Best Accredited Online Master’s in Psychology Programs

You don’t need to quit your job to earn an online master’s in psychology degree. Going to college while balancing family and work life is never easy. However, online learning makes it possible with flexible courses, asynchronous assignments, and internship options in your community.

With a master’s in psychology, you can advance careers in clinical counseling or academia — and make more money. Learn about potential college costs and career options with an online master’s in psychology degree in this guide.

Accreditation matters for all degrees, including psychology degrees. It’s important to ensure your college is accredited. Currently, the APA only accredits doctoral psychology programs.

If you want to go on to earn a doctorate and become a licensed psychologist, many states require you to graduate from an APA-accredited doctoral program. Similarly, accredited on-campus or online psychology master’s degree programs will not accept transfer credits from unaccredited schools.

The accreditation process is also as close as you can get to a guarantee that your investment of time and money will give you results. Accreditation means that a school or program meets academic or industry standards.

Because accreditation is so vital, this guide only lists master’s in psychology online degrees from accredited colleges and universities.

For the 2020-21 school year, graduate students paid a median of $9,950 per year to earn a master’s of science in psychology and $11,070 per year to earn a master’s of arts (MA) in psychology, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Tuition fluctuates depending on different variables, such as:

Scholarships can help offset college expenses and don’t need to be repaid. You can learn of scholarship opportunities by visiting your school’s financial aid office.

These concentrations can prepare you for counseling licensure, or to prepare for a doctorate to become a psychologist. You can also work in applied psychology with an online master’s in psychology, but cannot call yourself a licensed psychologist. Check your state licensing guidelines for counselors, therapists, or related careers to explore requirements in more detail./

Industrial-organizational psychology studies the psychology of behavior within organizations. This concentration can prepare you to work in HR, as a consultant, in training design, labor relations, or other areas of applied psychology.

School psychology focuses on improving student mental health outcomes, at the personal level or by addressing the overall school climate. After you earn an online master’s in psychology with a concentration in school psychology, you can become a school counselor or earn an Ed.S. to become a school psychologist.

Forensic psychology addresses the psychological aspects of the legal system and how psychology affects law and law practice. While only forensic psychologists are licensed to diagnose patients, an online psychology master’s degree with a specialty in forensic psychology could also prepare you to work in a law firm or the justice or legal system.

Addictions psychology studies the nature of addiction, how to prevent it, and how to help people recover. You can become a substance use disorder counselor with an on-campus or online master’s in psychology, or earn a doctorate to become an addiction psychologist.

Clinical mental health psychology emphasizes the diagnosis and treatment of mental health. Many graduates of master’s in psychology online programs who focus on clinical mental health go on to earn a doctorate. However, you can also apply to become an LPC in most states with a master’s, supervised experience, and passing the clinical licensing examination.

If you wish to become a licensed psychologist, you’ll need a doctorate degree. An online master’s in psychology program, however, can prepare you for many other in-demand careers in counseling, psychology, and human services.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), mental health counselors rank as one of the fastest-growing psychology careers. The BLS projects 18% job growth for mental health counselors between 2022–2032, which is 9 percentage points higher than the projected job growth for all counselors, social workers, and other community and social service specialists.

Human resources managers and industrial-organizational psychologists earn the two highest median salaries. Human resources managers make a median of $130,000 per year and industrial-organizational psychologists earn a median of over $145,000 per year. Yet, mental health counselors earn the lowest median salary of less than $60,000 per year.

Explore the job growth and median salaries of some common roles for graduates of online master’s in psychology programs.

Will an online master’s in psychology be a worthwhile pursuit? Only you can answer that question. What degree or program you choose depends on your learning style, work and life schedule, your timeline, your career goals, and your budget.

Learn what you should consider before choosing whether to earn your master’s in psychology online or on campus.

All rankings and school descriptions on this page were created and reviewed independently by the ASO Rankings Team.

The insights on this page — excluding school descriptions — were reviewed by an independent third party compensated for their time by Accredited Schools Online. Page last reviewed December 4th, 2023.