The psychological mindset can give you a surprising advantage on the career market in both the public and private sectors, and training at a psychology school or college in Nevada can help you bring that mindset into your personal wheelhouse. Here are a few quick facts about psychology education in the Silver State:
- According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), six colleges and universities maintained psychology degrees in Nevada in 2016 — two offering associate degrees, two offering undergraduate degrees only and two that provide graduate as well as undergraduate options
- The two University of Nevada campuses, in Reno and in Las Vegas, had their graduate programs in clinical psychology and general psychology ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News and World Report
- Two psychology Ph.D. programs offered at schools in the state have earned accreditation by the American Psychological Association (APA) and recognition from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists
The average annual salary for clinical, counseling and school psychologists in Nevada was $68,630 in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), although practitioners’ salaries often varied by region. Here are the mean annual earnings figures in the three metro areas of the state for which the BLS had meaningful data:
- $73,260 in Reno
- $60,150 in Greater South Nevada
- $66,140 in Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise
The bottom 25 percent of earners among graduates of psychology schools and colleges in Nevada took home up to $53,520 in 2015, while the top 25 percent earned $85,300 or more the same year.
Region | Career | Total Employment | MeanAnnualWage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | Psychologists, All Other | 50 | $93,970 |
| Reno, NV | Marriage and Family Therapists | N/A | $62,600 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | Marriage and Family Therapists | 280 | $55,060 |
| Reno, NV | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 110 | $90,780 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 270 | $72,260 |
2019 Occupational Employment Statistics and 2018-28 Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov.
Nevada psychology licensing requirements
Requirements and procedures for earning a Nevada psychologist license are set and enforced by the State of Nevada Board of Psychological Examiners. Here’s a quick list of the requirements to become licensed in the state, according to the Board’s website:
- Complete a doctoral degree program at an institution that’s either APA accredited or can stand up to a full assessment of equivalency to APA standards
- Submit documentation of at least two years of supervised clinical experience, including 1,750 hours of pre-doctoral work and 1,750 hours conducted after graduation
- Earn a passing score on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)
- Take and pass the Nevada State Exam for psychologists
Nevada psychologists must renew their licenses every two years, which requires documentation of 30 hours of continuing education credits and the remission of a $500 fee. Renewals must be postmarked by December 31 or delivered in person to the Board’s offices by December 29 of each renewal year. For information on state regulations for other psychological jobs and further detail on Nevada psychologist licenses, take a look at the Board of Psychological Examiners website.
Featured psychology schools in Nevada
There may not be an especially long list of psychology colleges in Nevada, but multiple degree options exist for students nonetheless. Here’s detail on each of the schools in the state that are equipped to award psychology degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral level:
University of Nevada, Reno
The top-rated psychology department in Nevada can be found on the Reno campus of the University of Nevada system, where undergraduate students can choose among three degree tracks — general psychology, psychological research or behavior analysis — and graduate degrees are offered for master’s as well as doctoral students. Graduate degrees include a clinical psychology Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program that’s accredited by the APA, doctorates in social psychology, cognitive and brain sciences and behavior analysis and a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in psychology with a behavior analysis concentration.
- Department: University of Nevada, Reno Department of Psychology
- Location: Reno
- Online options: Multiple degrees and courses in psychology are available online at the University of Nevada, Reno, including the behavior analysis master’s, credentialing courses for behavior analysts and a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree with an emphasis in educational psychology.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The clinical psychology Ph.D. at UNLV follows the scientist-practitioner model, which is designed to prepare students to work either as professional scholars and researchers or in public practice, and is accredited by the APA. The Las Vegas school also offers a Ph.D. program in experimental psychology, which focuses heavily on research and scholarship training, and a 12-credit certificate in quantitative psychology designed to sharpen students’ research and experimentation skills. The undergraduate program is a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree plan in general psychology designed to provide a solid foundation for future study.
- Department: University of Nevada, Las Vegas Department of Psychology
- Location: Las Vegas
- Online options: Students may earn a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in educational psychology online at UNLV, and certain individual courses in psychology and educational psychology can also be taken digitally.
Sierra Nevada College
This private institution located between Reno and Carson City, on the north shore of Lake Tahoe and just a few miles in from the border with California, offers students a B.A. in psychology that comes with the chance to intern at area providers of psychological services such as mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, grief counseling and more. Each student in the psychology program at SNC also designs and carries out an empirical research project that’s eligible for publication in research journals and presentation at national psychological conferences.
- Department: Sierra Nevada College Humanities and Social Sciences Department
- Location: Incline Village
- Online options: SNC does offer a B.A. in psychology through its online degree program (ODP) initiative.
Nevada State College
Although this Henderson school only offers psychology degrees at the undergraduate level, it may be a better choice for some students than its large university counterparts in Las Vegas and Reno. NSC does, for one thing, maintain a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree program in psychology, rather than a B.A., which can be a plus for students who want to fill their undergraduate schedule with as much science and statistics coursework as possible.
- Department: Nevada State College Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Location: Henderson
- Online options: Nevada State College did not offer any online degrees as of 2016.