Admissions Frequently Asked Questions

Why couldn’t I find information about Educational Psychology or Counseling Psychology in the Psychology Department website? 

At this university, Educational Psychology is a department of the College of Education, and Counseling is one of four areas of study within Educational Psychology.

How can I get an Educational Psychology catalog?

In order to insure that you always get the most up-to-date, correct information, all our department and application information is on the web at www.ed.uiuc.edu/edpsy. We no longer have a hard copy catalog available.  Our website includes detailed application instructions, information about our four doctoral areas of study, and a link to apply on-line. 

I’d like information about the master’s program in Educational Psychology.

Our department is basically a Ph.D. program.  Three of our areas of study -- Counseling, Child Development and Cognitive Science of Teaching and Learning (CSTL) -- will only accept Ph.D. candidates.  Queries will sometimes accept a terminal master’s candidate.  All of our areas of study accept applicants with bachelor’s degrees.  These students get their master’s degrees as one step in their doctoral path.

We offer one terminal master’s degree in a specialized on-line program, Curriculum, Technology and Education Reform (CTER), which serves P-12 teachers. 

I’d like information about your Guidance Counseling program.

Our Counseling area of study does not train students to become guidance counselors or school psychologists.  There is no such program at this university at this time. 

Do I need an undergraduate degree in psychology in order to apply to be a grad student in Educational Psychology?

The answer depends on which of our four areas of study interests you. For the Counseling area of study, the most consistent undergraduate major for our students is psychology. In the other areas, however, admitted candidates may have a much wider variety of majors.  For the Queries area of study, experience with statistics and research methodology in any discipline may be good preparation.

A psychology degree is not required for Counseling applicants. Counseling faculty look for applicants with experience related to the degree he or she would be pursuing. Students who majored in psychology as undergrads are more likely to have gained that experience as part of their undergrad work, of course, but students from other disciplines may also qualify.

How many students do you admit?

We do not have a department quota, and the percentage of admissions to applications varies from area to area. In the department as a whole, we offered admission to about 25% of Ph.D. applicants in the last few years.

Which of your areas of study have the best career prospects?

At the Ph.D. level, graduates of each area of study are very employable in universities, in consultation roles, and in government.  Graduates of the Counseling area of study have the additional career route of clinical practice. 

What do I put in the application where it asks for my field of specialization? 

If you are applying to the Ph.D. program, you need to input one of our four areas of study:  

Before you leave that page a box will pop up displaying the above four choices, plus a fifth choice for online master's applicants.  

If you are applying to the online master's program, Curriculum, Technology and Education Reform, inputting "CTER" is sufficient.

Where do I send my supporting materials? 

NO supporting materials should go to the Office of Admissions.  All application supporting materials should be sent to the Department of Educational Psychology, either by e-mail to: 

edpsy@uiuc.edu

or by regular mail to: 
Admissions
Educational Psychology
1310 S. Sixth Street
226 Education Building
Champaign, IL 61820