To date, the Department of Psychology has been successful in providing financial support for graduate students in the form of a living stipend, tuition and health insurance through summer quarter of their fifth year. This support can be obtained from different sources of funding. Department financial aid assignments are made at the beginning of each academic year. Continued financial support is contingent upon satisfactory academic progress.
Department Funding
Research and teaching assistantships.
Stanford University sets a minimum level of support for assistantships each year. Assistantships cover salary, tuition, and health insurance.
Students with assistantships are paid their salaries through bimonthly paychecks from the Stanford Payroll Office. Students are strongly encouraged to sign up for direct deposit online via AXESS. Usual paydays are the 7th and the 22nd of every month. Student assistantship salary is taxable income, and applicable taxes and deductions will be withheld in accordance with the W-4 Tax Data form completed by each student. This form and other payroll forms will be provided to new students during the orientation in Autumn Quarter.
Pay Periods
Pay periods within each quarter are based on a calendar year, not the academic year. Pay cycles run one week behind the actual pay date. Therefore, a student's first Autumn Quarter paycheck is issued on October 22nd (for work completed during the pay period of October 1st to the 15th). Thereafter, students are paid every 7th and 22nd of the month.
- Autumn Quarter pay periods run from October 1 – December 31
- Winter Quarter pay periods run from January 1 – March 31
- Spring Quarter pay periods run from April 1 – June 30
- Summer Quarter pay periods run from July 1 – September 30
Students who secure external fellowships usually are paid via quarterly stipend rather than assistantship salary. When awarded, fellowship stipends are disbursed on the first day of each quarter provided that students enroll in the required number of units by the published deadline. Students must register in exactly 10 units in Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer Quarters (note that students in TGR status must be enrolled in the 0-unit PSYCH 802 course and no more than 3 additional units). If the enrollment deadline is missed, stipends are disbursed a few business days after the student eventually meets the enrollment requirements. Mandatory charges on the student bill, including rent for campus housing, will be deducted from the stipend before it is issued. No taxes are withheld, but stipends are reportable as taxable income. (Fellowship tuition and tuition allowance are not taxable in most cases.)
Banking Funding for Off-Campus Summer Internships
If a student chooses to pursue an internship or similar off-campus opportunity during the summer in years 1-4, the student forfeits their summer funding package (per University policy) and does not enroll in units during the internship. The forfeited summer funding is "banked" and applied to the summer after 5th year, if needed. Funding is banked only if the student is not enrolled and not participating in Stanford research or courses during the summer internship. Students are only eligible to bank ONE quarter of summer funding, and that funding can ONLY be applied to the fifth summer.
Research Support Funding
Departmental funding is also available to specifically support research initiatives by courtesy of generous donors. Click on each link for more information:
- Norman H. Anderson Research Fund
Outside Funding: Fellowships and Grants
The Department depends on a number of our students receiving outside awards (either external or internal to Stanford). We strongly encourage all students to apply for these funding opportunities. This spreadsheet lists some of the funding opportunities available to our students. This resource is a living document that our student and faculty communities are invited to update whenever they learn about relevant opportunities. Current students and faculty have direct access to the spreadsheet; if you are a current student with questions about how to access this document, please contact the Student Services Manager. The Department is deeply grateful to PhD student Julie Cachia for her work in compiling the original resource.
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Psychology Graduate Program
- Psychology Department
The Clinical Psychology Program adheres to a clinical science model of training, and is a member of the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science. We are committed to training clinical psychologists whose research advances scientific knowledge of psychopathology and its treatment, and who are capable of applying evidence-based methods of assessment and clinical intervention. The main emphasis of the program is research, especially on severe psychopathology. The program includes research, course work, and clinical practica, and usually takes five years to complete. Students typically complete assessment and treatment practica during their second and third years in the program, and they must fulfill all departmental requirements prior to beginning their one-year internship. The curriculum meets the requirements for licensure in Massachusetts, accreditation requirements of the American Psychological Association (APA; Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, [email protected] , Tel. [202] 336-5979), and accreditation requirements of the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS). PCSAS re-accredited the program on December 15, 2022 for a 10-year term. APA most recently accredited the program on April 28, 2015 for a seven-year term, which was extended due to COVID-related delays.
Requirements
Required courses and training experiences fulfill requirements for clinical psychology licensure in Massachusetts as well as meet APA criteria for the accreditation of clinical psychology programs. In addition to these courses, further training experiences are required in accordance with the American Psychological Association’s guidelines for the accreditation of clinical psychology programs (e.g., clinical practica [e.g., PSY 3050 Clinical Practicum, PSY 3080 Practicum in Neuropsychological Assessment]; clinical internship).
