Nebraska Psychology Licensure Requirements

500

172 NAC 155-004.04 requires a minimum scaled score of 500 on the national standardized examination for all doctoral candidates. Nebraska defines the 'national standardized examination' as the EPPP or the Enhanced EPPP (EEPPP), or another substantially equivalent board-approved exam (172 NAC 155-002.07); the regulation does not split the exam into Part 1 / Part 2. The exam requirement is waived for applicants in the categories in Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3115 (including ABPP board-certified applicants). To sit for the EPPP you must already hold an active Nebraska provisional psychology license.

Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3114(2) states the requirement in years: two years of supervised professional experience, one year of internship and one year of supervised postdoctoral experience. The hour figures come from 172 NAC 155. INTERNSHIP: an APA-accredited internship is accepted on its accreditation alone with no hour count stated; the 1,500-hour figure is the equivalency standard applied to non-APA-accredited internships (at least 12 months and at least 1,500 hours in not more than 24 months; school psychology internships may be 10 months). POSTDOC: at least 1 year of supervised postdoctoral experience that includes 1,500 or more total hours, of which 1,000 or more must be direct service hours, earned in not more than 48 months - this applies whether the postdoc is completed in Nebraska or elsewhere. Postdoctoral experience earned in Nebraska must be done under a Nebraska Provisional Psychologist License, with the supervisor meeting the supervisee at least twice per month for a minimum of 4 total hours. The 3,000 total is the sum of the two 1,500-hour figures and is not itself stated as a total anywhere in the rule.

Required

Nebraska Board-Developed Jurisprudence Examination - 100 multiple-choice questions, open book, administered online. Minimum passing score 80%. An active Nebraska provisional psychology license is required to sit for it (initial applicants); reciprocity and 20-year-practice applicants must also pass it.

Content areas: Counseling Psychology; Industrial/Organizational Psychology; School Psychology; Ethics; Nebraska Statutes, Rules and Regulations; Federal Requirements; Professional and Sexual Relationships; Advertisements; and Research. No examination fee is listed for Psychology in the 172 NAC 2 credentialing fee schedule (other professions in that table do list examination fees), but the board does not affirmatively state that the exam is free, so the fee is left null.

1. Earn a doctoral degree from an APA-accredited program of graduate study in professional psychology, or document that a non-APA program meets Nebraska's coursework, structure and residency equivalency standards.
2. Complete a one-year APA-accredited (or APPIC-accredited) internship; a non-accredited internship must be documented as at least 12 months and at least 1,500 hours completed within 24 months.
3. Apply for a Nebraska Provisional Psychologist License ($50) before beginning postdoctoral experience if you will earn that year in Nebraska, and register your Nebraska-licensed supervisor with the Department.
4. Complete at least one year of supervised postdoctoral experience totalling 1,500 or more hours, including 1,000 or more direct-service hours, within 48 months, meeting your supervisor at least twice a month for a minimum of 4 hours.
5. Submit the Examination Application to DHHS to be pre-approved for the EPPP, then pass it with a scaled score of at least 500.
6. Pass the open-book, 100-question Nebraska Board-Developed Jurisprudence Examination with a score of at least 80%.
7. Submit the psychology license application with transcripts, Verification of Postdoctoral Experience from your supervisor, Nebraska State Patrol fingerprint background check ($55) and the $183 license fee, and establish Nebraska residency as required by Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-129.02.

PSYPACT member

Nebraska is a PSYPACT state; Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3133 makes the board chairperson the state's PSYPACT administrator, and the board's page directs psychologists to ASPPB for an E.Passport/APIT (telepsychology) or IPC/TAP (temporary practice up to 30 days). For full licensure by reciprocity (172 NAC 155-007, Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3121), an applicant must hold a current license in another jurisdiction and either (a) hold a current ASPPB Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) or a current doctoral-level National Register Health Service Provider credential, or (b) meet Nebraska's initial-licensure requirements, or (c) qualify under Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-129.02 (credential held at least one year, documented education, experience, supervision and examination, and no discipline). All reciprocity applicants must pass the Nebraska jurisprudence examination with at least 80% and must establish Nebraska residency. Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3117 provides a separate route for applicants with at least 20 years of licensure based on a doctoral degree and no discipline, who need only pass the Nebraska board-developed examination. A psychologist licensed elsewhere may practice for up to one year while an application is pending (Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3120), and up to 30 days in a 12-month period under a 30-day practice authorization (Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3119). Neb. Rev. Stat. 38-3115 lets the department waive all or part of the examination for applicants licensed in a jurisdiction with equal or higher requirements or who are ABPP board-certified.

Nebraska Board of Psychology

(402) 471-2115

Official board page →