Undergraduate degrees in psychology, counseling or child development all provide a foundation for your masters and doctorate degrees in educational psychology. Focus on classes addressing the human learning process, child and adolescent development and research methods related to children and learning abilities. Additional courses in socio-economic issues related to access to education and impacts on learning abilities and courses in academic writing are also helpful.
To work as an educational psychologist you need, at minimum, a masters degree in educational psychology, or an MEd. These degrees typically take 2 years to complete and focus on the ways children best learn in school settings as well as how to improve learning methods for children, teachers and school administrators. As a follow up to the MEd you can also obtain a school psychology degree, or an EdS. The Ed.S. degree allows you to counsel students individually as well as assess their learning capabilities within a school setting. The EdS degree requires an additional one to three years of schooling after you completing an M.Ed.
After you obtain your M.Ed., you can continue your education by pursuing a doctorate. Doctorate degrees for the field of educational psychology include a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) or a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology (Ph.D.). A doctorate degree will take four to six years of additional schooling to complete. A doctorate is not required to work as an educational psychologist in a school setting, but it might increase your job opportunities and will certainly deepen your knowledge, understanding and experience in the field.
Once you have obtained an M.Ed., Ed.S or your doctorate degree, you will need to obtain any required licenses for working in a school in your state. The National Association of School Psychologists offers a listing by state of credentialing requirements. If you will be counseling children, teens and adults who work within schools you will likely be required to obtain a license and meet any continuing education requirements to keep your license current. The institution where you obtain your degrees should be able to help you determine any licensing requirements which apply to you and your state. For example, you might be required to work in the field under supervision for a certain amount of hours before applying to be licensed in your state.