Psychologist Licensure in Mississippi: Degree, Supervised Hours and the EPPP

The board issues one psychology licence, psychologist, and the rules create no master's-level tier beneath it.

The only pre-licensure status is a temporary license for applicants already licensed in another jurisdiction who have passed the EPPP but not yet sat the oral exam; it lapses at the next oral exam administration unless the board extends it for good cause.

Separately, a Temporary Practice Certificate lets a non-resident licensee practise in Mississippi on a temporary basis, and the rule says in terms that it must not be used to avoid getting a licence: anyone who intends to practise full-time or a major portion of their time in Mississippi is ineligible.

The application must include a transcript, under seal of the registrar, from an institution that is regionally accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, or authorized by Provincial statute or Royal Charter to grant doctoral degrees, and from an APA- or CPA-accredited program showing the conferral of a doctoral degree in psychology.

Rule 7.1 makes APA or CPA accreditation the board's criterion for whether a program counts as a psychology program, and gives newly established programs one route in: showing the program had an active accreditation application at the time the degree was granted.

Graduates of doctoral programs outside the United States or Canada must show a program meeting recognized acceptable professional standards as determined by the Board, which includes but is not limited to APA or CPA accreditation (rule 4.5).

An ABPP diploma is prima facie evidence that the educational requirements are met (rule 7.6).

Rule 4.6 requires supervised experience in the same area of emphasis as the academic degree on your transcript, which must include an internship and meet the standards of training the Board defines in Miss.

Code Ann. § 73-31-13.

Rule 7.2 puts the internship minimum in time, not hours: one year of full-time, or two years of half-time, predoctoral experience.

Rule 7.3 requires the internship itself to be APA- or CPA-accredited — or from a program with an active accreditation application when it was completed — and appropriate to the applicant's graduate training specialization.

What the rules read do not state is a total supervised-hours figure or any postdoctoral-year requirement; the statute that would carry them was not among the documents read, so confirm with the board how your hours will be counted before you rely on them.

Applicants must reach the ASPPB-recommended passing score (National Scaled Score) of 500 on the EPPP (rule 6.2).

A first failure can be retaken no sooner than two months later, but after two successive failures the application file is closed and reapplication waits two years (rules 6.4, 6.6).

After the EPPP, the Mississippi jurisprudence exam must be passed with a minimum score of 90 before the applicant can be approved for the oral, which the board conducts no less than twice each year and which runs approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour (rule 6.8).

The oral panel seats three psychologists including a Board member, and is recorded; failing two successive orals likewise closes the file for two years (rules 6.7, 6.10).

No EPPP Part 2 requirement was found in the rules read.

That question is time-limited anyway: ASPPB's integrated EPPP replaces the two-part exam for first-time takers from fall 2027 and is the only version from April 1, 2028.

Whoever supervises an intern or supervisee retains final professional responsibility and accountability for the work done, and must review test protocols and review and discuss intervention plans, strategies and outcomes (rule 7.4).

The burden of proof sits with the applicant: it is the applicant's responsibility to provide evidence that the education, training and experience claimed equals or exceeds the requirements (rule 7.5).

In practice, that argues for a new graduate documenting the internship's accreditation status and the fit between the supervised experience and the degree's emphasis area as it happens, rather than reconstructing it at application time.

Rule 9.1 empowers the board to recognize and certify psychologists it finds qualified to perform civil commitment evaluations for Mississippi's chancery court and youth courts.

Certification under rule 9.2 requires a permanent Mississippi license, appropriate skill in diagnosing the presence or absence of mental illness, and competence in understanding civil commitment law, the last two shown by a written examination including a written performance sample; the board's Applying page says the training and exam are typically provided at the Mississippi Psychological Association's annual meeting.

On the exemption side, rule 11.1 notes that section 73-31-27 partially exempts qualified members of other professional groups who perform work of a psychological nature, and rule 11.2 leaves the psychologist's use of qualified assistants open, except that a supervised assistant may not perform duties the supervising psychologist is not qualified to perform.

The PSYPACT Commission map, as read in September 2026, lists Mississippi as a member in effect: SB 2157, enacted April 8, 2024, effective April 15, 2024.

A Mississippi-licensed psychologist can therefore pursue the compact's authorizations — telepsychology (APIT) and temporary in-person practice (TAP, capped at 30 days per year) — through ASPPB's E.Passport or Interjurisdictional Practice Certificate plus the matching PSYPACT authorization.

The status here is the Commission map, the research file's aggregate layer; the board's own PSYPACT news item was not read.

Check the map and the board before relying on an authorization for a specific consumer's state.

Rule 5.1 lets the board exempt a licensee of another jurisdiction from the EPPP and administer an abbreviated oral, on any of three credentials: twenty years of doctoral-based licensure in another state, territory, DC, Puerto Rico or Canadian province, ABPP diplomate status in good standing, or an ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification — plus fees, the jurisprudence exam and oral.

Rule 5.1.F adds the record: no license revoked or surrendered over an investigation or complaint in another jurisdiction throughout the licensure period, and no current remediation plan, sanction from another licensing board or investigation by another board.

Others hold the temporary license between EPPP and oral (rule 4.7.A).

The board's page runs a Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act route: one year in good standing, Mississippi residence or in-state work proof, a notarized affidavit and background check, plus a record with no pending complaint, allegation or investigation, no surrendered license and no act constituting grounds for refusal, suspension or revocation earn a one-year temporary practice permit; the permanent licence then takes the full application, jurisprudence and oral exams.

Renewal is annual: notices go out in April; a licence lapses if renewal and the fee are not complete by June 30 (rule 10.1; the renewing page matches).

The CE evidence is due at odd-year renewals: at least twenty (20) clock-hours of board-approved CE for the two-year period ending June 30 of the odd year (rules 12.1, 12.5).

The rule accepts APA-approved, CPA-approved, NASP, American Academy of Continuing Medical Education (AACME) or board-approved providers (rule 12.3.A); the CE page adds the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Registered attendance at non-board-approved conferences or training programs counts up to 3 clock hours each only when directly related to the practice of psychology and lasting one full day or longer, capped at 6 per biennium (rule 12.3.B).

Licensees 65 or older with twenty continuous Mississippi years may apply at renewal for psychologist emeritus status if retired from full-time practice, meaning no more than eighty (80) hours of practice of any type per month, and on board approval renew at half fee with the same CE requirement (rule 5.2).

The rules of record are the board's Final 10.19.2022 compilation, and the research read located nothing later amending them.

Within 2023–2026 the one state-level change the sources record is PSYPACT: SB 2157, enacted April 8, 2024, effective April 15, 2024.

One workflow shift sits on the board's site rather than in the rules: the current applying page routes every application through ASPPB's PLUS system, which the printed rules text predates.

The board processes applications through ASPPB's Psychology Licensure Universal System (PLUS), where credentials are primary-source verified; on top of it applicants file a demographic form, pay fees and submit a background check.

Rule 4.3 adds references from three (3) licensed psychologists who have known or worked with the applicant within the five (5) year period immediately preceding the application.

EPPP accommodations go through a request form signed by a healthcare provider, emailed to the board for review.

Fees are nonrefundable, and the board's page tells applicants to confirm they meet the requirements in the statute and rules before applying.