Students in the clinical psychology program are required to take the following courses:
- PSY 3900 Professional Ethics
- PSY 2445 Psychotherapy Research
- PSY 2070 Psychometric Theory and Method Using R
- PSY 2430 Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Bases of Behavior
- PSY 3250 Psychological Testing
- PSY 2050 History of Psychology
- PSY 1951 Intermediate Quantitative Methods
- PSY 1952 Multivariate Analysis in Psychology
- PSY 2040 Contemporary Topics in Psychopathology
- PSY 2460 Diagnostic Interviewing
- PSY 2420 Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Clinical students must also take one course in each of the following substantive areas: biological bases of behavior (e.g., PSY 1202 Modern Neuroanatomy; PSY 1325 The Emotional, Social Brain; PSY 1355 The Adolescent Brain; PSY 1702 The Emotional Mind); social bases of behavior (e.g., PSY 2500 Proseminar in Social Psychology); cognitive-affective bases of behavior (e.g., PSY 2400 Cognitive Psychology and Emotional Disorders); and individual differences (Required course PSY 2040 Contemporary Topics in Psychopathology fulfills the individual differences requirement for Massachusetts licensure). In accordance with American Psychological Association guidelines for the accreditation of clinical psychology programs, clinical students also receive consultation and supervision within the context of clinical practica in psychological assessment and treatment beginning in their second semester of their first year and running through their third year. They receive further exposure to additional topics (e.g., human development) in the Developmental Psychopathology seminar and in the twice-monthly clinical psychology “brown bag” speaker series. Finally, students complete a year-long clinical internship. Students are responsible for making sure that they take courses in all the relevant and required areas listed above. Students wishing to substitute one required course for another should seek advice from their advisor and from the director of clinical training prior to registering. During the first year, students are advised to get in as many requirements as possible. Many requirements can be completed before the deadlines stated below. First-year project: Under the guidance of a faculty member who serves as a mentor, students participate in a research project and write a formal report on their research progress. Due by May of first year. Second-year project: Original research project leading to a written report in the style of an APA journal article. A ten-minute oral presentation is also required. Due by May of second year. General exam: A six-hour exam covering the literature of the field. To be taken in September before the start of the third year. Thesis prospectus: A written description of the research proposed must be approved by a prospectus committee appointed by the CHD. Due at the beginning of the fourth year. Thesis and oral defense: Ordinarily this would be completed by the end of the fourth year. Clinical internship: Ordinarily this would occur in the fifth year. Students must have completed their thesis research prior to going on internship.
Credit for Prior Graduate Work
A PhD student who has completed at least one full term of satisfactory work in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences may file an application at the Registrar’s Office requesting that work done in a graduate program elsewhere be counted toward the academic residence requirement. Forms are available online .
No more than the equivalent of eight half-courses may be so counted for the PhD.
An application for academic credit for work done elsewhere must contain a list of the courses, with grades, for which the student is seeking credit, and must be approved by the student’s department. In order for credit to be granted, official transcripts showing the courses for which credit is sought must be submitted to the registrar, unless they are already on file with the Graduate School. No guarantee is given in advance that such an application will be granted.
Only courses taken in a Harvard AB-AM or AB-SM program, in Harvard Summer School, as a GSAS Special Student or FAS courses taken as an employee under the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) may be counted toward the minimum academic residence requirements for a Master’s degree.
Academic and financial credit for courses taken as a GSAS Special Student or FAS courses taken as a Harvard employee prior to admission to a degree program may be granted for a maximum of four half-courses toward a one-year Master’s and eight half-courses toward a two-year Master’s or the PhD degree.
Applications for academic and financial credit must be approved by the student’s department and should then be submitted to the Registrar’s Office.
Student Admissions, Outcomes, and other data
1. Time to Completion
Students can petition the program faculty to receive credit for prior graduate coursework, but it does not markedly reduce their expected time to complete the program.
2. Program Costs
3. Internships
4. Attrition
5. Licensure
Standard Financial Aid Award, Students Entering 2023
The financial aid package for Ph.D. students entering in 2023 will include tuition and health fees support for years one through four, or five, if needed; stipend support in years one and two; a summer research grant equal to two months stipend at the end of years one through four; teaching fellowship support in years three and four guaranteed by the Psychology Department; and a dissertation completion grant consisting of tuition and stipend support in the appropriate year. Typically students will not be allowed to teach while receiving a stipend in years one and two or during the dissertation completion year.
