Graduate Degree Programs and Requirements
Master's Degree
The master's degree is in experimental psychology with possible emphases in engineering psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, biopsychology, or developmental psychology. Students must take a minimum of 36 credit hours with at least 15 credit hours in Psychology and at least 15 credit hours in courses numbered 500 or above. Students are also required to
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complete a first year project
- take three of nine core courses (history and systems, engineering, cognitive, perception, learning, biopsychology, cognitive neuroscience, developmental, and social).take three required courses in quantitative skills (typically, the three courses in the Psychology department that cover basic statistics, experimental design and ANOVA, and multiple regression) and
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complete a research thesis.
The department considers the master’s degree to be a legitimate terminal goal for many students; most students who earn a master’s degree in the program successfully find employment in a degree-relevant job.
No practical experience is required. Also, there is no non-thesis option.
Completion time: two to three years
Doctorate Degree
This program requires
- 40-70 credit hours (determined by committee)
- completion of 4 of 9 core courses (engineering, cognitive, sensation and perception, learning, biopsychology, cognitive neurossience, developmental, social and history and systems
- completion of three required courses in quantitative skills plus a minimum of 6 additional credits in methods/statistics
- a comprehensive exam
- dissertation and defense
- teaching a course
- internship or co-op is recommended
For the Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology student must complete an internship in an industrial, governmental, or other laboratory setting of at least three-months duration.
Completion time: two to three years after the Master's
Careers
Our recent master's level graduates are employed with companies ranging from IBM to small private consulting companies. We frequently have more requests from industry contacts for graduates than we have students.
Our recent Ph.D. graduates have been employed in academia and industry. Alumni work at the University of Quebec, Georgia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, the Air Force Academy, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and the University of Michigan. Graduates in Cognitive and Engineering areas are typically employed in the computer industry, telecommunications, and aerospace. NMSU Psychology department graduates can be found at IBM, Microsoft, Dell, and Government agencies.
A recent survey shows that entry level salaries for Psychology Ph.D.'s in academic jobs is $50,000. In 2000, a survey of usability practioners in industry (the most common area of employment for our graduates) found an average salary of $70,000. Note that entry level salaries would be below this level.