Individuals who wish to become School Psychologists should apply for Michigan certification as soon as they have met the requirements. Requirements change over time, and a Michigan certificate serves a permanent record that all certification requirements were met at the end of a student’s program. Michigan certification is also important for individuals who seek certification in other states. Reciprocity exists among many states, and having a Michigan certificate will make it easier to become certified elsewhere. In addition, certification in other states often requires an institutional recommendation from MSU, and without Michigan certification it can be difficult to document that an individual met certification requirements before leaving MSU.
Individuals who have earned an Educational Specialist degree (Ed.S.) or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in School Psychology at MSU are eligible to apply for the Michigan Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate. The program curricula meet Michigan requirements for professional certification. If all requirements have been met, the MSU Certification Office will process the application and make a recommendation to the Michigan Department of Education.
View the Application for the Michigan Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate (leads to external Qualtrics form).
An application for renewal of the Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate must include a clear copy of the applicant’s Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate and a clear copy of the School Psychologist Certificate held by the applicant’s supervisor.
View the Application for Renewing the Michigan Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate (leads to external Qualtrics form).
An application for the Michigan School Psychologist Certificate must include a clear copy of the applicant’s Preliminary School Psychologist Certificate (as well as a copy of a renewal, if applicable) and a clear copy of the School Psychologist Certificate held by the applicant’s supervisor.
View the Application for the Michigan School Psychologist Certificate (leads to external Qualtrics form).
Professional Licensure and Certification
Federal regulations require MSU to publicly disclose, for each educational program designed to meet the educational requirements for a specific professional license or certification required for employment in an occupation (or advertised as meeting those requirements), information about whether program completion would meet those requirements in a state. These public disclosure requirements apply to all programs, regardless of their modality (i.e., on-ground, online, and hybrid programs). MSU discloses the required information for its School Psychologist programs on pages 23-24 of the table at https://reg.msu.edu/Read/PDF/Professional%20Licensure%20and%20Certification%20-%20Public%20Disclosures%20-%20Final.pdf.
All current and prospective students are encouraged to contact the applicable professional licensure/certification boards in their respective states for additional information regarding professional licensure/certification requirements, including, without limitation, information regarding any non-educational requirements (such as supervised clinical or work experience, background clearance, or examination by outside entities).
The information in the table should not be construed as guaranteeing that any particular professional licensure/certification authority will approve a student’s application; nor should the information in the table be read to imply that other requirements for professional licensure/certification do not exist or that other requirements for professional licensure/certification have been determined to have been met by MSU’s program/course, or that any necessary approvals for clinical or other experiential learning placements are secured by virtue of a student’s enrollment at MSU.
State professional licensure/certification requirements are subject to change at any time.
For Michigan Department of Education Professional Educator Certification and Services Unit contact information and access to the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS), please see https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-5683_14795_83469—,00.html.
For National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) national certification contact information and approval status, please see https://www.nasponline.org/standards-and-certification/national-certification.
If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact your program director.