Psychology Programs in Indiana

Psychologists pursue different types of doctoral degrees depending on their chosen career paths—typically Ph.D.s for research and academia and Psy.D.s for clinical work treating patients. Indiana stands out for its two-tiered licensing process, which recognizes that some psychologists want to treat patients and others do not. It’s also home to some of the most prestigious schools in the Midwest and in the country—including Notre Dame, Taylor, and Butler. These psychology schools in Indiana are connected to university hospitals and research facilities offering impressive internships and career placements.

How to Become a Psychologist in Indiana

To become a psychologist in Indiana, you have to fulfill all the educational requirements and also satisfy the standards of the state’s licensing board.

Education

In order to earn the title of “psychologist,” you must successfully complete a doctoral program.

You’ll have to earn a bachelor’s degree to be admitted into any doctoral program. Many, however, don’t require you to have a master’s degree. Some do, and other specialty doctoral programs issue both master’s degrees and doctorates as part of the same program. Even if a doctoral program doesn’t require you to earn a master’s, doing so can help prepare you for the steep academic challenges associated with advanced graduate work.

A master’s can also help you decide on a specialization. The American Psychological Association (APA) recognizes at least 20 academic specialties and proficiencies. Among the most popular are clinical psychology, school psychology, forensic psychology, and clinical neuropsychology.

Indiana Psychology Licensing and Exams

Even after you earn a doctoral degree, you won’t be qualified to work as a psychologist in the state of Indiana. To do that—even if you don’t want to be a practicing clinician—you’ll have to first earn a license.

The Indiana State Psychology Board is the governing body that awards licenses. You can earn a psychologist license, which by itself is for psychologists who don’t work with patients in clinical settings. There’s also the much more restricted and interim limited scope temporary psychology permit. If you want to diagnose and treat patients, however, you’ll have to earn an endorsement as a health service provider in psychology after you’re awarded a standard license.

To receive that credential, you’ll have to complete a doctoral program and an approved 1,500-hour internship. You also must complete 1,600 hours of approved post-doctoral supervised experience. The supervised experience has to last for at least one year and include at least 900 hours of face-to-face client contact.

You’ll also have to take and pass two tests. The first is the two-part, 225-question Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), which is administered by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards. The EPPP costs $600. Next, you’ll have to pass the Indiana state jurisprudence exam, which deals more directly with laws, regulations, and ethical standards unique to the state.

The application fee is $100 for the license application and another $100 to apply for the health service provider in psychology endorsement. You will also need to submit to a criminal background check.

Once you earn a license, you must complete at least 40 hours of continuing education every two years to keep your license in good standing.

Psychology Specializations in Indiana That Do Not Require a Doctorate

Only a doctorate earns you the title of “psychologist,” but you can work in other areas of psychology in Indiana with a lesser degree like a master’s or even a bachelor’s degree. Here, too, however, you must earn a license—your education alone does not qualify you to work in the field treating patients. Just like psychologists, professionals in these specialties within the field of psychology have to pass exams and, in most cases, complete a set number of hours of approved supervised experience. These specialties have their own licensing boards, all of which operate under the Indiana state Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board.

Marriage and family therapist: In Indiana, both licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT) and LMFT associates must earn a master’s degree or higher. As a professional in this branch of psychology, you’ll work with people struggling with difficulties in family dynamics, including couples, children and siblings, individuals, and entire families.
Social worker: Both licensed social workers and licensed clinical social workers must have a master’s degree in social work, while licensed bachelor’s social workers can begin their careers with an undergraduate degree in social work. In this line of work, you’ll serve at-risk individuals, groups, and families struggling through crises related to social and personal welfare, including homelessness, abuse, and poverty.
Addiction counselor: Licensed addiction counselors and licensed addiction counselor associates must have a bachelor’s degree. To become a licensed clinical addiction counselor or licensed clinical addiction counselor associate, however, you must have a master’s degree or higher. In this field, you’ll work to diagnose, prevent, and manage destructive behaviors associated with alcohol and drug abuse, problem gambling, and other addictions.
Mental health counselor: To become a mental health counselor in Indiana, you’ll have to earn a master’s degree or higher. Mental health counselors work in a broad range of environments like prisons, nursing homes, mental health facilities, and state agencies. Their scope of services and clients are equally broad and can often overlap with some of the previously mentioned specialties. They might, for example, work with married couples, people referred by social workers, or those struggling with addiction.

Job Growth and Psychologist Salary in Indiana

The salary you can expect to earn has a lot to do with your chosen specialty. Here’s a look at median salaries across several of the most popular psychology careers, as well as job growth projections for each.