Year 1 (2023-24) and Year 2 (2024- 25) Tuition & Health Fees: Paid in Full Academic Year Stipend: $35,700 (10 months) Summer Research Award: $7,140 (2 months)
Year 3 (2025-26) & Year 4 (2026- 27) Tuition & Health Fees: Paid in Full Living Expenses: $35,700 (Teaching Fellowship plus supplement, if eligible) Summer Research Award: $7,140 (2 months)
Year 5 (2027-28) - if needed; may not be taken after the Dissertation Completion year Tuition & Health Fees: Paid in Full
Dissertation Completion Year (normally year 5, occasionally year 6) Tuition & Health Fees: Paid in Full Stipend for Living Expenses: $35,700
The academic year stipend is for the ten-month period September through June. The first stipend payment will be made available at the start of the fall term with subsequent disbursements on the first of each month. The summer research award is intended for use in July and August following the first four academic years.
In the third and fourth years, the guaranteed income of $35,700 includes four sections of teaching and, if necessary, a small supplement from the Graduate School. Your teaching fellowship is guaranteed by the Department provided you have passed the General Examination or equivalent and met any other department criteria. Students are required to take a teacher training course in the first year of teaching.
The dissertation completion year fellowship will be available as soon as you are prepared to finish your dissertation, ordinarily in the fifth year. Applications for the completion fellowship must be submitted in February of the year prior to utilizing the award. Dissertation completion fellowships are not guaranteed after the seventh year. Please note that registration in the Graduate School is always subject to your maintaining satisfactory progress toward the degree.
GSAS students are strongly encouraged to apply for appropriate Harvard and outside fellowships throughout their enrollment. All students who receive funds from an outside source are expected to accept the award in place of the above Harvard award. In such cases, students may be eligible to receive a GSAS award of up to $4,000 for each academic year of external funding secured or defer up to one year of GSAS stipend support.
For additional information, please refer to the Financial Support section of the GSAS website ( gsas.harvard.edu/financial-support ).
Registration and Financial Aid in the Graduate School are always subject to maintaining satisfactory progress toward the degree.
Psychology students are eligible to apply for generous research and travel grants from the Department.
The figures quoted above are estimates provided by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and are subject to change.
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation American Psychological Association 750 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 336-5979 E-mail: [email protected] www.apa.org/ed/accreditation
The Director of Clinical Training is Prof. Richard J. McNally who can be reached by telephone at (617) 495-3853 or via e-mail at: [email protected] .
- Clinical Internship Allowance
Harvard Clinical Psychology Student Handbook
Psychology, PhD
Zanvyl krieger school of arts and sciences, program requirements .
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences emphasizes training and experience in the research methods essential to the development of new knowledge in the various sub-fields of psychology. Our core program for doctoral students emphasizes scientific methodology and provides rigorous research training. Each doctoral candidate is expected to become familiar with both a relatively narrowly defined area and a broad spectrum of knowledge related to the student’s topic of specialization.
In addition to general university requirements, the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences has the following regulations:
A thorough understanding of statistics is useful in virtually all research settings. Two statistics courses are required during the first year of graduate training. The normal sequence is AS.200.657 Advanced Statistical Methods during the first semester and AS.200.658 Advanced Research Design and Analysis during the second semester. Students with exceptional statistical training should take two more advanced courses by arrangement with the Director of Graduate Studies. Students are encouraged to take more statistics, as appropriate.
Fundamentals and Core Topics in PBS
AS.200.613 Fundamentals of Biopsychology , AS.200.617 Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology , AS.200.654 Psychological & Brain Sciences Core Topics A , and AS.200.655 Psychological & Brain Sciences Core Topics B offer an introduction to the fundamental principles and methods of the psychological & brain sciences. Students will read seminal and contemporary papers in topics that cover the breadth of the field. In addition, students become versed in the careful consideration of data and in formulating written and oral arguments.
First-Year Research Report
During the first year, the student, together with the faculty advisor, identifies a research project that will provide extended research experience. Normally, the student designs a study as part of a larger ongoing project. A project proposal must be submitted by June 1 of the first year; this proposal introduces the nature of the scientific problem, reviews the relevant literature, and describes the proposed study in detail, together with the anticipated data, means of analysis, and interpretations. A final written version of this report must be submitted by December 15 of the student's second year; ideally, this "first year project" report includes all the information that would be appropriate for submission to a scientific journal.
