Community Psychology Degrees (2026 stats)

Community Psychology: what the data shows

Common questions about community psychology degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a community psychology degree?

A Community Psychology program is classified under NCES CIP 42.2802 in the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology field family (42.28).

A program that prepares individuals to apply psychological principles to the analysis of social problems, and the implementation of intervention strategies for addressing these problems. Includes instruction in social ecology, primary and secondary prevention of social pathologies, social intervention strategies and tactics, large group counseling, social services systems behavior, creating settings, cultural stress, and the dynamics of social change

IPEDS counted 249 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of community psychology degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 42.28 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

• Applied Behavior Analysis (CIP 42.2814)
• Applied Psychology (CIP 42.2813)
• Clinical Child Psychology (CIP 42.2807)
• Clinical Psychology (CIP 42.2801)
• Counseling Psychology (CIP 42.2803)
• Educational Psychology (CIP 42.2806)
• Environmental Psychology (CIP 42.2808)
• Family Psychology (CIP 42.2811)
• Forensic Psychology (CIP 42.2812)
• Geropsychology (CIP 42.2809)
• Health/Medical Psychology (CIP 42.2810)
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology (CIP 42.2804)
• Performance and Sport Psychology (CIP 42.2815)
• School Psychology (CIP 42.2805)
• Somatic Psychology (CIP 42.2816)
• Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology (CIP 42.2817)

How long does it take to get a community psychology degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.2802 in our file:

• 249 Bachelor's (52.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
• 229 Master's (47.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
• 1 Doctorate (0.2% of IPEDS total)—varies by program

Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.

What degree do you need?

For Teachers and Instructors, All Other (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 42.2802, but occupation data show multiple pathways.

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a community psychology degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Community Psychology to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a community psychology degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology bachelor's program family: median debt $40,066, median earnings $50,523 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.16.

About 5.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,934 and median net price is $19,058.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.