About

The Master of Science in Educational Psychology is appropriate for students seeking the core knowledge, research tools, and educational experiences necessary to succeed in various educational settings. This program is appropriate for elementary, secondary, and special education teachers who wish to enhance classroom skills; students interested in pursuing advanced studies in educational psychology; as well as students who plan to apply their skills in government or business settings. Students' individualized programs are tailored with attention to their area of specialization.

Available Options

  • Thesis Track
  • Non-Thesis Track
  • Quantitative Methods Non-Thesis Track

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please head over to Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, graduates will be able to:

  • Understand and be able to analyze key theories related to learning, cognition, and development.
  • Critically evaluate research studies based on each study’s methodology, literature support, and significance.
  • Develop plans for assessment construction, item and test specification, item writing and selection, assessment preparation and administration, test and item analysis, item and test revision to enhance reliability and validity, and various methods for assessments and surveys, such as factor analysis, item response theory, and current issues in psychometrics.
  • Serve as scholars who can critique and evaluate reports of research studies, and use skills base learned through their educational psychology coursework in their chosen career.
  • Understand and be able to analyze key theories related to the selected specialty or elective courses.
  • Understand how to implement evidence-based intervention strategies and/or design and modify learning environments to promote more effective learning.
  • Develop a professional identity consistent with the specialty or elective courses, contribute to the community through their chosen career, and understand aspects of ethical and professional functioning in the chosen domain.

Career Possibilities

  • Educational assessment coordinator
  • Educational psychologists
  • Program evaluators
  • Community college faculty
  • Human resource education specialist
  • Research analyst for school districts, human services agencies, hospitals, businesses, etc.

Requirements

Master of Science - Educational Psychology

Plan Description

The Master of Science - Educational Psychology is appropriate for students seeking the core knowledge, research tools, and educational experiences necessary to succeed in various educational settings. The program is appropriate for elementary, secondary, and special education teachers who wish to enhance classroom skills; students interested in pursuing advanced studies in educational psychology; as well as students who plan to apply their skills in government or business settings. Students' individualized programs are tailored with attention to their area of specialization.

For more information about your program including your graduate program handbook and learning outcomes please visit the Degree Directory.

Plan Admission Requirements

Application deadlines

Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.

Admission to graduate studies at UNLV requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university with either a preferred minimum grade point average of 2.75 overall or a 3.00 in the last two years of undergraduate work. Master's degree programs require that an application for admission be submitted to the Graduate College, as well as transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.

 

Admission to the Master of Science degree program in Educational Psychology is based on the following criteria:

  1. Preference given to students whose scores relate to the 50th percentile or better on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
  2. Three letters of recommendation
  3. One writing sample
  4. Transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
  5. Graduate College application is available online

 

All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.

Plan Requirements (Fully Online option* available)

See Subplan Requirements below.

Subplan 1: Foundations-Thesis
Subplan 2: Foundations-Non-Thesis
Subplan 3: Quantitative Methods-Non-Thesis

Subplan 1 Requirements: Foundations-Thesis

Total Credits Required: 33

Course Requirements

Learning and Development Courses – Credits: 6

Research Courses – Credits: 9

Elective Courses – Credits: 12

Students must complete a minimum 12 credits of advisor-approved electives.

Thesis – Credits: 6

Degree Requirements

  1. This Program is available In-Person/Blended, or Fully Online (Courses available in person and/or online. Please see the Fully Online Modality Tracks in Programs section of this Catalog for more information). *Exclusively Fully Online Programs: A fully online student is one who has committed to pursue their entire degree, certificate, or microcredential exclusively through online education. Modality change process: Programs may be offered in more than one modality (instructional mode). If programs offer a fully online option, students may opt for a fully online offering at the time of admission. They will be tagged as a fully online student. Once admitted, students can only change their program modality by sending an email to their respective Graduate College Retention, Progression, and Completion (RPC) Coordinator (grad.rpc@unlv.edu).
  2. A minimum of 33 credits is required for the degree. Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better in the program and a grade of B or better in core course work.
  3. The culminating experience for the M.S. degree is the defense of the student's master's thesis.
  4. Students who choose to complete a thesis will select a Graduate Faculty member to serve as chair. The chair and the student will select the other committee members. Each committee must have three members. Committee members must be named by the time the student submits their Program of Study to the Graduate College. The student must defend a thesis proposal before data to be used in the thesis are collected. The committee will meet and determine whether to accept or reject the proposal. A proposal can be accepted provisionally given that the student follows the committee's suggestions for revision. Upon completion of the thesis, an oral defense will be scheduled. This defense will be scheduled and conducted in accordance with the Graduate College's policies for thesis and dissertation completion.

