Put your Psychology MS to Work for your Goals with Degree Specializations
Psychology, as a field, touches upon a host of sectors and industries: it shapes established careers, like child therapy, and inspires original, emerging fields, like mental health tech. An ever-growing discipline, psychology emphasizes flexibility, opportunities for lifelong growth, and deep roots in the behavioral sciences.
Just as the applications of psychology are broad, so are the career prospects, including careers across the for-profit, nonprofit, and clinical landscapes. With a Master’s in Psychology, one might lead an innovation team working on web accessibility or conduct research on new clinical approaches to treat post-traumatic stress. At Palo Alto University (PAU), we offer open exploration of the discipline as a whole as well as targeted career training through our degree specializations: Forensic, Tech & Mental Health, and PhD Prep.
Choosing the Right MS Psychology Track: Align Your Interests with a Specialization That Fits
All MS Psychology students have the opportunity to learn about the history of psychology and the way it has shaped movements in health, industry, and the law. In addition to General Studies, which emphasizes this broader perspective, many MS Psychology students choose from the three areas of specialization that are uniquely suited to growth areas in the field. Specialization allows students to bring their individual interests, skills, and values to the table, and to shape these into exciting new career pathways.
Take a deeper look at PAU’s unique concentrations and how each aligns with real-world career paths.
The following fields allow students to choose the right specialization for them. We recommend each student consider their own interests in the field and their long-term career goals to choose the pathway that will put their graduate training to work for them.
Forensic
Psychology is a cornerstone to the practice of law and the delivery of criminal justice. Students who specialize in forensic psychology might apply their knowledge to a career as a criminal profiler, a legislative consultant, an investigator, a victim’s advocate, or to documentary work or journalism.
Beyond the foundations of the field, students in this specialization receive specialized training in human development, and methodologies for qualitative and quantitative research, including statistics and fieldwork. They choose from a series of electives that give an overview of the interrelation of psychology and the law. take two immersive courses that focus on legal psychology and risk management.
Tech
As the world of tech grows and transforms, new opportunities to bring psychological perspectives to the field emerge. Those who choose this graduate concentration might pursue work in tech itself, or to bring technology-related careers in fields such as education, nonprofits, or government. This track focuses on the intersection of technology and mental health, preparing students for roles in tech companies, mental health organizations, and research settings.
MS graduates might support the development of new mental health programs for the technology workforce, or they might design an app that helps employees in any organization identify issues and find resources that support their wellness. One exciting application of this specialization involves innovation work in the expanding venture and corporate sectors: mental health startups, for instance, or leveraging psychology to understand how customers might use a new product or service. Industrial-organizational psychology, UX research, and workforce consulting are growing, lucrative career pathways for psychologists who specialize in technology.
PhD Prep
Our PhD Prep specialization is a fast-track to careers in psychological research and practice, fields that call for a doctoral degree, including the PAU PhD in clinical psychology. Those who choose to pursue clinical psychology and licensure might work as a clinician who focuses on individuals with pervasive mental health disorders, or as a counseling psychologist who focuses on helping patients cope with everyday challenges, life transitions, and trauma. Practitioners in these fields report a high degree of satisfaction (93% are satisfied with their work, according to the American Psychological Association’s Datapoint study); these careers are highly sought-after and trend strongly toward future growth.
A second major career pathway for MS Psychology students who specialize in PhD prep is that of advanced academic research in the behavioral sciences. In this space, professionals spend years conducting deep research on topics of their own design, including the integration of AI and technology, mental health awareness and accessibility, broader social wellness trends and solutions, and applied questions about social problems like misinformation or the political divide.
At the core of the PhD Prep specialization is a week-long immersion in Clinical Interviewing at our Palo Alto campus that prepares students to use qualitative research methods to deeply understand how patients and participants think, feel and behave.
As they enter their second year at PAU, Psychology MS students may apply to transition into the PAU residential PhD in Clinical Psychology program. Because enrollment in a PhD program requires applicants to demonstrate academic readiness for graduate-level work, the PhD Prep track opens doors to further study.
General
PAU’s general psychology concentration provides students with a highly transferable breadth of knowledge and skills. Graduates are equipped to work across fields such as business, technology, education across levels, or to apply to graduate school in the behavioral sciences or other disciplines, including journalism, communication, and business. This flexible, open-ended approach to graduate studies in psychology is ideal for those who want to explore a broad series of electives and career paths.
In addition to this focus, students may also supplement their learning by enrolling in courses from PAU's Continuing and Professional Studies program without paying additional fees.
Specialized Training Opens Doors
For those who opt to not transition into the Ph.D. program, MS specializations open doors to careers that call for specialized knowledge and skills efficiently. Below are some of the ways a Master’s in Psychology leads to career advancement and opportunities.
Career Flexibility
As the professional landscape shifts, career flexibility is a premium benefit of graduate training in applied psychology. MS specializations emphasize transferable skills that can be leveraged to suit many contexts: deep interviewing skills for the PhD track, research methods for Forensic students, approaches to innovation in Tech.
Career Advancement
A Masters in Psychology unlocks leadership positions within organizations and enhances job prospects for those who wish to grow in their chosen career. For those in tech, for instance, preparation for organizational consulting becomes a qualification for leadership and executive roles.
Increased Earning Potential
Many careers require specialized training for advancement and higher pay; others require a graduate degree for entry. Specialized training opens up expertise that is critical to an organization’s success: a forensic psychologist who can apply behavioral insights to a crime scene, for instance. Specialists can train their colleagues on new techniques and often step into leadership positions; each of these factors leads to higher pay and job security..
Personal and Professional Growth
Across the board, MS psychology students tend to be passionate about their work and their studies. The depth of growth and satisfaction that come from a deep-dive on a topic they are passionate about, guided by faculty working in a chosen specialization, is a benefit that extends from graduate studies, to careers, to meaningful life’s work.
Focus and Expertise
Subject matter expertise is a major benefit of graduate specialization; training in a specific area–the role of social media in public health, for instance–makes your knowledge a valuable asset in your chosen field.
Graduate Students Thrive with Focus and Flexibility
Our approach supports graduate students in preparing for deeply meaningful, impactful and, often, unique careers that align with their values and goals. When they earn their degrees from the PAU MS Psychology program, students find tthat powerful career pathways await. With these goals in mind, we have designed our program with an online format, flexible schedule, and PhD prep pathways that allow students to put their MS psychology program to work for them.
About the author
Ali Maaxa, Ph.D. is a professor, a behavioral scientist in the tech sector, and fhe founder of MaaxaLabs, an agency for customer insights. A pioneer in human-centered approaches to Ai development, she is the author of two books, eleven peer-reviewed studies in global digital anthropology, and has been the recipient of the Mellon, Wilgus and Peacock Fellowships.