Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program

Consumer Information Disclosures: State-level Psychology Licensure Education Requirements

This disclosure refers only to the educational requirements for licensure as a psychologist and does not address criteria for supervised experience that also vary across states and jurisdictions.

Every state or jurisdiction in the US/Canada has its own separate criteria for an individual to become licensed as a psychologist at the doctoral level. Within the US, a compilation of licensure requirements, organized by jurisdictions, is available here. It will be updated annually. Items highlighted in yellow reflect a change “in progress” or a lack of verification by the board administrator in the jurisdiction. Students are encouraged to review these criteria for states or jurisdictions in which they might wish to practice in the future. As shown in the attached summary table, obtaining a degree from an APA accredited program meets educational requirements for most U.S. states and jurisdictions. The clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) opened its doors to students in September 2019. Due to its relative newness it has not yet had the opportunity to achieve accreditation through the American Psychological Association (APA), although there is every intention to do so. Prior to accreditation, graduating students can still apply for licensure as psychologists under the ‘equivalent” provision that is available in most states but not all (see table). The program at UTRGV has been designed to adhere to APA accreditation standards and faculty believe it to be an “equivalent” program. Nevertheless, the final arbiter of who is eligible for licensure as a psychologist in any given state or jurisdiction can only be made by the pertinent state/jurisdiction licensing board. As such, UTRGV faculty cannot assure nor take responsibility for graduates meeting all educational requirements under the “equivalent” provision for licensure in every state/jurisdiction and this is reflected in the table. If you are curious about the “equivalent” provision for any state or jurisdiction, please contact the DCT.

Table

The columns “YES”, “NO, and “UNABLE TO DETERMINE” refer to UTRGV faculty estimates as to whether the program satisfies licensure requirements in each U.S. state prior to the program receiving APA accreditation.

The application deadline for our program is January 6th

Applicants to our Clinical Ph.D. Program must apply through the UTRGV Graduate College online application. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the process by visiting their “How to Apply” page. A Master's degree is not required for admission into our doctoral program; however, students who hold Master's degrees are encouraged to apply. 

Applicants to our program must have:

1. Obtained a bachelor's degree from a college or university accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency or foreign equivalent.
2. Completed a minimum of 18 credit hours of psychology. Although a variety of psychology courses are acceptable, applicants will ideally have completed courses in Statistics, Research Methods, Abnormal Psychology, Personality, and Biological/Physiological Psychology.
3. Achieved a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for undergraduate coursework. Applicants who have completed graduate courses must also have a GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Required submission materials:

1. Official transcripts.
2. Current resume/vita.
3. A 1-2 page personal statement that addresses their professional goals, why they are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and what interests them about our program in particular. Applicants should clearly identify up to three program faculty that they are interested in working with, rank ordered by preference, and should explain why they are interested in working with those faculty.
4. A writing sample that best demonstrates their scholarly writing skills in psychology or a related field. This can be a class paper, thesis, conference paper, published article, or other written scholarly paper.
5. Three letters of recommendation submitted by former professors, or employers, familiar with the applicant's professional or educational capabilities. At least two of these letters must come from faculty who have taught you in a class and/or have mentored you in research.

NOTE: International applicants and domestic applicants who attended foreign universities may need to fulfill additional application requirements. Please see the Graduate College site for more information.

The Board of Regents of the UT-System schools requires that all international students be billed medical insurance every semester. The Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program does not cover the cost of medical insurance.  Waivers may be requested if you have proof of your own insurance that is equal to or exceeds the minimum requirements, and that will cover you while in the U.S.  (Mexican citizens may have medical insurance waived because of the proximity to the border.)  If you have additional questions regarding this requirement, contact the International Admissions and Student Services Office.

Applications must be submitted via the UTRGV Graduate College Graduate College online application portal. Do not submit any material by postal mail unless requested to do so. 

Selected applicants will undergo an on-campus interview. Applicants who are unable to attend an on-campus interview may be offered a phone/video interview. This is at the discretion of the faculty and only for candidates who have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from attending an on-campus interview.  

If you have any questions about the program, please email the Director of Clinical Training, Dr. Arthur Cantos (arthur.cantos@utrgv.edu).

