Frequently Asked Questions

We believe SOPP students can take advantage of numerous resources at Wright State University. One of these resources is the university library with extensive holdings of books, electronic databases, and journals, as well as access to resources of all other public universities in Ohio. The Computing and Telecommunications Services (CaTS) office is also in the library, offering students support and discounts for hardware, software, and the learning technologies on campus. The presence of several other graduate and professional schools at Wright State, including the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Raj Soin College of Business, College of Health, Education, and Human Services, and other programs on campus allows SOPP students to interact, and in some cases, to enroll in courses and other training experiences in a wide range of professions and academic disciplines. Finally, SOPP students are able to take advantage of university housing, university sports and recreational facilities, and cultural events, including lecture and artist series as well as performances in music, dance, and theatre.

To ensure broad exposure to theoretical models, clinical skills, and professional roles, SOPP has established training relationships with sites throughout the southwestern and central Ohio region. These external sites include a range of public and private community agencies that provide behavioral health services.

The SOPP also has a program-run training site, the Psychological Assessment Services, on Wright State's Dayton campus.

Practicum supervisors include SOPP faculty and community psychologists. All training sites sign an education affiliation agreement with SOPP.

The School of Professional Psychology (SOPP) was granted approval by the Ohio Board of Regents in 2009 to award the Master of Clinical Psychology (Psy.M.) degree to its students. Students are admitted to the Doctor of Clinical Psychology degree program which serves as the terminal degree for SOPP students. Students do not apply for admission separately for the Psy.M. degree as it is not a terminal degree program. Rather, it is completed as students matriculate through the Psy.D. program. (For additional information, see Overview of Psy.M.)

SOPP offers several private scholarships for its students. In addition, the SOPP is one of the few programs nationally that provides funded practicum placements. All students receive a first-year scholarship towards tuition. Historically, some level of assistance is available during each year of the five-year experience.

The educational and training philosophy of the School of Professional Psychology (SOPP) explicitly emphasizes generalist training at the doctoral level. Accordingly, the faculty has designed coursework, clinical practica, and other educational experiences to give students broad exposure to theoretical models, clinical skills, and professional roles that prepare students for the current and future practice of psychology. Within our generalist model of training, you will find opportunities to pursue interests and achieve added depth in selected areas of practice. Students may elect to pursue added depth in the following emphasis areas: child, health, rehabilitation, and primary care emphasis or forensic psychology.

SOPP has historically had excellent internship match rates and for three of the last four years, 100 percent of SOPP students have been placed at APA accredited sites. For the fourth year, it was 96 percent.

Class size for required courses, most of which are taken during the first year, will be close to or the same as the number of students admitted that year. Elective courses tend to be taken during the second, third, and fourth years tend to have an average enrollment of 12 students. SOPP currently has both full-time faculty and volunteer clinical faculty members who are full-time practitioners in the Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus areas. Clinical faculty members are involved in supervising SOPP students in affiliated clinical practicum sites and they may also be involved in other training activities with SOPP students.

Students entering the program who have taken graduate-level course work in a master's, doctoral, or another graduate program: if the content covered in a course you have taken in another graduate program is judged to be equivalent to that covered in an SOPP course, a course waiver may be approved.

If a student is granted a course waiver for one or more graduate-level courses, these will not be reflected on the student's Wright State University transcript, but the student will not be required to take the equivalent course in the SOPP curriculum. Credit for supervised clinical practicum experiences may also be waived if it is substantively equivalent to supervised practicum in the SOPP program.

Waiver of credit for prior courses or supervised experiences will make time available during which students can enroll in other courses, work on the dissertation, or involve themselves in other educational experiences.

• Course Waiver Information