Depending on what type of psychology master’s degree you pursue, the financial picture can vary significantly. From programs with large credit requirements to those with vast clinical requirements, it’s important to fund your degree strategically. This guide profiles three online psychology programs with financial aid, covers the funding sources that are most relevant to psychology students, and answers the practical questions that come up when you start weighing cost against career goals.
Author: Jordan Cosselman
Editor: Wes Ricketts
- School Profiles
Inside 3 Online Psychology Programs with Financial Aid
Read more - FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Read more - Types of Aid
Types of Financial Aid for Psychology Master’s Students
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Inside 3 Online Psychology Programs with Financial Aid
The programs below represent different price points, program structures, and financial aid approaches. One offers clinical depth with institutional scholarships, another carries a strong research-university brand with an applied focus, and the third delivers broad access at a fraction of the typical cost.
Read about each program and see which one best fits your financial needs.
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology offers two online master’s tracks: an MA in Psychology designed as a foundation for doctoral study, and an MA in Clinical Psychology that prepares graduates for licensure as an LMFT or LPC. Both are delivered asynchronously with no GRE required.
Tuition runs approximately $2,030 per unit, with total program cost varying by track—roughly $60,900 for the ABA track up to $138,000+ for the clinical psychology track.
- Online psychology students are eligible for the GSEP Urban Initiative Scholarship, the Curtice & Evelyn Booth Veterans Endowed Scholarship, and the Waves Got Your Six Scholarship. Awards are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
- Federal financial aid is available through FAFSA, and Pepperdine’s financial aid office coordinates with students using employer tuition assistance.
Students planning for doctoral programs can use the MA in Psychology as a stepping stone, with the curriculum designed to strengthen PhD/PsyD applications.
Types of Aid Offered/Accepted:
- Institutional scholarships (named awards for online students)
- Military benefits
- Federal financial aid
University of Southern California
USC’s online MS in Applied Psychology is a 36-credit program offered through the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The curriculum focuses on applied behavioral science—consumer psychology, organizational behavior, and behavioral insights for business and policy—rather than clinical practice.
The program can be completed in as few as 16 months and is fully online with no GRE requirement.
- USC provides merit-based financial aid to admitted students. Awards are determined during the admissions review and do not require a separate application.
- Federal financial aid is available through FAFSA. USC also coordinates with employer tuition reimbursement programs, which is relevant because the applied psychology focus aligns well with corporate L&D, consulting, and marketing roles where employer-funded education is common.
- USC’s alumni network—one of the largest in the country—provides career value that extends beyond the degree itself.
Types of Aid Offered/Accepted:
- Merit-based financial aid
- Federal financial aid
- Employer tuition reimbursement
Southern New Hampshire University
SNHU’s online MS in Psychology takes a fundamentally different approach to affordability: rather than discounting a high sticker price through scholarships, the program charges approximately $637 per credit, making the total cost for a 36-credit degree roughly $23,000.
Concentrations include child and adolescent developmental psychology, forensic psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, and social psychology, among others.
- SNHU offers institutional scholarships and grants for qualifying students. The university also waives its application fee entirely, removing one more cost barrier.
- Rolling admissions with five start dates per year and asynchronous delivery make the program accessible for students working full-time or managing other commitments.
- Federal financial aid is available through FAFSA, and the program’s low per-credit tuition makes it especially compatible with employer tuition assistance at the standard $5,250/year IRS threshold.
Types of Aid Offered/Accepted:
- Institutional scholarships and grants
- Federal financial aid
- Employer tuition reimbursement
Frequently Asked Questions
Types of Financial Aid for Psychology Master’s Students
Psychology students have access to a mix of institutional, federal, and field-specific funding. Ultimately, the options available to you depend partly on whether you’re in a clinical, applied, or research-focused track.
Here’s what’s out there, starting with the sources you won’t need to repay.
Institutional Merit Scholarships
Most graduate programs offer some form of merit-based scholarship, and psychology is no exception. These awards are typically determined during the admissions review based on your academic record, professional experience, and overall application strength.
Award amounts range from modest partial-tuition grants of a few thousand dollars to more substantial coverage at selective private universities. Pepperdine, for example, offers named scholarships to online psychology students, though availability is limited and awards are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Need-Based Grants
Some universities offer need-based grants to graduate students who demonstrate financial need through FAFSA or a school-specific financial aid application. These awards are less common at the graduate level than for undergraduates, but they do exist—particularly at private institutions with larger endowments.
Unlike loans, grants don’t need to be repaid, which makes them worth pursuing even if the amounts tend to be smaller than merit-based awards.
Graduate Research Assistantships
Research assistantships are one of the most valuable forms of funding for psychology students, and they do more than reduce tuition.
A GRA position (typically 10–20 hours per week) pairs you with a faculty member’s research lab, providing hands-on experience in:
- Study design
- Data collection
- Statistical analysis
- Manuscript preparation
These skills directly strengthen a doctoral application or a research-oriented resume.
Compensation usually includes a partial or full tuition waiver plus hourly pay or a stipend. Availability for online-only students is limited, but virtual research positions do exist at some institutions.
Psi Chi and Professional Association Awards
Psi Chi is the international honor society in psychology, and membership unlocks a range of research grants, travel awards, and graduate scholarships that aren’t available to non-members. If you were inducted as an undergraduate, your membership carries forward into graduate school.
Beyond Psi Chi, the APA and APS both offer student research awards and conference travel grants. These tend to be smaller ($500 to $5,000), but they stack with other funding and carry prestige that strengthens your academic profile.
Employer Tuition Reimbursement
Psychology master’s students who are already working may be eligible for employer tuition reimbursement. Under IRS Section 127, employers can reimburse up to $5,250 per year tax-free for educational expenses.
At a program like SNHU, where total tuition is roughly $23,000, that benefit alone covers a significant share of the degree over two to three years.
Confirm eligibility with your HR office before enrolling, and ask whether pre-approval is required.
External Scholarships for Psychology Students
A number of organizations offer scholarships targeted specifically at psychology graduate students, and some focus on areas of the field where the workforce is growing fastest.
- The APAGS (American Psychological Association of Graduate Students) Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs offers awards for students from underrepresented backgrounds
- State psychological associations frequently offer small annual scholarships ($500–$2,000) for graduate student members
- The Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society awards fellowships for graduate study across disciplines, including psychology
These require separate applications and individual deadlines. Building a scholarship calendar at the start of your program gives you the best shot at stacking multiple awards.
Federal Student Loans
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Grad PLUS Loans are available at FAFSA-eligible institutions. These must be repaid with interest, so treat them as gap funding after exhausting the options above.
If you’re one of the many psychology students planning to work in a public or nonprofit setting after graduation, you may qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments.