Best School Psychology Programs in Mississippi Rankings for 2026

Mississippi runs school-based psychology through the Mississippi Department of Education, and the first thing to understand is that the state credentials two related but separate roles. Getting this distinction right will save you years of confusion.

The psychometrist is a Class AA license. You qualify with a master's degree in psychometry, or a master's in another field plus an approved psychometry program, and you pass the required Praxis testing. A psychometrist administers and scores psychoeducational tests inside schools, which is a big part of the special education process. But a psychometrist cannot diagnose emotional disabilities. That ceiling is the whole reason the role exists as a separate, lower credential. Mississippi uses a lot of psychometrists, and at Mississippi State you actually earn the MS in Psychometry and can apply for the Class AA license on your way to the full EdS.

The school psychologist is a Class AAA license, and it is the one this page is really about. You earn it by completing a NASP-approved specialist (or equivalent) degree in school psychology, which means a specialist program of at least 60 graduate hours built around a 1,200-hour internship with a minimum of 600 hours in a school setting. You also pass the Praxis School Psychologist exam (#5403). Mississippi sets its own qualifying score of 148, lower than the 155 most states use. A Class AAA school psychologist does the full job: assessment, eligibility determinations, counseling, consultation, and crisis response, and can diagnose. Add a doctoral degree on top and you reach the Class AAAA, the doctoral school psychologist license.

One more route matters if you want to leave the school setting. To open an independent private practice in Mississippi, you need a license from the Mississippi Board of Psychology, which is a different agency entirely. That license requires a doctoral degree, roughly 4,000 hours of supervised experience split between internship and a postdoctoral year, a passing EPPP score, and a Mississippi oral and jurisprudence exam. The University of Southern Mississippi doctorate is the in-state path that feeds it. Most school psychologists never go this route, but the doctoral option keeps it open.

Here is the honest version. Mississippi is one of the lowest-paying states in the country for school psychologists. The BLS May 2025 data puts the Mississippi median at $61,070, against a national median of $95,990. That is roughly 36% below the national figure. The bottom 10% of Mississippi school psychologists earn about $46,470, and the top 10% reach about $78,180. The BLS did not separately release a statewide employment count for Mississippi school psychologists this cycle, so there is no reliable headcount to quote, only the wage figures.

Two things soften that number. First, Mississippi has one of the lowest costs of living in the nation, so $61,070 here buys more housing and groceries than the same salary would in a coastal state. Second, the metro picture is not uniform. The Mississippi OEWS tables show Gulfport-Biloxi leading the state at a $66,130 median, above the statewide figure, while the Jackson metro sits lower at $58,680. Rural Mississippi pays in between, with the Lower West nonmetro region around $62,240. If you finish your degree and want to maximize pay, the coast and the rural shortage regions can beat the capital. And because the NCSP travels, the EdS or doctorate you earn here is a ticket to a much higher salary in another state if you ever decide to move.

With only two NASP-approved programs in Mississippi, the choice is mostly between the specialist route and the doctoral route, plus whether you need an online option. Here is how they sort out.