Advanced Examination
The Advanced Examination is designed to assess expertise in the student’s area of concentration. This examination, which includes both a written and oral part, is graded by a committee of at least two faculty members. The written and oral portions of the advanced examination offer the student an opportunity to demonstrate both in-depth, focused knowledge in their specialty area of study, and also a breadth of knowledge outside of their area of expertise. The student must pass the advanced examination by the beginning of the third year of study.
Advanced Seminars
Advanced seminars are more specialized in content than a Core Topics course, but are still geared to students with interests both inside and outside the area. Students are required to complete one advanced seminar outside their concentration area. Completion of an additional advanced seminar is strongly recommended.
Topical Seminars
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences offers topical seminars in which one or more faculty members leads seminars on topics of special interest, such as cognitive processes, developmental psycholinguistics, neuro-physiological aspects of behavior, mathematical psychology, and information processing. Through participation in these seminars, students are exposed to findings in subfields of psychology. Topics vary from semester to semester and are determined by the interests of both faculty and graduate students. The format of the seminar is optional, and the course may or may not require formal tests of knowledge. Students are urged to complete topical seminars as appropriate.
Research Seminars
Students and faculty engaged or interested in research in particular areas organize these seminars. Participants discuss their own research and other current research in the area.
Teaching Assistantships
Teaching experience is regarded as an important part of the graduate program, and graduate students are required to teach during their program. More details are available in the handbook. The Department Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, Department Administrator, and Academic Program Administrator collaborate to assess the instructional support needs of the department and assign these teaching duties.
Advanced students may apply for a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship . This prestigious fellowship provides graduate students an opportunity to grow both as educators and scholars by allowing them to propose, design, and offer an undergraduate seminar course.
Literature Review
Students complete a written literature review in preparation of the completion of their dissertation. The literature review is modeled on articles appearing in professional journals, and it should be suitable for publication in such a journal. Typically, the review provides a background for the thesis plan, but for some students it may be prepared on a topic other than the one selected for the thesis. The literature review is evaluated by the same committee that will evaluate the thesis plan.
Thesis Plan
At least one calendar year before receiving the Ph.D. degree, each doctoral candidate must develop a plan for the dissertation research and present the plan before a departmental committee. The thesis plan is a detailed document stating the issue the student wishes to address in a dissertation, the experimental design to be used, and the way the student will interpret the various possible results. In essence, it is a proposal for a research project with predictions and preliminary data, rather than results. The outline of the experiments should be sufficiently clear that the readers will fully understand the procedures; the plan should also include a timeline.
This plan should be completed as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the fourth year. Dissertation research cannot proceed until the Thesis Plan has formally been approved. With the committee’s approval, the student then prepares a dissertation.
Dissertation
The dissertation represents the student’s culminating piece of scholarly work. It establishes the start of a research career and the basis for postgraduate employment. The Graduate Board of the University administers the final oral examination, a defense of the thesis. The doctoral dissertation must be in a form suitable for and worthy of publication.
Financial Support
Support for graduate students comes from many different sources. Domestic and international students in good standing can expect to receive tuition remission and a stipend.
Stipend support is competitive with that at other institutions and provides sufficient funds to live modestly. Stipends may come from research grants held by faculty members, allowing students to collaborate and be paid as research assistants. The university also provides funds for teaching assistants, as well as special fellowships.
All students are encouraged to apply for national awards, fellowships, and scholarships (e.g., NSF Graduate Fellowships). Our students have been remarkably successful at winning these honors.
The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is also affiliated with two diverse training programs supported by the Center for Hearing and Balance and the National Institute on Aging , including the NIA-supported training grant titled “Research Training in Age-Related Cognitive Disorders.” Qualified graduate students are encouraged to discuss relevant and appropriate training grant applications with their advisors. Stipend and tuition remission may be provided to accepted applicants through these and other training programs.
For further information on graduate study in psychology, contact the Academic Program Administrator for the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences .
Master of Arts in Psychology
A student who has been admitted into the Ph.D. program can earn a Master of Arts degree in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Normally, candidates for the Ph.D. degree in psychology will qualify for the M.A. degree at the end of their second year, after having completed two area seminars and at least two courses in psychological research design and/or advanced statistics, provided that their performance is of the quality judged satisfactory for the M.A. level. There is no terminal master’s program.