Grad School: Should I Get a Traditional or Online I/O Master’s/Ph.D.?
Grad School Series: Applying to Graduate School in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Starting Sophomore Year: Should I get a Ph.D. or Master’s? | How to Get Research Experience
Starting Junior Year: Preparing for the GRE | Getting Recommendations
Starting Senior Year: Where to Apply | Traditional vs. Online Degrees | Personal Statements
Alternative Path: Managing a Career Change to I/O | Pursuing a PhD Post-Master’s
Interviews/Visits: Preparing for Interviews | Going to Interviews
In Graduate School: What to Expect First Year
Rankings/Listings: PhD Program Rankings | Online Programs Listing
So you want to go to graduate school in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology? Lots of decisions, not much direction. I bet I can help!
While my undergraduate students are lucky to be at a school with I/O psychologists, many students interested in I/O psychology aren’t at schools with people they can talk to. I/O psychology is still fairly uncommon in the grand scheme of psychologists; there are around 7,000 members of SIOP, the dominant professional organization of I/O, compared to the 150,000 in the American Psychological Association. As a result, many schools simply don’t have faculty with expertise in this area, leading many promising graduate students to apply elsewhere. That’s great from the perspective of I/O psychologists – lots of jobs – but not so great for grad-students-to-be or the field as a whole.
As a faculty member at ODU with a small army of undergraduate research assistants, I often find myself answering the same questions over and over again about graduate school. So why not share this advice with everyone?
I’ve decided to return to this series because a few questions have come up from students that I realized I didn’t cover here. This week, I’d like to cover another important decision: should I go to graduate school at an online institution or a more traditional on-campus program?
This is actually part of one of the continuing “big arguments” in the field of education, so there aren’t many clear answers just yet. There is some evidence from the Department of Education that web-based courses are no less effective than in-person courses. That is, there’s reason to believe that two courses, similarly designed, one online and one in-person, will be essentially the same in their ability to teach you content. But the studies that the DOE summarizes are generally all undergraduate or laboratory studies, offering little insight into a) graduate courses or b) complete programs (not individual courses).
The experience of graduate school is certainly going to be different at these two categories of institution. One of the major benefits from brick-and-mortar graduate school is literally immersing yourself in the academic environment: being a part of a cohort of graduate students with similar experiences that you socialize with, interacting intensively face-to-face with professors about your academic achievement and career goals, gaining networking contacts that you will call on for the rest of your career, and generally learning about the culture of the profession.
Most of that is lost in an online environment. You’re not going to go out for drinks after a difficult exam with your classmates. As you likely already learned as an undergraduate in psychology, frequency of interaction and shared traumatic experiences are some of the best ways to ensure relationships form between people. This simply doesn’t really exist in an online program. While you might get to know people on discussion boards, it’s not quite the same. Think of it like the difference between your in-person friends and your “Facebook friends.”
The casual interaction with others in an academic environment also is beneficial developmentally. Completing a graduate program at home, you almost always have time to sit and think about your answers, to carefully consider your responses, and to put a lot of time and effort into producing the best answer possible. And this is certainly a valuable skill in an I/O career – but it’s not everything. If you ever plan to use your I/O degree in the “real world,” you’ll need experience coming up with answers on the fly and responding to/interacting with other experts. Many graduate students find that their first academic conference presentation, where they must respond to random questions from interested parties about their research results, is eye-opening in terms of the sudden pressure to think on their feet. Most students have already practiced this skill in their courses, and still find it challenging. For example, in my first-year Master’s-level Personnel Psychology course, I have students lead discussion for over an hour on a set of several journal articles. Without that kind of practice, I’d be a bit worried – and this directly translates into the kind of work you’d need to do .
I often find that students are considering an online program because they want to balance graduate school against a job. Let me be absolutely clear: this is a terrible idea. I fully expect my graduate students to be studying and working on research 40-60 hours per week on top of any teaching responsibilities. Teaching, at its most intense, should be a commitment of 10 hours per week. That is the maximally permissible distraction. If you plan to hold an outside job to support yourself during graduate school instead of teaching, you should be working less than 10 hours per week. Most part-time jobs don’t permit this and “strongly encourage” employees to increase their hours, so it’s generally not a good idea to have such a job while in graduate school. Remember, you’re in graduate school to prepare for your career. Every class you take, every bit of research you conduct, is now precisely targeted at giving you better opportunities later. Distracting yourself from that goal in any way will only hurt you in the long run.
