No. the Master of Professional Studies Psychology of Leadership program does not require the GRE.

The Graduate School may require international students to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), depending on the country where the institution that granted your previous degree(s) is/are located, or the country of the student’s origination.

See the Grad School website for the current list of countries whose students are exempt from this requirement. (Scroll down to English Proficiency: Exemptions from English Proficiency Testing.)

Students admitted to the program must earn 33 credits via 11 courses, each worth three credits to earn a degree. There are four  required courses (PSY 532, PSY, 539, PSY 833, and PSY 894) that every student must take. Students must also complete seven electives, including up to two non-Psychology electives.  Only courses that are pre-approved to serve as program electives can satisfy this requirement. 

For more information, see the Psychology of Leadership Master of Professional Studies program requirement details.

Most students take two courses per semester. This would see a student complete the program in two years, including summers (six  semesters). However, students may take as few as one or as many as they feel is reasonable. We recommend students not take more than three courses per semester. Once admitted to the program, students can work out a study plan with their academic advisor that best meets their needs and interests.

For more information, see the Psychology of Leadership Master of Professional Studies program requirement details .

No. Work experience provides our students with the necessary context to understand leadership and inform their studies in our program. Thus, two years of paid, full-time work experience is a basic requirement for admission and will not be waived.

Note: Applicants do not need to have held leadership positions previously. They need only have two years of work experience.

No, the Master of Professional Studies, Psychology of Leadership program is taken entirely online through Penn State’s World Campus. There is no residency requirement.

The courses in our program are presented entirely online, requiring reading, papers, individual and group projects, and online discussion groups. In most cases there will be a lot of writing. For each assignment, you are given a timeframe for completion; you can work at your own pace within this timeframe. However, students must meet the established deadline for any given assignment.

Yes. In addition to written assignments, students are expected to participate in online discussion forums. In addition, instructors will provide timely feedback about student progress, and the faculty are always available via email.  Whenever needed, students and instructors can schedule individual, real-time meetings via video chat or phone.

Yes.  Some students take summers off, and this has no impact on your status as an enrolled student.  If there are extenuating circumstances, a student may temporarily withdraw from the program for up to three consecutive semesters without having to reapply simply by not registering for any classes.  However, they will have to complete a Resume Studies application when they are ready to return. You can read more about this process on the ‘Current Students’ section of the Grad School website.

Note: The Graduate School expects students to complete their degree programs within eight years. However, it is possible to petition for an extension if special circumstances warrant it.

Students may submit a written request to the MPS program administrator requesting the Graduate School defer admission to a following semester. (Sending the request via email is acceptable.) Students can request deferring their admission for up to three consecutive semesters without having to reapply.

Note: However, once deferred, the student will have to go back into the Graduate School Application status page and accept the offer again before registering for classes.

No. Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychology is a broad discipline that includes leadership as one component among others, including personnel selection and assessment, training, work-family conflict, etc. Our program on leadership does not cover these other components that an I/O program will.

Working professionals in  any field can benefit from the advanced education in leadership our program provides, whether their goal is personal career enhancement, better support for organizational goals and objectives, or mastery of new strategies for motivating work groups and individuals. Please browse our course offerings to learn more about specific courses and whether they could apply directly to your career.

The MPS Psychology of Leadership degree is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), as are all programs at Penn State. We are on a 10-year reaccreditation cycle, and the most recent reaccreditation was in 2015.

The MPS in Psychology of Leadership is aimed at working professionals who want to move into leadership roles in their chosen field(s). Our program benefits its students through teaching leadership skills that apply to almost any endeavor. In addition, all students and alumni are eligible to engage the many career resources Penn State has to offer.

All Penn State alumni have access to the same postgraduation resources. These include the Alumni Career Services group, which offers both networking and mentoring opportunities, as well as the chance to join one of the many Penn State alumni groups located around the world.

Students in the MPS in Psychology of Leadership program come from many vocations and hail from a wide variety of countries all over the world. Currently, the program enrolls  students that have professions as military personnel, corporate executives, educators, and other professionals.

No. Demoing a course is not possible.

For general information about the World Campus online learning experience, see their How Online Learning Works page.

Students may be able to transfer two graduate-level courses as non-Psychology electives if they are relevant to the study of leadership and have been taken within the last five years. However, any courses taken to satisfy previous degree requirements, whether at Penn State or elsewhere, cannot be applied toward the Psychology of Leadership degree.   If there are course credits that were  not used to earn a degree, and that might be relevant to this program, you can send copies of the course(s) syllabi to the program director for evaluation.

There is no one answer to this question, as salary depends on the field in question, length of employment, and other factors specific to the given situation.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook contains salary data for most professions.

Students enroll in the Capstone Experience as the final course required for the MPS Psychology of Leadership degree. Currently they can choose to focus on either an issue encountered in their own organization or an organization to which they aspire to belong as the subject of a major project or paper. The Capstone Experience gives students the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned throughout the entire program to the solution or recommended solution to a real-world problem

LionPATH does not include a standard degree plan, but an academic advisor will work with you to develop an individualized plan based on the degree requirements outlined on the Word Campus website.

Start by reviewing these requirements and determine how many courses and which ones you would like to take each semester. Once you have a tentative plan, send it to your academic advisor for review and arrange a time to discuss it.

Once your plan is final, the program director will give you a signed cover memo that you can submit to your employer, along with the plan itself.

In general, students may drop a course during the semester before the late-drop deadline. However, if it is the only course on a student’s schedule, you must submit a withdrawal.  Once classes begin, a student dropping out of all their courses for that semester is considered  withdrawing (even if only temporarily).

To withdraw, a student must file a Withdrawal form with the Registrar’s office. When ready to return, they must then file a Resume Studies application with the Graduate School. Students should be aware that withdrawing for a semester can have financial aid implications.

Use this link for full details of the Graduate School’s Withdrawal policy, including a link to the Withdrawal form .

Students should click the “Apply to Resume Study” button on the Resume Study, Change of Major, and/or Add a Certificate page on the Graduate School’s web site. The Graduate School will treat the Resume Studies application in the same way as your initial application. That is, once the student receives word that they have accepted the application, the student will have to log into your Graduate School status page and accept this new offer before they can enroll in classes.

Note: a Resume Studies application does not require a fee, transcript, or references.

Scholarship and Research Integrity (SARI) training is required of all Penn State graduate students. In the case of MPS in Psychology of Leadership students, they fulfill the SARI requirements after taking PSY 833, Ethics and Leadership: Psychological and Social Processes. If you’ve taken and passed PSY 833, you’ve met the requirements. You don’t need to do anything else; our director will update your LionPATH milestones accordingly.