Psychology (PhD)
The doctoral program in Psychology has three training tracks; Behavioral Neuroscience, Social Psychology, and General Experimental Psychology. All Ph.D. students begin by taking a set of general core classes representing the breadth in the discipline of psychology. Differences in the tracks begin with the specialty core which is comprised of course work specific to Behavioral Neuroscience, Social Psychology, or General Experimental Psychology. Upon acceptance to doctoral candidacy, students in each track have a specific set of doctoral and elective classes from which to choose.
The Ph.D. program in psychology prepares students for university teaching/research, and applied positions in universities, hospitals, industry, or government. The program consists of course work, a qualifying examination, research leading to a doctoral dissertation, and a final oral examination. Students are admitted to the program only in the fall semester.
Students in the Ph.D. program in psychology at Baylor University are expected to acquire sufficient knowledge and expertise to permit them to work as independent scholars at the frontier of Psychology upon graduation. The Doctor of Philosophy degree is ultimately awarded to those individuals who have attained a high level of scholarship in a selected field through independent study, research, and creative thought.
Students entering the program with post-baccalaureate work or a post-baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution may apply a maximum of 12 semester hours of graduate course work toward the Ph.D. degree. These transfer hours must be approved by the major adviser and program director.
The program is designed to concentrate course work during the first three years of study, leading to the qualifying examination. Upon successfully passing the qualifying examination, students are admitted to Ph.D. candidacy, where course demands are minimal. This program does not require a foreign language.
Admissions Requirements
Baylor is committed to a policy of inclusiveness, understanding, and acceptance of all regardless of race and ethnicity. Students are accepted into the PhD program without regard to their religious orientation.
The following criteria have been established by the Psychology Program and the Graduate School at Baylor: BA (or equivalent); minimum 3.0 GPA; three letters of recommendation; personal statement of interest; expressed areas of academic/research interests compatible with those of faculty. The TOEFL (or equivalent) is required for all international students. Note that these are minimums, in most cases. Median scores in recent years have been substantially higher than those stated above.
Prospective Students Must Submit the Following Materials:
- An Application for Admission - Graduate School Online Application
- Unofficial transcripts from each institution which has granted (or will be granting) you a bachelor's degree or higher. Transcripts should indicate the degree granted or degree in progress.
- Three letters of reference.
- The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) WILL BE OPTIONAL FOR THE 2027 ADMISSION CYCLE.
- The application deadline is December 1, 2026 (11:59 EST).
Where and When to Send Application Material
It is the applicant's responsibility to make sure that all application materials are received in the Graduate School's Admissions Office by December 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST. All application materials and application fee must be submitted online to the Baylor Graduate School. Incomplete applications will not be considered. While the Graduate School's application allows for late submissions, our program WILL NOT CONSIDER APPLICATIONS RECEIVED ON or AFTER DECEMBER 1. The most frequent causes of incomplete applications are lack of (1) unofficial transcripts from all institutions of higher education attended (2) lack of sufficient references and (3) lack of payment of the application fee, on or before the deadline.
Requirements for a PhD in Psychology
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Core Courses | ||
| NSC 5311 | Seminar in Memory and Cognition 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5301 | Introduction to Experimental Design 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5323 | Biological Foundations of Behavior 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5339 | Social Psychology 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5388 | Advanced Statistical Methods 1 | 3 |
| PSY 5V71 | Selected Topics in Psychology 1 | 3 |
| or NSC 5V71 | Selected Topics in Neuroscience | |
| Research and Teaching | ||
| CHE 5101 | Responsible Conduct of Research | 1 |
| NSC/PSY 5100 | Psychology and Neuroscience Seminar (taken 8 semesters) 1 | 8 |
| NSC/PSY 5V51 | Supervised Teaching | 6 |
| NSC/PSY 5V96 | Research Methods in Neuroscience 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 5V99 | Thesis 1 | 3 |
| NSC/PSY 6V10 | Prospectus Research | 5 |
| NSC/PSY 6V99 | Dissertation | 12 |
| Concentration | ||
| Select one of the following concentrations: | 22 | |
| Total Hours | 78 | |
- 1
Required courses for M.A. (31 hours plus 3 hours of NSC 5V99 Thesis) for the behavioral neuroscience track
Required courses for M.A. (31 hours plus 3 hours of PSY 5V99 Thesis) for the general and social track
Psychology PhD Elective Options
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Electives in Neuroscience and Psychology | ||
| NSC 4312 | Behavioral Medicine | 3 |
| NSC 4330 | Advanced Principles of Neural Science | 3 |
| NSC 5318 | Perception | 3 |
| NSC 5320 | Learning and Behavior Theory | 3 |
| NSC 5360 | Neurophysiology | 3 |
| NSC 5430 | Neuroanatomy | 4 |
| NSC 5V06 | Individual Studies in Neuroscience | 1-3 |
| NSC 5V71 | Selected Topics in Neuroscience | 1-9 |
| NSC 5V96 | Research Methods in Neuroscience | 1-12 |
| NSC 5V99 | Thesis (cannot apply to Terminal MA) | 3 |
| PSY 4339 | Psychology of Religion | 3 |
| PSY 5307 | Advanced Statistics II | 3 |
| PSY 5313 | Advanced Measurement in Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5315 | Quantitative Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5321 | Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5342 | Advanced Topics in Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5380 | Multidimensional Scaling | 3 |
| PSY 5386 | Exploratory Factor Analysis | 3 |
| PSY 5390 | Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equations Models | 3 |
| PSY 5389 | Mathematical Models in Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 5391 | Multilevel Modeling | 3 |
| PSY 5V06 | Individual Studies in Psychology | 1-3 |
| PSY 5V71 | Selected Topics in Psychology | 1-3 |
| PSY 5V96 | Research Methods in Experimental Psychology | 1-3 |
| PSY 5V99 | Thesis (cannot apply to Terminal MA) | 3 |
| Electives in Related Areas | ||
| STA 5305 | Advanced Experimental Design | 3 |
| BIO 5307 | Advanced Cell and Molecular Biology | 3 |
| BIO 5409 | Cancer Biology | 4 |
| GEO 5V90 | Special Problems in Geology | 1-5 |
With the consent of the Graduate Program Director, elective courses may be taken in other departments, provided the course has graduate standing.
Policies and operating procedures for each of the above degrees are detailed in a program manual provided to each student upon enrollment.