More practically, there is some question as to the quality of online programs. One 2010 report by SIOP found several disturbing features of online I/O programs. For example, most online I/O programs don’t report who their faculty are. Of the PhD programs identified offering online I/O graduate degrees, only one program (Walden University) did report this, and of the 22 faculty, only two (2!) held I/O PhDs. That opens many questions about the expertise in I/O of those offering these degrees. Master’s programs had, on average, 1.5 I/O faculty. Only one online I/O Master’s program required a written thesis, which is necessary for anyone hoping to progress into a PhD program.
In the annual SIOP Survey reported here, most employers additionally had negative or neutral opinions about students coming from online programs. For example, respondents tended to respond positive to, “I tend to negatively evaluate a résumé if I notice that the applicant earned his or her graduate degree online.” and “I feel that there IS a meaningful difference in the quality of training that one receives in an online graduate degree program in I-O Psychology versus a traditional, in-person program in I-O Psychology.”
A more recent 2012 report by Rechlin and Kraiger found in an experimental study of I/O consulting firms that applicants from online programs tend to be evaluated more negatively than those coming from brick-and-mortar institutions by those making hiring decisions of I/Os. They discovered this by presenting resumes of effectively identical candidates (but with different names, distracting information, etc) crossing several degree characteristics. They found that those with online degrees were less likely to be asked for an interview, less liked to be hired, and likely to get a lower starting salary offer.
So what this really comes down to is priorities. Are you just trying to get the degree/credentials as a stepping stone for some other career goal, or are you trying to gain experiences that will help you create an I/O career? If you just want the degree, either type of program is probably fine. But if you’re trying to build a career within I/O psychology, at least for now, a brick-and-mortar institution is likely to put you on a superior trajectory, with better training, better opportunities, and better earning potential.
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Hi Richard,
I am a sophomore psychology major at Cornell University who is seriously considering going on to a PhD in I/O. I stumbled on your blog yesterday and have already spent hours digging through everything. It has been a wonderful resource for a student at a school which, however great, lacks any I/O or applied psychology courses/faculty in its undergrad program. Thank you so much, and please keep it coming!
In addition to praising you, however, I also wanted to ask a question/request a future addition to this blog series: what do you recommend undergrads interested in I/O do with their summers? Research? HR internships? Are there any specific opportunities you would recommend? Once again, thank you
@Jesse – I’m glad you’ve found this useful. For summers, it depends. For those pursuing a Master’s, internships are best. For you, since you intend on going for a Ph.D., anything that gets you research experience is best (an internship wouldn’t hurt, especially if you can’t find research opportunities, but research experience will help more).
The closer to I/O you can get, the better, but it’s not really necessary to be I/O specifically. Cornell does have an Organizational Behavior program (http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/academics/ob.html), which is closely related to I/O, so I’d recommend contacting some folks over there and say you want to get some research experience with the intent of pursuing a Ph.D. One of them might have openings for research assistants, although most will expect you continue in the academic year (which is good). If none of them do, then any research experience in the psychology department is still a good idea.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for all the great information you have it is really helpful. I understand how online programs can be viewed inferior to brick and mortar degrees. Realistically though not everyone has the opportunity to go to a physical college with financial and family obligations. Online education is available for this reason and it shouldn’t be a deterrent from pursuing an education. In my circumstances there are only two I/O brick and mortar programs in Washington state, and I have two young kids at home. My question is if I cannot get accepted to either program is there an online program that is recognized in the industry. The schools I have researched so far are Colorado State university and Kansas State university. Both schools professors are the same for online and on campus. Kansas state has a two 2 week summer class of 6 credits each in the program that you attend on campus. The other school is the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, which I haven’t been able to research extensively yet.
Originally I wanted to go to the University of Washington for a masters in social work, but after taking a class in I/O psychology I am more passionate about this field. The more important aspect is to get a valuable education for the money. I would hate to do an online program and then find it difficult to get a job based on my degree. Where going to the UW and working in Seattle a degree from there is highly marketable.
Whether or not it is realistic or fair is unfortunately irrelevant – it is current reality. This may change in the coming years, but right now it is something you must face.
There are no online programs generally accepted across the I/O community. As a result, I would recommend only online programs that are attached to existing brick-and-mortar programs. Colorado State, Kansas State, and University of Georgia are the only ones I’m familiar with, but the list is growing. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the Chicago School; I’d recommend contacting some current students and asking about their experiences.
Chelsey! As I read your comment, I thought I was reading something I wrote. I see you left your comment a few years ago and I’m wondering, did you ever go through with either Kansas State or Colorado State?
Thanks Richard,
I wasn’t arguing for fairness, just looking for the best case advice for the situation. Thank you for your frankness, as other guidance has been so vague it’s misleading.
Richard,
I have found your blog the most resourceful tool in regards to the field of I/O which has been a great relief. I am a recent college graduate (Central State University) with a B.S in Psychology. I am highly interested in pursuing a career in the I/O field however my undergrad school offered no experts in this field and no research in the psychology field what so ever. Though, I feel like it was a waste of undergrad I want to obtain the best graduate school experience possible. I have officially decided against an online MA program for I/O but I am having a hard time locating schools. I want to obtain my MA in I/O but as recent graduate I am having a hard time finding any research or internships near me to join so that I may get hands on experience, what would you suggest?
I’m afraid there aren’t that many options other than drive further. Any sort of HR internship is better than nothing, and if you are anywhere close to a city, I can almost guarantee there are entry-level HR jobs available in it for college graduates. For research experience, remember that you don’t necessarily need I/O research experience – just psychology research experience. So any large university and most liberal arts colleges will have at least a few faculty doing research in their Psychology department. I would start there.
Mr. Landers,
Thank you so much for the feedback. I am in trouble now. I started my Master Degree online in Organizational Leadership and I just changed to O/I Psychology starting in June. I graduated from BFA in Image & Design in 2001, worked for all this years in advertising. I realized, that as a manager, I am passionate about people development and that is why I enrolled in a Leadership program. But what I see is that Leadership really needs the input from research in psychology to really be successful in whatever we implement. I work full-time in NYC, I have a 7 years old son, and there is no way I can stop working. Since I started, yes, I study every day, every minute I can and about 30+ hours a week.
As an employer (of course I am not in your field) I see valueach in an online degree. I apply everything I am learning in school at work. I am not solving case studies, I am dealing with real organizational issues, and personalities in a company in NYC.
My end goal is to work in talent development, give seminars, be a corporate coach and have my “transformational company”.
I am grateful to have found your posts on time. Please give me feedback.
Warm regards,
Mónica Aguayo
I’m not sure what kind of feedback you’re looking for, but I can say that everyone finds their own unique path through I/O psychology. Almost every story you hear is quite different from the last, because there are relatively few people that work as “I/O psychologist” but instead as executive coaches, consultants, analysts, etc. So your path sounds as valid as any I’ve heard. I’m not saying in this article that online degrees are valueless, but rather that you lose a lot when get a degree online that you would have gotten in person, and the market punishes that – people with online degrees on average tend to earn less and are less often employed in something you could reasonably consider “I/O psychology.” But that’s not a sentence; you ultimately still have control over what you learn, who you meet, etc., and many people do just fine online. It’s probably just a bit harder. Good luck!
Hi ,
I am from india . I have done my btech in computer science and then my MBA in International Business. Right now working as Compensation professional in HR designing compensation . Statistics is the usual field on which i work upon. I am thinking to do Online Master of Science in Applied Psychology from university of southern california as I can’t quit my Job due to several responsibilites. Will doing this online masters from this university will help me in acclerating my career in field of strategic HR and Rewards designing? Is this online course worth the time and money i will spend?If it is not can you kindly recommend. I will be very grateful for your help.
I don’t know anything about that program in particular, but as I say in the article above, the main disadvantage to getting an online degree is that it is very difficult to build a personal network. So if you see you can apply the skills that the courses in that program teach you to your current job/career path, there’s no harm in it; but if you’re looking to make a career switch to I/O psychology, it is probably not a good idea. If you do consider it, you should first take a close look at the courses that would be part of your program and what specific skills they will teach you.
Hi Richard,
Do you have a list of I/O Master Programs that offer fellowship assistance or graduate assistance or tuition waiver? I am looking to graduate with the least debt.
Thank you so much for your posts. They are extremely helpful!
I’m afraid I don’t. That would be a difficult list to maintain, because that sort of support tends to vary year to year, e.g., if one of the faculty gets grant support one year, they might fund students for a year or two. Most Master’s programs that offer assistance consistently tend to do so for only the top 1 or 2 attendees in any given cohort, even that’s a bit uncommon, and even that funding may even disappear after a year or two. You really need to call each institution you’re interested in and ask about available funding in the coming year.
Richard –
Wow. Thank you for this article, it’s amazingly relevant to me. As I write to you, I’ve been accepted to both the Applied Psychology online Master’s program at USC Dornsife *and* the I/O Master’s Program at A&M.
I have a B.S. in Psychology and have been working in OD for 11 years, focused mostly in leading and managing large-scale change management efforts (think “transformation” initiatives) and business operations management (think process redesign and KPI structuring). I’ve already built a successful career on “applied” I/O experience, but acquiring deep academic knowledge of I/O psychology theories will improve my efficiency.
Do I understand correctly that for focusing primarily on theory, research, and building expertise in I/O psych, a brick-and-mortar is (probably) going to provide a better holistic experience?
Yes, I would agree with that.
Richard-
Thank you for your articles. They are very informative and a great resource. It is now 2019 and many I/O psychology programs have had more time to mature. Would you say that this article’s conclusions surrounding a brick and mortar versus an online Master’s or Doctorate degree are still valid? I assume so, however, I would like your expert opinion.
Thank you for your assistance.
Yes, the general shape of it is the same. There are probably a few additional higher quality online Master’s these days than when I originally wrote this, but the PhD situation has not changed at all.
The differences inherent to the medium are still there regardless; no going out to drinks with your fellow students to commiserate, which is a surprisingly common part of the traditional graduation education experience, no casually running into faculty to discuss your progress and research, much different social skill and interaction training which can be very important for consulting effectively, very different presentation skills training, etc. Without technology that doesn’t exist yet to facilitate more traditional in person human interaction, you just can’t escape that these things are lost online.
Hello,
I was wondering if you have heard about Liberty University’s Ph.D program in I/O and if this is considered a respected program to get a doctorate in?
I didn’t even know they had one. Liberty is a nonprofit, which is good, but their website doesn’t even list their faculty, which is very, very bad. It strongly sends the message that this is a cash-grab, i.e., that they don’t want you to know that they don’t have legitimate IO psychs teaching/mentoring in the program. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s what their website suggests to me. Given that, I would also be surprised if they provide any tuition reimbursement or stipends through assistantships.
Hello,
I was wondering if you’ve heard about Capella University’s online PhD in industrial psychology and if it’s a respected program?
Thank you!
I don’t know a lot about it except second-hand.
What I have heard is not particularly promising, generally centered around two problems. One, that they have unusually high student-advisor ratios. In high quality programs, student-advisor ratios tend to be between 1:1 and 5:1, which enables a lot of very targeted developmental attention. For example, I will routinely spend 5+ hours a week, and sometimes a lot more than that, providing developmental feedback to students and having meetings where we discuss their research and degree progress in depth. That’s only possible because I have 3 students. My understanding (although you’d need to ask Capella) is that their ratios are north of 30:1. If true, that would essentially prevent students from developing meaningful scholarly mentoring relationships with advisors.
Two, I’ve heard that most students don’t run research studies except for their dissertation, which is extremely unusual among PhD programs – my practitioner students for example will generally have been a part of 5-10 projects by graduation, leading at least 2-3 of them, and academia-bound students many more than that. That sort of research experience is viewed by many as absolutely central to what a “PhD” even is. So if you don’t have it, some will question if your Ph.D. is even “real.” I’m not sure that’s fair to the students, but it is definitely a common perception at least in my circles (both in academia and in practice). And a lack of research experience that severe would likely lead to skill deficits relative to people that had so much.
On top of all of that, I don’t think Capella – or frankly any of the online IO PhD programs – have done much to dispel this perception. I don’t see a list of Capella PhD student publications or job placements for example. I’m not even sure their faculty have IO degrees themselves, as their website is very unclear about this. So I just don’t really know what they do or what the effects on student success really are.
And if those two features are true (high student:advisor ratios and lack of research experience), that is not the fault of “being online” – it’s the fault of program policy prioritizing scale and tuition dollars over quality of education. But you might want to ask them directly. If anyone finds out their actual student:faculty ratios, I’d love to know definitively.
(Side note: Master’s programs, which are often more coursework-centered, are a different matter entirely.)