JOB GROWTH AND SALARIES FOR PSYCHOLOGY JOBS IN INDIANA

Career	Indiana Median Annual Salary (May 2018)	Median Salary Per Hour	% Expected Job Growth (2016 to 2026)
Psychologist Careers
Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychologists	$63,540	$30.55	+15%
Psychologists—All Other	$93,470	$44.94	+13%
Other Specialties in Psychology
Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors	$49,210	$23.66	+11%
Licensed Clinical Social Worker	$69,370	$33.35	+10%
Marriage and Family Therapist	$43,600	$20.96	+24%
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorders Counselor	$41,490	$19.95	no available data

All data from CareerOneStop

Indiana Psychology Spotlight Programs

The following schools offer some of the most interesting, most unique, and most popular psychology programs in Indiana.

Indiana University (Bloomington)

Undergraduate students can earn a B.A. or a B.S. in psychology at Indiana University. The B.S. is available online. The university offers a Ph.D. program with seven different specializations, but all are delivered in an interdisciplinary format. All graduate students receive generous financial support for the entirety of their program, including full tuition remission. For undergraduates, in-state tuition is $10,948 per year and $36,512 for non-residents.

Purdue University (West Lafayette)

Purdue University offers two undergraduate degrees: psychological sciences and brain and behavioral sciences. Both are 120-credit programs that include 14 psychology courses. Graduate students can pursue a Ph.D. in one of six different areas of concentration, each of which culminates in a doctoral degree in psychological sciences. Although there is a master’s certificate program, the school does not have a program that terminates in a psychology master’s degree. Undergraduate tuition is $9,992 per year for Indiana residents and $28,794 for non-residents. For graduate students, it’s $4,603.90 for in-state and $9,401 for non-residents.

Butler University (Indianapolis)

Butler University doesn’t offer any psychology graduate programs, but undergrads can pursue a 39-credit psychology major or a 21-credit minor. The school also has a unique combined major that pairs a psychology concentration with roughly equivalent coursework in a second special area of study such as criminology, philosophy, or anthropology. Tuition is $42,410 per year.

University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame)

Undergraduate students at Notre Dame can earn a B.A. in psychology or their choice of a B.A. or B.S. in neuroscience and behavior. Graduate students can earn doctoral degrees in one of four areas of concentration: clinical science; developmental; quantitative; and cognition, brain, and behavior. Grad students also have the opportunity to earn a joint doctorate that blends psychology with peace studies or computer science and engineering. Undergraduate tuition is $55,553 per year, and graduate tuition is $54,908.

Taylor University (Upland)

Taylor University offers both a B.A. and a B.S. in psychology, as well as a B.A. in psychology pre-med and a psychology minor. Each program is delivered with a focus on the Christian perspective as it pertains to psychology. All psychology majors will work with faculty in completing an advanced research project or practicum. Full-time tuition is $36,270 per year, and the school offers several merit-based and need-based aid packages.

DePauw (Greencastle)

Undergraduate students at DePauw can pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology or neuroscience, as well as a minor in psychology. Both of the majors place a heavy focus on scientific writing, and both programs culminate with a significant capstone project such as an empirical thesis or research project. With both paths, students will work closely with faculty and staff in planning for their careers, internships, or ascension to grad school. Tuition is $51,736 per year.

University of Indianapolis (Indianapolis)

The undergraduate psychology degree program at the University of Indianapolis is available with concentrations in clinical or counseling studies. If you are interested in graduate school, you can pursue a psychology degree with an occupational therapy (OT) major. This program allows you to take graduate courses in your fourth year that count toward both your undergraduate degree and your OT doctorate. The school also offers an accelerated B.A./M.A. 4+1 program where you can complete a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just five years. Graduate students can pursue an M.A. in psychology (non-licensable) or an M.A. in mental health counseling (licensable). A Psy.D. is offered in psychology. Undergraduate tuition is $30,888 per year. Graduate tuition is $636–$650 per credit for the M.A. programs and $972 for the Psy.D. program.

Indiana Psychology Scholarships

Separate from financial aid and student loans, scholarships are awards that can help offset the cost of education. Some are merit-based, others are need-based. Some are designed for certain demographics like women, African-Americans, or first-generation college students. For more information, visit our general scholarship page, which profiles scholarships from different states and for learners from diverse backgrounds.

Many individual schools in Indiana have their own scholarship programs, including:

Purdue University:Purdue offers five scholarships of varying amounts that are specific to the Psychological Sciences department: the Dr. Steven J. Morris Memorial Scholarship in Psychological Sciences, the Hadley Outstanding Senior Award, the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award, the Fred and Dorine Santogrossi Award Scholarship For Study Abroad in Psychology, and the Beverly H. Nairne Scholarship in Psychological Sciences.
Butler University: The Seitz Award funds study abroad opportunities to sophomore and junior psychology students, as well as to those from a few other specific majors. The award varies depending on available funds. Former winners have used the award to fund travel to China, Spain, Japan, and Panama. In some years, more than a dozen have been awarded. The school also offers several merit-based awards.
Notre Dame: Nearly all students in the Notre Dame Graduate School receive full-tuition scholarships that cover the cost of all fees except for a small student activity fee.
University of Southern Indiana: The Petranek Non-Traditional Scholarship is worth $700 and is open to “non-traditional” students who are at least 25 years old in their junior or senior years. The Wallace C. & Kathleen Wardner Memorial Scholarship is open to incoming freshmen with a high school GPA of at least 3.5 and who are residents of Southwestern Indiana. The award is for $1,200.

