Michigan is an odd state geographically in that it’s literally broken up into two large territories that are separated by the Straits of Mackinac, a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes — Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The Motor City of Detroit is located in what’s known as the Lower Peninsula, which is also where the nonmetropolitan area with the highest employment level for psychologists in the country happens to reside, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics.
- The total employment of psychologists as of the BLS’s May 2015 data, was 2,760, And the average annual salary for psychologists in Michigan was $73,810, just slightly below the national average of $76,040.
- Michigan is a big state in terms of population — 11th by the last U.S. census data in 2010 — and it trains a lot of psychologists.
- The National Center for Education Statistics documented 3,214 undergraduates earning psychology degrees in the 2011-2012 academic year, with ranked 13th in the country.
- Michigan also has 446 students studying psychology as the master’s degree level, which put it at number 17 among the 50 states.
Region | Career | Total Employment | MeanAnnualWage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | Marriage and Family Therapists | 50 | $40,850 |
| Lansing-East Lansing, MI | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 130 | $74,120 |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 350 | $77,430 |
2019 Occupational Employment Statistics and 2018-28 Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov.
To meet the demand for psychology degrees, Michigan has just over 40 schools that offer degrees in the field. The American Psychological Association (APA) lists five school with five fully accredited doctoral program in psychology. The state also has nine schools that are approved by the National Register of Health Service Psychologists, and five approve by the National Association of School Psychologists.
Michigan psychology licensing requirements
Psychologists are licensed by the state in Michigan, specifically by the Michigan Board of Psychology. The Michigan Board requires applicants to have completed a doctoral degree from a program that is accredited either by the APA or the Canadian Psychological Association, or from a program that has obtained National Register designation from the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology and the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards. The specific steps to becoming a licensed psychologist in Michigan are as follows:
- Earn a doctoral degree in psychology
- Complete at least 2,000 hours of post-doctoral supervised work experience, during which time candidates should hold a Doctoral Limited License in psychology
- Take and pass the Examination of Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)
- Submit fingerprints for a criminal background check
In Michigan, candidates who have completed a master’s degree in psychology can be granted a Master’s Limited License in Psychology. The master’s degree training must include at least one course in assessment, one course in treatment, one course in scientific and professional ethics and standards, and a supervised internship of at least 500 hours of clinical work. These limited licenses also require candidates to complete 2,000 hours of post- degree supervised work experience, and pass the EPPP and a criminal background check.
- Psychology licenses must be renewed ever two years in Michigan.
- The primary requirement is 30 hours of approved continuing education in the two years since previous licensure. Two of those hours must pertain to pain and symptom management, and three hours must in the area of professional ethics.
Featured psychology schools in Michigan
The five top programs in psychology, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, are as follows:
University of Michigan
Located in Ann Arbor, which is also on the Lower Peninsula, the University of Michigan boasts one of the top ten psychology departments in the country. Located within the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the Department of Psychology is a base for a wide array of research labs that specialize in the study of racial identity, sibling rivalry, visual and verbal memory, second-language acquisition, and many of areas within psychology. The graduate program is organized into six related divisions: biopsychology, clinical science, cognition and cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, personality and social contexts, and social psychology. Psychology students at Michigan can also take advantage of three multi-disciplinary courses of study that integrate psychology with social work, education, and women’s studies.
- Department: University of Michigan
- Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Online options: The University of Michigan offers online graduate programs through its College of Engineering, and distance learning program sin nursing, public health, and dentistry. However, it does not have online degrees in psychology.
Michigan State University
The MSU Psychology Department specialized in research in the areas of behavioral neuroscience, clinical psychology, cognition and cognitive neuroscience, organizational psychology, and social/personality psychology. It’s campus-based PhD program offers opportunities for research and training in all of these areas, as well as in ecological-community psychology. Undergraduates have a choice between pursing a BA or a BS in psychology. And MSU has a new online psychology graduate program that confers a master’s degree in program evaluation. In addition, the School of Education at MSU has graduate degree program in educational psychology and technology, measurement and quantitative methods, rehabilitation counseling, school psychology, and special education.
- Department: Michigan State University Department of Psychology and School of Education
- Location: East Lansing, Michigan
- Online options: In addition to campus-based degree programs, the Psychology Department at MSU offers an online master’s degree in program evaluation.
Wayne State University
Located in an historic district in downtown Detroit, Wayne State University is a large, public research institution with a prominent Department of Psychology. Undergraduates have the option of pursuing a BA or a BS in psychology, and the department offers an undergraduate minor in health psychology. At the graduate level, there are four broad tracks for doctoral training and research: behavioral and cognitive neuroscience; clinical psychology, cognitive, developmental, and social-personality; and industrial/organizational psychology. Each of those combines a master’s and a Ph.D. degree. However, it is possible to work toward a stand-alone master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology. The School of Education at Wayne State offers graduate degrees in psychology that include master’s in school and community psychology, counseling psychology, and educational psychology, as well as Ph.D.s in school psychology.
- Department: Wayne State University Department of Psychology and School of Education
- Location: Detroit, Michigan
- Online options: Wayne State has online degree programs in instructional technology and social work, but not in psychology.
Eastern Michigan University
Located on the Lower Peninsula, in the college town of Ypsilanti, halfway between Detroit and Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan University is one of the state’s big public institutions of higher education. Its Department of Psychology has a range of options for graduate students, and a strong focus on undergraduate majors. The psych department offers master of science degrees in behavioral, general, and experimental psychology, as well as a PhD program in clinical psychology. The School of Education at Easter Michigan has a master of arts degree program in educational psychology.
- Department: Eastern Michigan University Department of Psychology and School of Education
- Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Online options: Through EMU-Online, Eastern Michigan’s School of Education offers its master of arts degree in educational psychology online.
Central Michigan University
The Society for Neuroscience ranked Central Michigan University’s undergraduate program in neuroscience as the top in the country in 2013. The Department of Psychology, which is also part of CMU’s College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, has also done well in various rankings. Along with an undergraduate major in psychology, it offers graduate students five basic tracks toward master’s and doctoral degrees: clinical psychology, experimental psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, school psychology, and interdisciplinary neuroscience psychology.
- Department: Central Michigan University Department of Psychology
- Location: Mount Pleasant, Michigan
- Online options: CMU’s Global Campus online programs offer a range of degree options, including two in the field of psychology: a bachelor’s degree psychology, and a master’s in counseling,