psy.D. students have to do a supervised practicum and internship in a clinical setting, just like Ph.D. students do. During the practicum, you usually work part-time under the supervision of a licenced psychologist. The internship, on the other hand, is a full-time job that lasts at least a year.
Students can take the state and national licencing exams once they have finished their required coursework, practicum, and internship.
what can i do with a psychology degree?
A psychology degree is a great way to get started in both science and the arts because it gives you a wide range of skills and opens doors to jobs with many different companies.
Possible jobs with a psychology degree
Some jobs that are related to your degree are:
- Psychologist in the field
- Psychologist for counseling
- Education for a mental health worker
- Psychologist in education
- Criminal psychologist
- Teacher of further education
- Psychologist in health
- Therapist who works hard
- Psychologists who study work
- Psychological health care provider
- The study of sports and exercise
Here are some jobs where your degree would be helpful:
- Help for workers
- Officer of the Border Force
- Counselor for jobs
- Chaplain
- Counsellor
- Dance movement psychotherapist
- Consultant in education
- Human resources officer
- Coach for your life
- A person who studies the market
- Mediator
- Neuroscientist
- Therapeut en jeu
- Officer of policy
- Psychotherapist
- Social scientist
How to Get a Degree in Psychology?
If you want to work in the field of psychology, you don't have to become a licensed psychologist who works in mental health. There are many other jobs you could do. Different states and types of psychologists have different licensing requirements. Different things are needed for careers in forensic or sports psychology, for example.
Please keep in mind that these are the bare minimum requirements for education in these fields. Jobs and pay are usually better for people with more training. Find out about the different types of degrees and requirements for different jobs in psychology;
- Bachelor's degree for a social worker (four to five years of undergraduate school).
- Master's degree for a licenced counselor (two to three years of graduate school).
- Master's degree in sports psychology (two to three years of graduate school).
- Master's degree for an industrial-organizational psychologist (two to three years of graduate school).
- Different from state to state (generally two to three years of graduate school).
- Master's degree for a forensic psychologist (two to three years of graduate school, ideally with a doctorate degree).
- Master's degree in criminal psychology (two to three years of graduate school, ideally with a doctoral degree).
- Doctorate for a clinical psychologist (four to seven years of graduate school).
- Doctorate for a health psychologist (four to seven years of graduate school).
- Doctorate for a social psychologist (five to seven years of graduate school).
- Doctorate for a child psychologist (five to seven years of graduate school).
How long does it take to get a degree to become a psychiatrist?
How long does it take to become a doctor in mental health?
After high school, it takes most people 12 years to become a psychiatrist. This includes four years of college, four years of medical school, and four years of training in psychiatry. Many psychiatrists who have finished their training then choose to get more training by doing a fellowship in one of 9 common subspecialties. Most fellowships last for 12 months. In the section below, you can learn more about how Psychiatrists are trained in subspecialties. How to Become a Psychiatrist goes into more detail about the steps you need to take to get there.
What's the difference between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist?
Their training is the main difference between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist. A Psychiatrist is a licenced doctor who went to medical school and got an MD or DO degree. A Psychologist, on the other hand, did not go to medical school and instead got a PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology. Psychiatrists can practice medicine, prescribe medicines, and do medical procedures, but psychologists can't because they don't have the same degree and training. Both providers help take care of people with mental health problems and spend time counseling patients and doing cognitive types of psychology. Psychiatrists and Psychologists are both trained mental health professionals who know how the brain works, how to diagnose different mental health disorders, and how to treat them.
Both of them can also work in a hospital or clinic. A psychiatrist may prescribe medicine to treat a mental health disorder, but a psychologist uses psychotherapy, or "talk therapy," to treat conditions and is more often thought of as a counselor. Psychiatrists and psychologists often work together to help their patients. For example, psychiatrists may see a patient for the first time, make a diagnosis, and give the person medicine. The psychiatrist may then send the person to talk therapy with a psychologist. Most of the time, patients do best when they see both types of providers. Psychiatrists and psychologists may both be called therapists or even counselors from time to time. This is not the same as a social worker, who is a trained professional who helps people.
How Psychology Will Help You if You Want to Work in Criminology?
Criminologists are the most important people who try to figure out why people do bad things. They do this by looking at all parts of crime and society and finding ways to better understand and stop criminal behaviour.
Understanding intent, cause, coercion, and who else was involved in a crime is important for correct sentencing and for reducing crime in society as a whole. Criminologists do this on a large scale by collecting and analysing crime data to figure out patterns of behaviour and find places where crime is happening in society. Criminologists and forensic psychologists work in the field of sociology. In order to do their jobs, they need a strong understanding of the psychological theories of crime.
What is criminal psychology?
Criminology and psychology are very connected, especially in the field of study called "criminal psychology." Criminal psychology is the study of how criminals think and act. Criminal psychologists work in the fields of psychology, crime, and the law. One of their main jobs may be to help law enforcement in different ways. For example, when making psychological profiles of criminal suspects, bringing psychological expertise to active cases, or figuring out if a suspect is mentally fit to stand trial. This point where criminology and psychology meet is also the subject of a lot of research and academic work.
