School and Clinical Psychology Program Launches

Fort Hays State University and Kansas community colleges are teaming up in a new guaranteed admission program in school and clinical psychology.

FHSU President Tisa Mason and Kansas Association of Community Colleges Director Heather Morgan were joined by the presidents and representatives from Kansas’s network of 19 community colleges to officially sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a new guaranteed admission pathway from a two-year associate’s degree to FHSU’s bachelor’s degree programs in either clinical or school psychology. A unique feature of this pathway program is that the guarantee of acceptance extends through the master’s degree level in both the clinical psychology and school psychology programs as long as the student meets specific grade point average requirements.

According to FHSU, this academic pathway program follows a similar one signed in January of 2024 that created a guaranteed admission opportunity for nursing students to transition from an associate’s degree program to FHSU’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

“Kansas community colleges are excited to establish another opportunity for our students to seamlessly transfer to FHSU,” Morgan said. “FHSU is the only Kansas Board of Regents university we currently partner with under this type of agreement, and they are an outstanding partner in creating additional opportunities for our students to continue their studies as efficiently as possible and enter the workforce.”

The establishment of the new pathway will help FHSU and its community college partners address a critical shortage of both clinical and school psychologists in Kansas. The shortfall is especially acute in rural areas of our state. According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ratio of students to school psychologists in Kansas is greater than 1,100 to 1.

A similar challenge lies in rural Kansas’s critical need for clinical psychologists. A 2023 study conducted by Mental Health America ranks Kansas last in the nation regarding access to mental health resources, citing a lack of clinical psychology practitioners as a major contributor to this lack of access. In a 2020 study titled “A call to action to address rural mental health disparities,” the authors point to the lack of access to mental health care as a growing concern in rural communities.

The Kansas Health Institute reports that 2,414 non-prescribing, top-level independent practice behavioral health clinicians are physically located and practicing in Kansas in 2021, including only 314 licensed psychologists.

“This guaranteed admission pathway program will be a powerful tool in our efforts to address the state’s critical mental and behavioral health workforce shortages, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” said Dr. Jeff Briggs, Dean of FHSU’s College of Health and Behavioral Sciences.

Under this MOU, FHSU will provide guaranteed admission to students who successfully complete an associate degree with an emphasis in psychology from a Kansas community college, possess relevant applied experience, and meet the standard admission requirements of FHSU’s BA/BS program. Students enrolled at a Kansas Community College (CC) partner institution must apply for the pathway program by the third semester of their associate degree program.

To qualify for guaranteed acceptance to the Master of Science in Clinical/School Psychology graduate program, students must hold a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) at both the associate and bachelor’s levels greater than or equal to 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Students who do not meet the cumulative GPA requirement of 3.5 or higher at both levels are still eligible to apply for the MS in Clinical/School Psychology program but are not guaranteed acceptance.

Real-world experiences and time and the ability to live, work, and study in the location of the student’s choice will be the hallmarks of the FHSU program.

“Our faculty are active researchers and practitioners who do an excellent job incorporating hands-on experience in the classroom, individualized mentoring, and a curriculum aligned with the latest advancements in the field,” said Dr. Whitney Whitaker, chair of the Department of Psychology at FHSU. “We will offer this pathway program in both online and on-campus formats, so students who may not be able to move to Hays can still have access to high-quality education and training that will help them to work in and support their local community.”

For more on FHSU’s new clinical and school psychology pathway programs, go to:

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Photo vis Fort Hays State University: FHSU President Tisa Mason (center), along with FHSU academic leaders and Kansas Community College presidents gathered in the state capital for the January 16 MOU signing event.