Psychology and Counseling Degree Programs at the University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky appears in our ranking of the Top 10 Master’s in Counseling Degrees Online.
The University of Kentucky is a major public university in Kentucky with the main campus and several satellite branches. It offers a psychology program that undergrads can finish in four full years. Designed to give students a solid foundation in psychology and social science fields, it features three courses that students must take before declaring a major: Introduction to Psychology, Orientation to Psychology and Experimental Psychology. Majors can choose other required classes and electives to take from a selection of courses, including Developmental Psychology, Research in Social Psychology, Learning and Cognition and Social Psychology and Cultural Processes.
One of the options for graduate students is the university’s marriage and family therapy program, which is available from its School of Human Environmental Sciences. This program includes emphasis areas on family processes, couple and family therapy, adolescent development, aging, and family finance and economics. Students take six required courses before taking any classes from their emphasis areas. Those classes include Allocation of Family Resources, Family Processes, Research Methods in Family Science and Readings in Family Therapy and Research. The program includes a required thesis too.
Five training programs are available from the University of Kentucky for psychology majors too. The clinical psychology program focuses on the science and research methods used in psychology and is available with a concentration in health science. Those in the cognition, learning and performance program focus more on what effects the performance of humans animals. Students majoring in developmental psychology can take part in the Children at Risk Initiative, which includes opportunities to help kids at risk in the communities around the university’s campus. The University of Kentucky also offers degree programs for graduate and doctoral students in social psychology and behavioral neuroscience, as well as a master’s in clinical rehabilitation counseling program online.
About the University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky is the largest public university in Kentucky. Established in 1865 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, it originally had a campus in Ashland. This would change when it broke into two campuses. The A&M branch moved to Lexington, while Kentucky College stayed in Ashland and would adopt the Transylvania University name. Moving to Lexington provided the university with more room to grow and helped it become one of the nation’s top schools. Though most call the university UK, some also call it Kentucky.
UK now offers service-learning programs and initiatives designed to give back to locals around its campus. Those programs include assistance for those who need help filing their taxes and tutoring for children. Both ARWU and U.S. News and World Report rank UK as one of the top colleges in America and around the world. Students often attend games and support the Wildcats teams. Its men’s and women’s basketball teams won national tournaments several times and routinely see its players compete at the professional level. The University of Kentucky has an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, including online students and those who study at any UK campus.
University of Kentucky Accreditation Details
After an extensive review of the internships that students do and the classes they take, the APA granted UK accreditation. This accreditation covers both its counseling and clinical psychology programs. Students who need financial aid can apply for help because the university also has regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). SACS accreditation allows the university to accept credits also. The marriage and family therapy program at UK has accreditation from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) too.
University of Kentucky Application Requirements
Undergrads who submit their applications by December 1 meet the early action deadline. This lets them get a decision letter and an award package sooner. All other students can apply by February 15. Students can use the Coalition Application, Common Application or the UK application, all of which are available online. They will also pay a $50 application fee and submit their transcripts, and they can also submit a standardized test score too. After getting into the university, undergrads must submit a separate application to apply for a spot in the psychology program.
UK looks for graduate and doctoral students who have professional experience and a strong desire to learn and work in the psychology or counseling fields. All students applying to one of these programs must submit an application and write a personal statement of between 500 and 1,000 words. This statement should include any research interests the applicant has and which professors the student wants to work within the program. UK asks that students write about how their own experiences will help them in this program and what they want to do while at the university. They must also provide a GRE score and three letters of recommendation. The university has the same requirements for doctoral students. It asks that students submit all their information and the application by January 15.
Tuition and Financial Aid
Undergrad Kentucky residents pay $6,035 per semester until they complete 60 credits of work. Their rate will then climb to $6,210 per semester until they finish their degrees. Nonresident undergrads pay $14,451 per semester to take their first 60 credits and then $14,648 to complete their degrees. UK also offers a resident and a nonresident rate for grad students. Those students will pay $6,526 as a resident of Kentucky and $15,682 as a nonresident. Students will also pay for their living expenses and their school supplies. They may face additional fees for courses that include a lab too.
UK awards financial aid packages to more than 90% of its students. The only way students can get that aid is with the FAFSA. Once the university receives that form, it will look at how much a student can afford to pay and what types of aid they should get based on their or their parents’ incomes. Most undergrads will get federal loans and both state and federal grants. They can also qualify for UK scholarships too. Graduate students can use federal and alternative loans and apply for an assistantship. To get an assistantship, students must click a box on the application to show that they want one of these positions and then submit an application. The University of Kentucky offers many scholarships and other funding options for its psychology and counseling majors.