What do criminology and psychology have in common?
Criminologists need to be interested in criminal behaviour and understand why people do what they do. They also need to respect the law and keep the peace. So, they are called the "psychologists of the justice field" because they have a unique understanding of how people act and use that knowledge to help lower crime rates.
Criminology and psychology are related because they both try to figure out how people act. Psychologists study how things like trauma, biological disorders, changing environments, and choices about how to live our lives can affect how we process information and make decisions.
In the same way, criminologists try to figure out what environmental and biological factors make criminals do what they do. Both jobs help people and society keep order and peace by trying to figure out why people do things that affect others.
Criminal justice programme completion timeline
Most bachelor's degree programmes in criminal justice require between 120 and 128 credit hours of course work. Most on-campus programmes take four years to finish, and online degrees take about the same amount of time. If students choose to take their classes part-time, it may take them longer to finish their degrees. Students who have already been to college can often transfer credits to online programmes. This can help students finish their degrees faster.
How Long Does it Take to Get an online Bachelor's Degree in Psychology?
A full-time student working toward an online bachelor's degree in psychology can expect to finish the programme in about four years, since most schools require at least 120 credits to graduate. Some schools offer accelerated or intensive programmes for their first-year students, which can cut the time to about 3.5 years.
Dual-degree options, like accelerated master's programmes, let students start their master's-level coursework while earning a bachelor's degree and graduate with up to 50% fewer total credits, saving time and money. Transfer students who are eligible can also benefit from choosing a programme with a lot of transfer credit options.
Other things to think about are whether you have to learn in the field, how much asynchronous coursework you have to do, and whether you learn in a group or at your own pace. Students in a cohort go through the whole course of study together and graduate at the same time.
What Classes Will I Take in an Online Bachelor's Degree in Psychology Program?
Psychology is a broad field with many different subfields and specialties that can be studied at the bachelor's level. Psychology students study how people change, grow, learn, think, feel, and act over the course of their lives. Even though each school's classes and specialisations are different, all students in an online psychology programme must take a set of foundational courses.
Core courses include statistics and research methods for behavioural sciences, child and adult development, personality theory, psychological assessment, social psychology, health psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology. Some of the following courses are usually part of a bachelor's degree in psychology.
How much money can you make with a Bachelor's in Psychology?
As of November 13, 2022, the average annual salary for jobs in the United States that require a Bachelor's degree in psychology was $54,287.
If you need a simple way to figure out how much that is, it comes out to about $26.10 an hour. This is the same as $1,043 per week or $4,523 per month.
ZipRecruiter has seen annual salaries as high as $94,500 and as low as $23,000, but most Bachelor Degree in Psychology jobs pay between $37,500 (25th percentile) and $61,000 (75th percentile), with the highest earners (90th percentile) in the United States making $85,500 per year. The average pay range for a job that requires a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology is very wide (up to $23,500), which suggests that there may be many ways to move up and make more money based on your skills, location, and years of experience.
Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Bachelor Degree in Psychology job market in Al Mansurah, EG and the whole state of is not very active right now because not many companies are hiring. In your area, people with Bachelor Degrees in Psychology make an average of $54,581 per year, which is $294 (or 1%) more than the national average of $54,287 per year. pays the most for jobs that require a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology out of all 50 states.
ZipRecruiter looks at its database of millions of active jobs posted locally all over the United States every day to get the most accurate range of annual salaries for Bachelor Degree in Psychology jobs.
FAQ
Is a degree in psychology worth it?
Psychology is a popular major that can lead to a lot of different jobs. This degree is worth it because it gives students a solid foundation of knowledge and opens up many career doors. Psychology majors can work in their field with a bachelor's degree or go on to get a master's degree.
How fast can you get a psychology degree?
If you go to school full time, it will take you four or five years to get a bachelor's degree in psychology. If you want to get a master's degree, it will take you another two to three years. It can take anywhere from four to seven years to get a Ph.D. in psychology.
Is a Bachelor of psychology hard?
The degree is hard to get. Don't take this too seriously, no university degree is easy, no matter what part of psychology you are studying. Most of a psychology degree is spent on coursework, tests, and lectures, but you may also have to do some practical work.
Which Bachelor's degree is best for psychology?
The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology is designed to help students get ready for jobs in psychology. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) usually requires more electives than the Bachelor of Science (B.S. ), so students can focus on areas of study other than general psychology.
Can you become a psychologist without a degree?
Training doesn't require a degree in psychology. Instead, you must have a background in one of the listed "Core Professions," such as mental health nursing, occupational therapy, or social work.
Is a psychology degree stressful?
Psychologists, therapists, counsellors, coaches, and social workers all help people with mental health problems or who are trying to improve their lives and well-being. Even though this line of work can be hard on the heart and even stressful, it can also be very rewarding.