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About the Program

We are pleased that you are interested in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). We hope that this introduction to the Department will answer some of the questions you may have about our graduate programs and about the University itself. The Department has a strong core of dedicated, nationally and internationally known faculty who have wide-ranging interests. There are 31 full-time faculty members in the Department.

The Department of Psychology is one of ten programs and departments in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS). Students are accepted into the following specialty areas:

Clinical
Cognitive and Neural Systems (CNS)
Counseling
Developmental
Social, Decision, and Organizational Science (SDOS)

Each area offers a range of subspecialties and educational opportunities that combine expertise across several areas. The Department's doctoral programs in both Clinical and Counseling are accredited by the American Psychological Association.

The Department and all the specialty areas within it share the goals of educating graduate students to conduct research and scholarship, and the clinical, counseling and industrial/organizational areas train students within a scientist-practioner model for professional careers in human services delivery. The Department focuses on training students who will create, evaluate, and apply scientific knowledge.

The Department believes that students and faculty learn best in an atmosphere characterized by a diversity of interests and perspectives, mutual respect, and hard work. There are many opportunities for collaboration among students and faculty. At regularly held meetings students and faculty are encouraged to present their ideas and hear the views of others.

Each specialty area offers a doctoral level program leading to the Ph.D. We do not admit students who are seeking a terminal Masters degree. Although students can earn an M.S. degree en route to the Ph.D., the Department accepts as graduate students only those who are interested in pursuing the doctoral degree and who have demonstrated the capacity for completing it.

The Department of Psychology offers only a full-time, day program. Students are required to attend classes and conduct research. Generally, students are not permitted to hold off campus employment unless such employment is critical to the student's education. Such employment must be approved by the student’s specialty area.

Graduate

In the Department

fMRI grant proposal funded

A grant proposal submitted by NACS faculty for a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging facility on campus has been funded by the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program. This facility will substantially enhance our ability to conduct cutting edge research in human neuroscience and cognitive science. NACS faculty members come from a variety of departments including Bioengineering, Hearing and Speech, Human Development, Kinesiology, Linguistics, Psychology, and others.

Banneker-Key Scholars

The Banneker-Key Scholarship is the most prestigious and competitive scholarship that the University offers to incoming freshmen. The top tier of awards supplies the full cost of tuition, fees and room and board coupled with a book allowance for four years. The Psychology Department has 9 Banneker-Key Scholars among the incoming freshman class. This raises the total number of Banneker-Key Scholars in the departmenr to 33, more than 1/3 of the 95 Banneker-Key Scholars in all of BSOS.

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