(Feb. 5, 2018) — The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Department of Educational Psychology has received full accreditation by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) for its Master of Arts in School Psychology program. UTSA has one of just 12 school psychology programs in the state of Texas with full accreditation by NASP, the world’s largest organization of school psychologists. Full accreditation by NASP is a testament to UTSA’s quality in education and training in school psychology.
Graduates of the program can automatically attain the Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credential, making the department’s graduates competitive at the national level. By achieving accreditation, the Department of Educational Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development has demonstrated that it has met rigorous national standards for providing responsive and evidence-based educational and psychological services to the local community, schools, and beyond.
Most school psychologists are employed in K–12 public schools, working with students, families, and teachers on a variety of mental health, learning, and behavior concerns. Over the past seven years, 100 percent of the UTSA school psychology program graduates have passed the national examination in school psychology and have taken internship and employment positions in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, California, Florida, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Kansas, in addition to school districts throughout Texas. Other recent graduates have gone on to enroll in doctoral programs in school psychology, neuropsychology and applied behavior analysis.
UTSA’s school psychology program is dedicated to providing future school psychologists with traditional and contemporary training from faculty who are active researchers and well regarded locally and on the national landscape. The 66-credit hour program’s fundamental goals are to provide each graduate with the required assessment and intervention skills, professionalism, and awareness to become a productive member of the school psychology community.
UTSA’s graduate program in school psychology first received NASP accreditation with conditions in 2015. NASP accreditation is particularly important when recruiting students and faculty to UTSA, as this accreditation provides external validation that the program is providing evidence-based training, coursework, and field experiences consistent with the highest standards of the profession. The recent conferral of full NASP accreditation extends the seven-year-old program’s fully accredited status through 2022.
The NASP represents more than 25,000 school psychologists, graduate students and related professionals throughout the United States and 25 other countries. It works to advance effective practices and methods to improve students’ learning, behavior, and mental health.
UTSA is recognized as one of the top five young universities in the nation by Times Higher Education.
