Below are helpful informational resources that all prospective graduate students should first consult before contacting the program, in order to gain knowledge of the graduate application process, information on our doctoral program in Counseling Psychology and the Department of Psychology, as well as general issues concerning funding, international applications, and various other policies and procedures as outlined by the Iowa State University Graduate College.
For those who have questions about psychology as a potential career field, or questions about different specialties in psychology or training opportunities available, please consult the American Psychological Association website for a comprehensive detailing of these issues: https://www.apa.org/ as well as https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide
All applicants (including international applicants): Please note that we do not accept personal applications for entry into the program sent by email to either the Training Director or to individual faculty members. Please do not send application materials or request admission into faculty labs or the program in this way. We will only consider those applications properly submitted through the Iowa State University Graduate Admission portal, during our official admissions cycle.
Please be aware that the Training Director and individual counseling psychology core faculty members receive a large number of requests from prospective students to meet individually or to correspond with them to discuss our doctoral program and other matters. Although we very much value providing prospective students with necessary information, it is often not possible that we are able to hold requested meetings or offer detailed responses to emails, because of the sheer number of requests we receive.
If prospective students have specific questions not addressed by the informational resources below, please contact David Vogel (dvogel@iastate.edu).
- Counseling Psychology program webpages: https://counseling.psych.iastate.edu
- Department of Psychology webpages: https://psychology.iastate.edu
- Iowa State University Graduate College webpages: https://www.grad-college.iastate.edu
Identifying Major Professors
Please note: Neither term nor affiliate faculty in the counseling psychology program accept doctoral students as advisees.Term/affiliate faculty include: Drs. Nesbit, W. Phillips, Taylor, and Scheel. Please do not apply to work with these individuals as your major professors.
Each year, those core counseling faculty who will be accepting students into their laboratories for the upcoming admissions cycle will be listed on this page. As of this date (12.1.24):
- The application deadline for the entering class of Fall 2025 has now passed. No further applications will be considered.
- Completed applications for the entering class of Fall 2026 will most likely be due by December 1st, 2025.
- Around October 2025, those core faculty members who will be taking students into their laboratories for Fall 2026 will be listed on this page.
Helpful Information and FAQs
- Our counseling psychology doctoral program is a full-time program. There are no ‘part-time’ or ‘on-line/distance learning’ options for enrollment in the program.
- Typical time to completion in our program is 6 years, which includes completion of a one-year APA-accredited clinical internship at a site located somewhere in the United States.
- We typically admit 4 students per year. This can vary in any given year but has remained stable for the past several years.
- We do not currently require the GRE as a part of admissions. However, prospective students may choose to submit the scores they have earned on the GRE for consideration in their application dossiers.
- We do not offer a terminal Master’s degree in counseling psychology, only the doctoral degree.