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Psychologists Medical degree and salary

Okay so google said you have to do about 12 years of school but you start out making about $67,000 salary and that doesn’t seem like enough money a year to pay for all that schooling. So, is it hard to pay off college? Or is that information wrong? #psychology

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Thank you comment icon Hi Heather, could you clarify which career you are asking about? A psychologist is a therapist or researcher with a graduate degree, and a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who treats patients with brain illnesses and can prescribe medication. The answer to your question will be very different depending which career you mean. I don't want you to get confused if you receive answers that seem different from one another. Alexandra Carpenter, Admin
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Tim’s Answer

I'm so glad you're interested in psychology Heather! I'm not sure how they came up with a 12-year schooling but if you think about kindergarten through 12th grade being a high school degree you need that first obviously! Depending upon what type of psychologist you want to be you will then have 4 years of what they call undergraduate training and then anywhere from 2 to 6 years depending upon your specialty. I can tell you as a school psychologist in Washington State that after approximately 7 years you would be making a tremendous amount more than $67,000. More like $87,000. And that's with tremendous benefits 180 days of school which means you're all the work half the year.
Regarding the cost of school, my student loans were about $40,000 and I paid about $300 a month which was more than I had to but I wanted to pay it off quickly. There are other specialties of psychology but I'm strongly advising you to look into educational psychology! We need you!

Tim recommends the following next steps:

I would look into websites like the national association of school psychologists or your States organization of psychologists for more information.
Also Heather this is my first answer to a question so I'd like for you to feel free to keep the line of communication with me as long as you want!
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Cynthia’s Answer

After you graduate from high school and decide on a career in the psychology field you have multiple options regarding the timeframes for obtaining degrees. You might want to consider a bachelor's degree in general psychology first. Usually, that takes about four years to complete. You can continue to a master's program in psychology, two to three additional years of study, and would choose a specialty, e.g., clinical counseling, social work, forensic psychology, or health sciences. Some people decide, after receiving a bachelor's degree, to obtain a Ph.D. (doctorate). It's not necessary to receive a master's degree before going on to earn a doctorate degree. The average time to get a Ph.D is between four and seven years. So together it could be 12 years of study. So now about money. It definitely depends on the type of counseling degree and where you chose to work. Community health and non-profit agencies generally pay less than private practice agencies, although now always. In private practice, depending on the state, therapists can make anywhere from $50 to $150/per hour an more. If you were to do that full time it would be anywhere from 100K to 200K or more. It does take time to build up a clientele list though.

College debt is definitely a consideration. The cost of my master's degree was about 40,000. I did save up for part of that but still have some student loans that I pay off monthly at about 200.00 per month.

Cynthia recommends the following next steps:

Read up on how to limit student loan debt
https://www.moneycrashers.com/reduce-avoid-student-loan-debt/
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