Ph.D. in Business Psychology

Business and Financial Literacy

Designed to give students the basic terminology, logic, and framework to understand business thinking and decisions. The goal is to teach students to look at the ‘vital signs’ of a business. The first part of the class looks at what information a business collects and how it uses that information. Students learn to use a financial lens to look at an income statement and balance sheet to determine the health of an organization. Students learn the importance of interest rates as a key to understand corporate planning and valuation. The second part of the course helps students understand how companies make operational decisions. Using the lens of micro-economics, students learn how supply and demand, costs, and prices effect output decisions. Considers the ways this impacts marketing through the marketing mix, segmentation, and branding decisions. Examines behavioral economics to show how the erratic nature of decisions.

Strategic and Organizational Planning

Gives students the fundamentals to understand business strategy and organizational effectiveness. The first part of the course will address the concepts and practice of policy formation. Expands on marketing, financial, and economic ideas. Environment analysis and value chain leads to assessing business level strategy, corporate level strategy, and competitive actions. The second part of the class emphasizes the organization factors in determining and implementing business policy. Discusses organizational planning as aligning the business with the environment through strategy, design, operations, supply chain, and culture. Students learn the critical significance of the managing their interdependence.

Change Management

Helps students advise organizations on to how restructure, reposition, or revitalize itself. Integrates strategy and organizational due diligence with consultation and change strategies. Within the frame of community development, students learn to consider the process of change and the techniques of change to various types of organizations.  Focuses on project change management and emphasizes psychological change management. Prepares student to understand the corporate conditions and change options available to consult on and facilitate transitions ranging from innovation and new technology, merger and acquisition integration, business succession planning, corporate reorganizations, to board governance.

For information on where The Chicago School of Professional Psychology meets, does not meet, or has not determined if the program meets licensure eligibility requirements for the state in which you wish to be licensed, please visit: https://staging.thechicagoschool.edu/admissions/licensure-disclosures/.

Executive Style

The I/O Track will be offered in “executive style” format on our Los Angeles campus. Students meet face-to-face one weekend a month (Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.) for class. Each student is enrolled in two courses per term, therefore each day (Saturday or Sunday) in the classroom is an individual course and equivalent to two weeks of traditional in-class seat time. The additional coursework (approximately 40%) will occur through an online format during the weeks between face-to face meetings.

Application to The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Business Psychology doctoral program is open to any person who has earned a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution with 36 hours in psychology, behavioral science or management. Students applying to the Ph.D. in Business Psychology program must submit the following:

• Application
  • Apply Online
• Application Fee: $50
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Essay – Please answer the following two questions on separate sheets of paper (approximately 500 words each):
  • In what areas (e.g., selection and placement, organizational development, performance management) will you, as a business psychologist, affect or contribute to the business world? How will your contributions differ from those with an M.B.A. or other business training?
  • In your role as a business psychology student, you are likely to work and study with people from many backgrounds. Tell us what will be some of the challenges for you studying with people different from yourself, and what you would contribute in your interactions with them.
• Official College/University Transcripts
  • Students must submit official transcripts from all schools where degrees have been earned. The Chicago School requires that all schools be regionally accredited higher education institutions. Official transcripts may be sent directly from the institution or with your application for admission as long as they are official, sealed, and signed across the envelope flap when they arrive.
• Previous Coursework
  • Bachelor or Master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution in Psychology, the Behavioral Sciences, or Management

• • • Student’s entering post-masters must have a master’s degree equivalent to 36 semester hours, and:
    • 21 hours of the following IO Psychology graduate courses:
      • Principles of Industrial Psychology
      • Selection
      • Two internship courses or an Applied Project/Thesis equivalent
      • Performance Appraisal
      • Training
      • Surveys
    • 3 letters of recommendation from academic professors or professional or volunteer experience supervisors.
    • Official GRE Score (Post-Bachelor entry point applicants only, not required of applicants holding a conferred master’s degree)
    • Generally, an undergraduate or graduate GPA of a 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale is required for admission to the school’s Business Psychology doctoral program.
    • Depending on the number of hours an applicant is missing, these prerequisite requirements can be fulfilled at the Chicago School prior to admission to the Ph.D. Business Psychology (I/O Track) program by enrolling in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Generalist Certificate.  Prerequisites for admission may also be fulfilled at the Chicago School by successfully completing comparable coursework following the policies outlined in the Student at Large section of the catalog.

Ph.D. Business Psychology: I/O Track Progression Requirements
This program requires applicants to have successfully completed (with a grade earned of “C” or better) at least two (2) undergraduate courses by the end of their first semester (second online term) of study. One (1) course must be in statistics, and at least one (1) course must be an upper level undergraduate or master’s level organizational behavior or psychology course.  Students must successfully meet this progression requirement through the following options:

• A grade of “C” or higher in TCS 380 Introduction to Psychology and TCS 390 Introduction to Statistics;
• A grade of “C” or higher in a comparable course(s) at the Chicago School; or
• A grade of “C” or higher in a comparable course(s) at another regionally accredited institution

Applicants accepted who are missing one or both of the two (2) courses will be required to register for the applicable TCS course(s) in their first ground semester or online term. All students must meet this progression requirement by the end of their first semester (second online term) of study. Students who do not successfully fulfill this requirement will not be allowed to register in any future coursework in the program of study until this requirement is met. Extensions can be granted by the Program Chair or designee when extenuating circumstances prevent completion of the requirement in the specified timeframe.  Requests for an extension must be submitted in writing to the Program Chair for consideration.

The Chicago School is dedicated to keep our professional degree programs accessible to anyone regardless of financial status. In addition to the scholarships that may be available, our Financial Aid department will help provide you with information to determine what financial arrangements are right for you.

Learn more