Please note: Beginning with the entering class of Fall 2020 and onward, students are admitted to our PCSAS-accredited program. Students who began graduate school in Fall 2019 or earlier will complete their education in our APA-accredited clinical science program. We no longer admit students into the APA program.
PCSAS – Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System
The Clinical Science Program at the University of California, Berkeley was first accredited in 2013 by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS). We were re-accredited by PCAS in 2023. PCSAS was created to promote superior science-centered education and training in clinical psychology, to increase the quality and quantity of clinical scientists contributing to the advancement of public health, and to enhance the scientific knowledge base for mental and behavioral health care. The Berkeley program is deeply committed to these goals and proud to be one of the select group of programs accredited by PCSAS. To correspond with PCSAS, or for additional information: http://www.pcsas.org/
New Program Statement on Accreditation (November 4, 2022)
The Clinical Science doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley, provides students with the highest-quality training in the integration of science and practice. Reflecting this aspirational goal, the program has been accredited continuously by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1948 (Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE. Washington, DC 20002-4242. Telephone: 202-336-5979) and by the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) since 2013. The staggering personal, social, and economic burdens of mental illness and related problems--and the difficulty of making progress in reducing these burdens--have created an increasing need for training clinical psychologists who have even more intensive clinical research training, greater experience working in interdisciplinary research teams, broader exposure to a range of clinical problems, and deeper knowledge in emerging fields (e.g., neuroscience and genetics).
The Clinical Science program at the University of California, Berkeley is committed to training clinical psychologists who are prepared to make significant contributions to basic research on mental illness and well-being; to the development, evaluation, delivery, and dissemination of new assessments and treatments to diverse populations; and to reducing the burden of mental illness and related problems in living. Increasingly, we view the evolving curricular and other demands associated with APA accreditation as inconsistent with this approach to training. In 2020, we requested and received the status "accredited, inactive" from APA. This means that we retain our APA accredited status for students who were admitted into our APA program (2019 and earlier; the "accredited" part) but that we no longer admit new students into the APA program (i.e., the "inactive" part). Once all students admitted to the APA program receive their degree, we plan to discontinue our APA accreditation. We will continue to maintain our PCSAS accreditation.
Applicants to our program may have concerns about the implications of these changes for professional training, licensure, and employment. Our program will remain committed to training students who are among the field’s best clinical psychologists, fully prepared for positions at the forefront of modern clinical science and practice. In service of this goal, we will continue to maintain our in-house Psychology Clinic and the Center for Assessment, which play a central role in providing clinical training for our students, house numerous clinical research projects, and provide high-quality, evidence-based clinical services to the Berkeley community. Further, our graduates will still be eligible for professional licensure in states that recognize PCSAS and/or do not require APA accreditation (e.g., California, New York, Illinois, Delaware, Missouri, and New Mexico, and under consideration in a number of other states) after meeting other state-specific requirements.