Graduate Programs

The Psychology Department places a premium on excellence in teaching and scholarly research. As a result, we are one of the most dynamic and productive departments at UWM. The faculty are recognized experts in their various disciplines as well as being accomplished teachers.

Perhaps the best indicator of our success, however, is the quality of our students. Our graduate students have been extraordinarily successful in research and scholarship. Together with faculty, they publish cutting-edge research and successfully compete for national scholarships, grants and awards. They secure postgraduate positions at some of the most prestigious universities in the country as well as employment in industry, government, and academia.

UWM is one of the nation’s top research universities (i.e., Carnegie Classification: R1) and one of the two centers of doctoral study in the University of Wisconsin system. The UWM campus is located in a vibrant urban setting on Milwaukee’s North Shore close to Lake Michigan. It serves approximately 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students with the most diverse population of any school in the UW system.

For international students: Certain students who earned degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields may apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion optional practical training (OPT). Our Psychology MS/PhD programs have been designated as one of them. Therefore, international students who graduate from our Psychology MS/PhD programs will be eligible for applying for an OPT STEM Extension, starting from Spring 2023 for MS graduates and from Fall 2023 for PhD graduates.

About our Graduate Programs

Note that our PhD programs are actually combined MS/PhD programs, although applicants with advanced degrees are also encouraged to apply.
The Psychology Department offers the following graduate programs:

*American Psychological Association
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: 202-336-5979

Applying for Admission

Please follow the link below to access application instructions, information, and materials. These materials include the Department of Psychology Graduate Admissions Brochure. It is essential that you read the brochure carefully before applying.

Information Sessions and Application Fee Waiver

Prospective applicants to our graduate programs are encouraged to attend the UWM Graduate School All-Programs Virtual Information Session (10/26/23 from 6-8pm CST) and/or the 10th Annual Graduate School In-Person Open House (11/9/23 from 5-7pm CST). For more information about the Virtual Information Session, please click here: https://uwm.edu/graduateschool/virtual-infosession/. For more information about the In-Person Open House, please click here: https://uwm.edu/graduateschool/openhouse/. 

Prospective applicants who attend the In-Person Open House on 11/9/23 can have their application fee waived, so long as they apply between August 15, 2023-March 31, 2024. Additional information about the application fee waiver can be found here: https://uwm.edu/graduateschool/openhouse/. No fee waiver is provided for attending the Virtual Information Session.

Graduate Application

The UWM Graduate School also offers a limited number of application fee grants for applicants who have completed or are currently completing eligible graduate school preparation programs. The full list of eligible programs, and instructions for obtaining a fee grant, can be found here: https://uwm.edu/graduateschool/panthera-application-fee-grant-program/

Application Deadlines

We are currently accepting applications for the Psychology MS and PhD programs. Application deadlines are December 1, 2023 for all PhD programs; and January 31, 2024 for the Terminal Master’s program in Health Psychology. If you have any questions, please contact us at uwmpsych@uwm.edu.

Contact Information

Contact us at uwmpsych@uwm.edu.