Specialist in School Psychology

The Simple Steps to Becoming EIU

In applying to the School Psychology Program, applications must be submitted with your MyEIU account. Our program is a Masters en route to a Specialist in School Psychology (SSP) Degree. In other words, you earn a Masters degree on the way to a terminal SSP degree.

For your application to be complete you must provide the following: (a) an application to the graduate school, (b) an application to the school psychology program, (c) transcript(s), (d) 3 letters of recommendation, (e) resume, (f) Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores (optional - contact Dr. Floress SP Graduate Coordinator, mfloress@eiu.edu with questions), and (g) a personal statement. **Please note. Our program requires six pre-requisite undergraduate courses, see "program requirements" for names of courses. Applications (including letters of recommendation) must be received by January 1 to be considered for admission and assistantship. Depending on the number of applications, we may continue to accept applications until the cohort is filled. Please reach out to the SP Graduate Coordinator if you plan to submit a late application.

Timeline

Two-step Interview Process: EIU conducts a two-step interview process. First, prospective students are invited to a virtual open house (typically the third/fourth week in January) to meet current faculty and students and learn more about the program and graduate assistantships. Second, individual virtual interviews (typically the first/second week in February) are conducted one-on-one with faculty.

Admission Offers: Admission decisions take place mid to late February and prospective students are notified before March.

Required Undergraduate Prerequisites

• General Psychology/Intro to Psychology
• Research Methods (Psychology Focus is preferred)
• Statistical Methods (Psychology Focus is preferred)
• Child Psychology/Human Development/Developmental Psychology
• Abnormal Psychology
• Behavior Management/Modification or Psychology of Learning/Applied Behavior Analysis Experience

The following courses are highly recommended:

• Adolescent Psychology
• Physiological Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychology of Exceptional Children
• Psychological Measurement

*Note. Applications with more than two missing prerequisites will not be reviewed.