Iowa Psychology Education Overview
If you follow the steps necessary to become licensed to practice Psychology in Iowa, you will find you have a great diversity of career options in the field of human services. You can go many directions with your license including: Working at a hospital in Iowa City or being employed at a school in Fairfield. With has a population of just over 3 million people, Iowa is of moderate size. With a population of 3 million, there will arise numerous organizations that have need of licensed Psychologists. In Iowa, a Psychologist can expect a mean yearly wage of $65,590 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics1. If you are someone with a degree concentration in Child Psychology, or for whom working with children is your calling, you may want to seek employment with one of Iowa’s 350+ School districts2. If you like the idea of working in a fast paced and stimulating hospital environment, then you may wish to research your employment options with one of Iowa’s 67+ major hospitals3. Having a license to practice Psychology in Iowa will open many doors of opportunity for you in the human services field. Below you will find our guide on how to navigate the process to become a licensed Psychologist in Iowa.
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Required educational background
Iowa is a great state to become a licensed Psychologist in. To get your license in Iowa you will first need to earn your Doctorate in Psychology. You will need to have already earned your Bachelor and Master of Psychology as a pre-requisite to earning your doctorate.
One of the best aspects of earning your Bachelor of Psychology is that you will get to really understand your career potential in psychology. Even if you choose to stop your schooling after you Bachelor’s, you will find this is an excellent degree to have in the human services field.
Iowa is a state that requires its psychologists to have their doctorate in order to apply for licensure. As such a Master’s degree is a critical step on your journey towards becoming a licensed psychologist. Having your Master’s degree is also valuable in and of itself. In the human services field few Master level degrees are more valued than a Master of Psychology. Many career options will become available with your Master’s and of course it is also required in order to earn your Ph.D.
Once you have earned your doctorate in psychology from a board approved school you will need to start accumulating your required hours of post-graduate field experience.
Field Experience
To begin gaining your required field experience for licensure, you will need to do the following:
- You can be granted a Psychology Associate title while you complete the required post-graduate field experience to earn your full license.
- You are required to accumulate 1500 hours of field experience over the course of one full year. You will need to be supervised by a psychologist who holds a current active Iowa license and has been approved by the Iowa Board. Your experience must be supervised with at least one hour of direct face-to-face experience per week.
- You will need to apply for licensure, get approved and take your examination as explained below.
You will want to familiarize yourself with the Iowa specific rules and regulations for licensure. These laws change so it is good to make sure you have current information, which you can find here:
Examination
Once you have completed your field experience you can apply to take the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
Pass the EPPP earning a high enough score to meet the Iowa minimum
You can find some helpful information about your EPPP here: