Grad School: Online I/O Psychology Master’s and PhD Program List

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

A common question I get is, “What online I/O programs are worthwhile for graduate study?” As I’ve discussed elsewhere, you are generally best served these days by a brick-and-mortar program. Employability, salary of first job, and a host of other outcomes are better. If you decide that you just can’t manage brick-and-mortar though, the available choices are not equal. Some programs are better than others. When making such comparisons, most people are ultimately concerned about employability, and the best way to answer that question is to contact some current and former students in that program, asking if they are currently employed in an I/O-related field.

But before you get to that point, you might want to just get a broad overview of which online I/O programs are available, and what they offer. I found this a surprisingly difficult task when I tried to figure it out myself, so I decide to compile what information I could find into one list.  Please note that I am unaffiliated with any of these programs, so these figures are “unofficial.”  They are based entirely upon what I could find on university websites and via Google.

How to navigate this list? Here’s what I’d look at, in order:

1. Check if the program has a long-standing in-person PhD program.  You’ll have the best job prospects in an online I/O program associated with a long-standing brick-and-mortar I/O program, because the reputation of the in-person program will generally carry over to the online program.
2. Check if the program is not-for-profit (public or private in the list below).  Even without a long-standing brick-and-mortar program, not-for-profit programs have no motivation to be a diploma mill, so you have a better chance at a quality education.  That’s not always true – some private not-for-profits may still be in it for the money, and some for-profits may legitimately care about their students – but this is a good general rule.
3. Check how stringent the admission requirements are.  Generally, more-difficult-to-get-into programs are going to have better training – they only accept qualified students because they challenge those students – and overcoming educational challenges is what gives you the skills to get a job.

Note that you can click on the column headings to sort!