Ohio is the seventh-largest state in the country by population. Large population centers tend to create a big demand for health care services, including psychological counseling. So, it’s not entirely surprising that Ohio was among the top fifteen states for overall employment of psychologists as of the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with 3,230 psychologists practicing professional across the state.
- The average annual salary for those school, counseling, and clinical psychologists was $72,670, according to the BLS’s May of 2015 Occupational Employment Statistics report, or slightly below the national average annual salary $76,040, not including cost-of-living adjustments.
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the 2011-2012 academic year found Ohio sitting toward the top in term of students studying psychology as well: The state ranked eleventh for undergraduates earning degrees in psychology, with 3,411; and 13th for master’s degree students in psychology, with 657.
Region | Career | Total Employment | MeanAnnualWage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus, OH | Psychologists, All Other | 50 | $101,970 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | Psychologists, All Other | 100 | $96,690 |
| Columbus, OH | Marriage and Family Therapists | 160 | $47,940 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | Marriage and Family Therapists | 30 | $52,050 |
| Toledo, OH | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 180 | $72,050 |
| Columbus, OH | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 750 | $79,670 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists | 850 | $77,720 |
2019 Occupational Employment Statistics and 2018-28 Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov.
To serve students aiming for full licensure to practice psychology in the state, there are twelve schools with doctoral psychology programs accredited by the American Psychological Association, and 13 with approval from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. In addition, the state has 8 schools with programs in educational/school psychology that are recognized and approved by the National Association of School Psychologists.
Ohio psychology licensing requirements
The Ohio Board of Psychology demands that candidates for licensure have a doctoral degree in psychology or schools psychology from an accredited program. Candidates must also complete 3,600 hours of qualifying supervised training, 1,500 of which may be done as part of a doctoral internship or practicum. Here are the steps for licensure as a psychologist in Ohio:
- Earn a doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited program
- Complete 3,600 hours of supervised training in the field
- Take and receive a passing score on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology
- Submit to a criminal background check
Psychology licenses must be renewed on or before September 30 of every even numbered year in Ohio. The Board requires every psychologist to complete 23 hours of continuing education in the two years leading up to renewal, including at least four hours in either professional ethics or “the role of culture, ethnic identity, or both in the provision of psychological assessment, consultation, or psychological interventions.”
Featured psychology schools in Ohio
The list below includes the give top five psychology schools and colleges in Ohio, based on the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report:
Ohio State University
Ohio State, or The Ohio State University, is home to the Buckeyes and to a new, state-of-the-art Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging. The former is the name of the football team, and the latter is a facility for interdisciplinary research at the school’s College of Arts & Sciences, including research in the field of psychology. The Department of Psychology at Ohio State counts the functional MRI imaging capabilities of the new facility as one of its major assets. The Department offers doctoral-track training and research in eight core areas: behavioral neuroscience; clinical psychology, cognitive psychology; decision psychology; developmental psychology, intellectual and developmental disabilities; social psychology; and quantitative psychology. In addition to these areas of study, Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology offers educational and counseling psychology.
- Department: Ohio State University Department of Psychology and College of Education
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
- Online options: Ohio State offers online degrees in social work, learning technologies, and applied clinical and preclinical research, but not in psychology.
Case Western Reserve University
Located in Cleveland, Case Western has a Department of Psychological Sciences that benefits from its partnership with the university’s Department of Communication Sciences and the Cleveland Center for Hearing and Speech. Along with undergraduate degrees in psychology and communication science, the school offers an unique undergraduate minor in health communication. At the graduate level, Case has a master’s program in speech-language pathology, as well as doctoral training in clinical psychology, communication sciences, and experimental psychology.
- Department: Case Western Reserve University Department of Psychological Sciences
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
- Online options: Case Western offers online and distance learning courses and several online degrees, but not in the field of psychology
Kent State University
The Department of Psychological Science at Kent State University offers both a bachelor of arts and bachelor of science track for undergraduates, and has PhD training in five core areas of psychological research and practice: behavioral neuroscience, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, health psychology, and social psychology. The department offers several unique assets: an Applied Psychology Center established in 1986 to promote applied research to social problems; and the Science of Education and Learning Center, a newer initiative directed at studying STEM, health, and literacy education.
- Department: Kent State Department of Psychological Sciences
- Location: Kent, Ohio
- Online options: In addition to its campus-based programs, Kent State offers a variety of online options, including master’s degrees in criminology, educational evaluation and measurement, and instructional technology.
Miami University
The psychology PhD program at Miami University, or Miami of Ohio as its commonly known, is the largest doctoral division at this large, public, research institution. The school’s Department of Psychology offers undergraduates a general psychology major with the option of a minor in neuroscience. At the graduate level, the department has three areas of research and training: brain, cognitive, and developmental science; clinical psychology, and social psychology. The College of Education, Health & Society at Miami U has an educational psychology program that includes a master’s degrees in educational technology, and doctoral programs in educational psychology.
- Department: Miami University Department of Psychology and College of Education, Health & Society
- Location: Oxford, Ohio
- Online options: Miami University does offer psychology courses online, but it’s online program does not include psychology degrees.
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public research institution located in Athens, Ohio. Its Department of Psychology focuses on three areas of research and training in the discipline: health psychology; intervention design and outcome evaluation; and social judgment and behavioral decision making. It’s faculty are active in researching the study and prevention of sexual assault, industrial/organizational psychology, psychophysiological training. There school confers PhDs in clinical and experimental psychology. For undergraduates, OU’s psychology department offers a unique psychology/pre-physical therapy combined major that prepares students for graduate work in physical therapy.
- Department: Ohio University Department of Psychology
- Location: Athens, Ohio
- Online options: Ohio University’s eCampus programming offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees, but not in the field of psychology.