Graduation Requirements

The student must submit and successfully defend their thesis by the posted deadline. The defense must be advertised and is open to the public.

After the thesis defense, the student must electronically submit a properly formatted pdf copy of their thesis to the Graduate College for format check. Once the thesis format has been approved by the Graduate College, the student will submit the approved electronic version to ProQuest. Deadlines for thesis defenses, format check submissions, and the final ProQuest submission can be found here. 

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.

Subplan 2 Requirements: Foundations-Non-Thesis

Total Credits Required: 33

Course Requirements

Learning and Development Courses – Credits: 6

Research Courses – Credits: 9

Elective Courses – Credits: 15

Students must complete a minimum of 15 credits of electives.

Culminating Experience - Credits: 3

Degree Requirements

  1. This Program is available In-Person/Blended, or Fully Online (Courses available in person and/or online. Please see the Fully Online Modality Tracks in Programs section of this Catalog for more information). *Exclusively Fully Online Programs: A fully online student is one who has committed to pursue their entire degree, certificate, or microcredential exclusively through online education. Modality change process: Programs may be offered in more than one modality (instructional mode). If programs offer a fully online option, students may opt for a fully online offering at the time of admission. They will be tagged as a fully online student. Once admitted, students can only change their program modality by sending an email to their respective Graduate College Retention, Progression, and Completion (RPC) Coordinator (grad.rpc@unlv.edu).
  2. A minimum of 33 credits is required for the degree. Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better in the program and a grade of B or better in core course work.
  3. The culminating experience for the M.S. degree is the completion of a written comprehensive examination.
  4. The comprehensive exam is comprised of questions reflective of the core areas (learning and development, research and measurement), and the specialty. All students who take the comprehensive exam in a given semester will respond to items from a set selected for that semester. In consultation with the Comprehensive Examination Evaluation Committee, the student's adviser/committee chair will create an additional item to reflect the student's elective courses/speciality.  A department Comprehensive Examination Evaluation Committee will evaluate the responses for each examinee. Each student's adviser/committee chair will also evaluate their student's responses to the selected items.

Graduation Requirements

The student must successfully complete a culminating experience.

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.

Subplan 3 Requirements: Quantitative Methods-Non Thesis

Total Credits Required: 33

Course Requirements

Required Courses-Credits: 18

Elective Courses-Credits: 12

Complete 12 credits from the following list of courses:

Culminating Experience-Credits: 3

Degree Requirements

  1. This Program is available In-Person/Blended, or Fully Online (Courses available in person and/or online. Please see the Fully Online Modality Tracks in Programs section of this Catalog for more information). *Exclusively Fully Online Programs: A fully online student is one who has committed to pursue their entire degree, certificate, or microcredential exclusively through online education. Modality change process: Programs may be offered in more than one modality (instructional mode). If programs offer a fully online option, students may opt for a fully online offering at the time of admission. They will be tagged as a fully online student. Once admitted, students can only change their program modality by sending an email to their respective Graduate College Retention, Progression, and Completion (RPC) Coordinator (grad.rpc@unlv.edu).
  2. A minimum of 33 credits is required for the degree. Students must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better in the program and a grade of B or better in core course work.
  3. The culminating experience for the M.S. degree is the completion of the capstone course.

Graduation Requirements

  1. Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.
  2. The student must successfully complete a culminating experience.

Plan Graduation Requirements

Refer to your subplan for Graduation Requirements.

Subplan 1: Foundations-Thesis
Subplan 2: Foundations-Non-Thesis
Subplan 3: Quantitative Methods-Non-Thesis

Close

Documents/Downloads

Contacts

Department of Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education

We provide instruction in and the delivery of innovative research to inform the educational process from early childhood through higher education via our master’s and doctoral degree programs as well as graduate certificates, including the Intercollegiate and Professional Sport Management program.

Website
https://www.unlv.edu/ephe
Email
eplhedept@unlv.edu
Phone
702-895-3253
More

College of Education

The College of Education creates an intellectual environment that promotes quality instruction, significant research, and professional service. With four unique departments, graduates receive the necessary tools and experiences to make an impact on local, national, and global scales.

Website
https://www.unlv.edu/education
Email
education@unlv.edu
Phone
702-895-3375
More
Update Degree Info