Hi Richard,
I came across your website as I’m looking into a career in I/O psychology. I have a bachelor’s in chemistry but while working in the corporate environment for the past 5 years I have found myself very drawn to OD and the I/O field in general. I found the Harvard Extension School Master’s in I/O Psychology while researching various programs and was wondering if you have heard of this program and if it’s a respected program in the filed?
Thank you!
It’s pretty new, and I don’t know anything about it, I’m afraid. I do know it does not appear on any of the traditional rankings of master’s programs, which suggest it doesn’t have much of a reputation in any direction. But such programs typically don’t have deep alumni networks, which is usually helpful when it comes to finding a job. It does have the “Harvard” name, which might be useful for less IO focused and more generic HR careers, but I don’t think the name will help you much in a traditional IO career path.
Hi there, I was happy to be pointed to your website as I am heavily considering pursuing a PhD in I/O Psychology. I am leaning towards an online program so I was drawn to this particular blog post. It’s interesting, because I attended a well-respected brick and mortar school for my Master’s, and I did not get the experience you describe would be missing from an online program. Yes, there was some commiseration following particularly difficult exams. But this program was a practical program geared towards working adults (I was working full time during the day) so students took classes on nights and weekends, which likely contributed to a different experience than being fully immersed in a program at a brick and mortar. However, I still found value in this type of program and because I was not taking time off from my day job – I found that the combination of the formal education and years of experience propelled my career farther than others who had taken that time off of work. It was incredibly difficult, but still very rewarding.
Therefore, I am looking to do something similar as I return for my PhD. I am wondering if your thoughts have shifted since the pandemic, when many traditional brick and mortar schools had to shift to more online programs anyway. I know that with my current employer, over the past couple of years, there has not been so much focus on whether a school is online or in person when evaluating people for potential employment.
Ah, yeah, night courses will definitely change the dynamic, and a master’s program is simply many fewer hours of total investment. Our PhD students commonly put in 40-60 hours of weekly effort across classes, research, and assistantships, so they are on campus for classes or working in their offices in the middle of day 3-4 days a week. The mere exposure effect certainly encourages a social dynamic in a way that you won’t get if you literally only see other people for a few hours in a class and rarely outside of that.
That said, things have also been a bit weird in the last few years. In our brick and mortar PhD program at Minnesota, student life seems to just now be getting back to normal-ish, but there are still folks that are hesitant about socializing like pre-pandemic. Since classes have all moved back in person, it is getting more like the old days though.
Your situation is perhaps a bit different than the traditional PhD student, because it sounds like you are thinking about career advancement within your own company. At the very least, you have a more complete perspective on what recruiters are looking for in your particular industry. The advice I provide here is geared toward the “traditional” student, i.e., someone in their 20s or 30s who might have some work experience but either sees a PhD in IO as a logical “next step” or is planning a complete change of career but has little direction beyond that. If you already have a career and are just trying to redirect which way it leans, you will likely have a very different experience in grad school than that group, as well as very different needs for your education.
The general case here for online vs in person is still very much the case in traditional IO consulting houses and in programs that employ existing IOs with brick and mortar educations. So I’d say if you were going to try to work for Deloitte for example, online will probably not do you any favors on an application. It might not hurt, depending on who actually reviews your application, but it probably won’t help. But if you are applying to non-traditional IO jobs, it will likely matter less.
Hello Dr. Landers,
Your article and this conversation have been very insightful. I have only had the opportunity to connect with a handful of I/O psychologists throughout my educational and professional career. It is refreshing to get honest feedback on the pros and cons of online degrees. I am currently getting an online MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Administration. Compared to the master’s program I completed ten years ago, there is a lack of connectedness among my classmates.
With that said, I would like to pursue a doctorate in I/O. My master’s is in clinical counseling psychology with a concentration in I/O. I currently work at a university where I am the director of mental health for student-athletes. However, I am caught at a crossroads, as I am 36 y/o, and it would be difficult for me to stop working to attend a full-time program.
Do you have any recommendations for part-time I/O programs offered online? Are you familiar with any I/O programs that provide team and human performance education? Ideally, I could combine my clinical and performance background with a terminal I/O degree.
If you happen to know any I/O psychologists working in the sport performance realm, I would be interested in connecting with them.
Thank you for your time and support.
I’m afraid I don’t have any specific recommendations. Newer programs tend to change in focus more frequently than older ones, so a program’s general quality level, reputation, and even curriculum are much more in flux. Plus there has not been much time for the program to produce a visible graduates to judge their preparedness once they finish. There are also no programs online or otherwise that specialize in sport performance, to my knowledge.
