WCU’s Newly Accredited Doctor of Psychology Program One of the Most Affordable in America

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Image via West Chester University.

With its newly earned accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA), West Chester University’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program becomes one of only nine APA-accredited clinical psychology Psy.D. programs at a public university nationwide — making this among the most affordable accredited clinical Psy.D. programs in the country.

WCU’s program is also one of only two APA-accredited Psy.D. programs in clinical psychology offered at a public institution in Pennsylvania.

The inaugural cohort entered the full-time, five-year program in fall 2016 and will graduate in 2021.

The accreditation process encourages improvement through continuous self-study and review – and students are part of the program’s improvement plan.

“Being in the second cohort, we were asked many times to give important feedback about policy and program development,” said Kenia Valdez, a third-year Psy.D. student. “Coming into the program, I was surprised how much our input was sought.”

“We specialize in training clinicians versus researchers and provide more comprehensive training in a wide variety of clinical disorders compared to school psychology or traditional counseling programs,” said Vanessa Johnson, chair of the Psychology Department and core faculty member in the Psy.D. program. “We provide not just training in therapy, but also in diagnostic and psychoeducational testing. And our tuition price point is one of our advantages.”

Students can choose to specialize in trauma or child and adolescent mental health. Johnson says there is some overlap in coursework, i.e., students who choose the child and adolescent mental health track will receive some training in trauma and vice versa. All incoming first-year students are offered graduate assistantships. Cohorts are kept small so that students can benefit from their faculty mentors’ direct involvement. Currently, 30 students are enrolled.

Click here to learn more about WCU’s Psy.D.

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