Some outside organizations not affiliated with a particular school also provide scholarships of their own, including:

Indiana Psychological Foundation scholarships: The IPF distributes scholarships to both undergraduate and graduate students studying psychology and behavioral health or who are conducting behavioral health research. Awards include funding for research projects that will be presented as “Poster Presentations” at the Indiana Psychological Association’s Annual Meeting.
Indiana Association of School Psychologists graduate school scholarships: The IASP offers three awards. There are two Dr. Stana Michael scholarships—one is for all qualifying students, and the other is specifically for minority students—and the Dr. Mary Lynne Slonaker Memorial Scholarship. All three awards are in the amount of $1,000 and are open only to graduate students enrolled in an approved school psychology program in Indiana. All require a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Indiana Internships and Fellowships

Fellowships and internships are placements or supervised positions that often come with stipends, salaries, or other financial incentives. They’re generally open only to graduate students, who in many cases are pursuing heavy academic workloads that makes traditional employment impossible.

Many individual schools have their own internship and/or fellowship programs, including:

Notre Dame fellowship: About 94% of doctoral students at Notre Dame receive multi-year fellowships and assistantships that include stipends between $23,000 and $32,544 per year, depending on the program. Other select fellowships come with even larger stipends.
Indiana University Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program in Clinical Psychology: This one-year program, offered through the IU School of Medicine, is designed to train clinical psychologists. It requires 20–30 hours per week and includes hands-on training as well as research and administrative work. It comes with a salary of $50,004.
Indiana University Psychology Internship: Also offered through the IU School of Medicine, the Psychology Internship program runs for 12 months and has seven open positions. The internship is APA-accredited and is open only to graduate students enrolled in APA-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs. It has four tracks: autism, child/pediatric psychology, adult/adult health psychology, and integrated care. It comes with a stipend of at least $25,000 and a benefits package worth as much as $10,500.

Just as with scholarships, some organizations that aren’t affiliated with schools offer fellowship and internship opportunities. They include:

Franciscan Health Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship: This one-year, full-time fellowship follows the practitioner-scholar model and is designed to train psychologists in the interdisciplinary context of primary care. Located in Indianapolis, it consists of 18–20 hours of direct client contact per week and fulfills the supervised hours requirement needed for state licensure.
Regional Mental Health Center Psychology Internship Program: This one-year, pre-doctoral internship training program comes with a $23,023.94 stipend and a range of benefits including insurance—family/spouse included—and paid time off. Interns receive generalist training in clinical psychology as well as intensive experience in a specialty area.
Youth Opportunity Center Doctoral Internship: Located in Muncie, the YOC doctoral internship program exposes doctoral interns to youth and family mental health services. It takes place on a 75-acre campus with nine residential cottages and four individualized treatment programs. The position comes with a $24,000 salary and includes benefits like insurance and paid time off.

It’s also important to use resources like Chegg Internships, LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job sites to learn about all the psychology internships, fellowships, and scholarships that are available in the state.

Indiana Psychology Resources

Whether you’re a psychology student or a practicing professional, these organizations offer information, resources, and networking and research opportunities to help you.

Indiana Psychological Association: The IPA supports psychologists through all levels of their careers, as well as students pursuing careers in the field. It provides mentoring services both to students and professionals, supports a foundation, conducts political activism, provides information to the general public, and works to uphold high ethical standards.
Indiana State Psychology Board: This organization is responsible for awarding licenses. It contains all the information you need to know about earning, maintaining, renewing, and transferring a license. It includes information on criminal background checks and provides online services and important paperwork for download. The board also maintains a list of other agencies across the state that psychologists and students can use for research and data.
Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board: This organization’s website is where you’ll turn for everything you need to know about becoming a professional in a related field not governed by the Indiana State Psychology Board. That includes licensing, renewal, continuing education, testing, rules, and regulations for social workers, addiction counselors, mental health counselors, and marriage and family therapists.
Indiana Association of School Psychologists: An affiliate of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), this nonprofit organization represents the state’s school psychologists specifically, as well as graduate students working toward a career in the field. Different membership packages are available, but all membership dollars go toward political advocacy on behalf of the profession and to scholarships and other awards.
National Alliance on Mental Illness–Indiana: The state affiliate of NAMI offers a wide range of resources, data, and networking information to mental health professionals of all specialties. Here you’ll find volunteering opportunities, research materials, and training and education programs.