Committee Review

Our program aims to admit between 5-6 new students each year. The selection of students begins with the review of complete applications by our program's admissions committee. Our program does not employ a set of formal "cut-offs" with regard to any of the quantitative application elements (e.g.undergraduate/graduate GPA). Often a strong record in one area may make up for a weakness in another area. However, considerable attention is given to upper-division coursework, letters of recommendation, and the applicant's personal statement. The committee will also evaluate each candidate's potential for research and the extent to which stated research interests align with the focus of core faculty.

Faculty Mentor Review

The program embraces a mentorship-training model. From the applicant pool, individual faculty members select students with congruent research interests to consider for admission to the program. Thus, a student's personal statement should indicate his or her research interests and training, as well as his or her choice(s) of the faculty mentor with whom they are most interested in working.

This mentor admissions system does not mean that each faculty member will admit one student each year. Some faculty may wish to admit more than one student. Faculty who are currently supervising a large number of students may not admit any. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact prospective mentors to learn whether that faculty member plans to accept new students for the coming year. Often that information will be available on the faculty member's website, so please check there first.

Applicant Interviews

Each faculty member who is accepting new students typically invites 3 to 4 applicants to visit the UTRGV campus and participate in our annual applicant visiting day. Visiting day typically occurs on a Friday and is a daylong program of activities that includes an orientation, question-and-answer period, opportunities to meet the faculty, and a tour of the Department, campus, and community clinic. Final applicants are strongly encouraged to visit the campus; however, phone/Skype interviews can be arranged in exceptional circumstances.

Offers

The core clinical faculty members meet following visiting day and select which students will be offered admission based on the applicants' submitted materials, fit with a faculty mentor, and impressions from personal interviews. Applicants are notified of the decision toward the end of February or beginning of March. Those offered places are strongly encouraged to notify us of their decisions as soon as possible, but have until April 15 to make a decision about whether to accept the offer.

Because some students with offers elect to go to other programs or change their career plans, a list of "alternate" students is also generated. Students on the alternate list will be informed as early as possible that they are being considered as an alternate. These applicants may be offered admission to the program when an offer extended to another applicant is declined. When all places have been filled, students on the alternate list will be informed that they are no longer under consideration for admission.

Policy Regarding Admissions Offers and Acceptances

The Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP) has adopted a set of procedures designed to facilitate the Graduate Admissions process by outlining expectations of both applicants and programs. Our program adheres to these CUDCP-adopted guidelines, which are summarized below.

1. In most CUDCP programs, a subset of applicants will be invited for an interview. Within a few weeks of the final interview dates, applicants will be notified regarding the status of their application. You may be offered admission, declined admission, placed on a wait list, or in some cases, a decision has not yet been reached regarding your application.
2. Training programs will notify students no longer being considered for admission as soon as possible. In some cases, this information is communicated by the university graduate school and can take several weeks to be processed. In some cases, you may be able to get updated information on the status of the application process (e.g., whether all interview invites have been extended; whether all offers have been extended), on a clinical program's website, or by contacting a program administrator. Beware of information posted on student-focused online forums that may be inaccurate or incomplete.
3. Offers of admission can be extended during a large time period. Most initial offers of admission are extended by April 1. Offers may be communicated by phone or email, but should be followed up by a written confirmation within 48 hours.
4. You should not be pressured, nor feel compelled to accept an offer of admission before April 15! This applies to offers of admission and to funding offers that accompany admission. It is impermissible for programs to request a decision prior to April 15 or to indicate that funding will be available only if students make decisions earlier than this date. Violations of this policy should be reported to CUDCP immediately and your identity will be protected. Of course, it is permissible for you to accept an offer as soon as you are certain of your decision (i.e., even before April 15). But the decision to do so should be based on you, and not due to pressure placed upon you by a training program.
5. Do not hold more than two offers for more than one week unless there is specific information (e.g., a visit is scheduled, funding decisions) you are waiting to receive from the program. Difficulty making up one's mind is not considered an adequate excuse to limit the options available to other applicants.
6. Once you have accepted an offer of admission to a training program, you should inform all programs in which you are still being considered. Be sure to inform programs either that you are declining outstanding offers of admission or you no longer wish to be considered for admission.