Hello Richard,
I am currently an Active Duty Soldier. I have my BS in Psychology, and have decided to pursue a MS in I/O Psychology. I found your blog through SIOP website, due to me researching about the best avenue to complete this degree. I have follow-up questions regarding your concerns about taking the online path. I’m sure you know, online schools are the way of life in the military. My undergraduate degree is from a brick and mortar school, and I most certainly see the benefit of being immersed in an academic environment. Without hesitation, I would take this route if there was a traditional school offering this program within a reasonable distance from my duty station. However, that has not been the case. My only option that would allow me to receive the full benefits of going to class in person, is if I were to get out. But I would like to use my Active Duty benefit of tuition assistance. Based on my research, I have seen a few schools that offer an online option for I/O, but after reading your blog it has made me second guess my decision.
1. I want to know from you, now that you’ve read my situation, would you still be against me getting the online degree while Active Duty? I have 2 years left on my contract and would finish by the end of my contract. This would allow me to get out and ensure my success in the Civilian world.
2. If online ends up being my best option, are you able to provide me with the best schools to attend for online? ( I currently see Bellevue, Austin Peay State, University of Phoenix, University of Hartford, and a few others as options) and based off those schools, what should I look for as far as the curriculum being offered?
I want to learn the same subjects that would be provided through a traditional classroom setting. I still want to be just as much as an expert in the field as those who attended a Brick and Mortar school. I hope this makes sense and I am eager to hear back from you! Thanks in advance!
I would first double check some of your assumptions here. I don’t know the details of it, but I know that at UMN, we’ve had several active duty folks over the years (or at least, they were active military before and after the program?) using a benefit to attend – in all cases, it has paid their tuition for 3 years, and they have also only been permitted by the military to remain enrolled for 3 years (and this is in a PhD program). I am not sure if that’s the same benefit you’re trying to use or not, but I thought it might be useful information for you – there may be a method you don’t know of to attend an in-person program if that’s really what you want. (I am not an expert on military benefits though.)
As to your questions – there is nothing inherently problematic about an online degree. Rather, a) it will be more difficult to get as much out of it as you would from an in-person program – and it can frankly be a bit lonely and b) there are a lot of predatory online programs who are happy to take your benefit money and then give you a subpar education and thinner alumni networks relative to other programs.
It can be difficult to tell good and bad programs apart from the outside. But it is easier from the inside, which is why people from bad programs tend to get lower salaries and have a more difficult time getting a position in IO (or closely related fields like People Analytics) – it is more common for them to land in a generic HR role. A degree labeled “IO” doesn’t help you if it doesn’t provide the education you need to be successful in IO positions. And first-job salary is the best single predictor of lifetime earnings. You want that first job post degree to start you on the right trajectory, in part because almost all future salaries will be based on the first one (e.g., 2-5% raises, 5-10% each time changing jobs – a higher starting number compounds frequently).
As a first shortcut to decision making, you absolutely, 100%, want to attend a non-profit program. That will remove Phoenix from your list at least. Beyond that, I suggest prioritizing public institutions over private, although this isn’t as major of an issue. In your list, that would leave you with Austin Peay. Colorado State for example is also public with strong online master’s program. I am not sure what list you are looking at, but you’re missing quite a few – even the list on this site is from 9 years ago.
Among nonprofits, I suggest you prioritize programs with strong alumni networks, i.e., when you go to LinkedIn, you can easily find a lot of people who graduated from that program who are currently working in what are clearly IO jobs. That suggests they are placing people in the kinds of job you hypothetically want to land in post-service. So that is where you want to go.
Curriculum is more of a “bare minimum” bar to clear. If you look at coursework and only see 1-2 classes with IO content, you should not go there. This is common in programs that repurposed an existing master’s degree – for example, you’ll see one maybe two IO courses and the rest will be general, like social psych, cognitive, etc. This is a sign they added IO purely as a money-making strategy for their institution. Ideally at least half of your coursework should be in IO, and at least 75% should be in IO, statistics, data science, or research methods. For example, if the normal course load is 4 courses for 2 semesters for 2 years, you really want 12 or preferably more of those courses in content directly relevant to your future employment. 3 courses for 2 semester for 2 years translates to at least 9. But again, those are minimums. You still need to check where their alumni end up to have any faith that the coursework is of the quality level you need.