South Carolina Psychology Licensure Requirements

500

The Board states its own passing scaled score for the computerized EPPP is 500, equivalent to the ASPPB-recommended criterion-referenced passing score. The Board also lists an alternative prong: a score at or above one-half standard deviation below the mean for first-time doctoral-level takers on that administration. S.C. Reg. 100-2(A)(1) simply names the EPPP as the written exam and leaves the passing score to ASPPB. South Carolina has NOT moved to an EPPP Part 1-only model; nothing in Chapter 100 or on the Board site references EPPP Part 2.

Two years of supervised experience, 3,000 hours total minimum, with each year comprised of at least 1,500 hours of actual work including direct service, training and supervisory time. One of the two years must be completed post-doctorally; a pre-doctoral internship/residency may be counted as the other year. Postdoctoral supervision requires a minimum of one hour per week of face-to-face supervision by a psychologist licensed in South Carolina in the specialty area sought, under a supervision contract approved by the Board before supervision begins. Note the regulation (S.C. Reg. 100-1(A)(5)) states the requirement only in years - 'two years of supervised professional experience, one year of which may be pre-doctoral' - and adds that at least 50 percent of supervision hours must be in-person; the 1,500/3,000 hour figures come from the Board's own licensure requirements page.

Required

Structured oral examination administered by Board members. The candidate is examined on scope of practice, professional ethics and familiarity with issues of jurisprudence, and must personally appear before the Board (the Board may delegate administration to an individual Board member). It is scheduled only after the Preliminary Application is approved and all Formal Application materials, including a passing EPPP score, are on file.

South Carolina has no standalone written jurisprudence exam; jurisprudence is one of the subject areas of the required oral examination under S.C. Reg. 100-2(B). No separate oral-examination fee is published on the Board's fee schedule - it is covered by the $500 application fee. A candidate who fails the oral examination must wait six months to retake it.

1. Earn a doctoral degree in psychology from a regionally accredited institution whose program is APA/CPA accredited or designated as a psychology program by the ASPPB/National Register designation committee.
2. Submit the Preliminary Application for Licensure with the $500 non-refundable application fee, a CV and official terminal transcripts, and get Board approval before going further.
3. Complete two years of supervised experience totalling at least 3,000 hours (1,500 hours per year), at least one year of it post-doctoral under a Board-approved supervision contract with a South Carolina-licensed psychologist.
4. Get Board approval to sit for the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and pass it with a scaled score of 500 or higher.
5. Submit the Formal Application packet (Application for License, Predoctoral Supervision Form, Supervision Contract, Supervisor's Report, three professional references) and complete SLED and FBI fingerprint criminal records checks.
6. Pass the structured oral examination on scope of practice, ethics and jurisprudence, appearing in person before the Board or an assigned Board member.
7. Renew the license biennially with 24 approved continuing education credits, at least 12 from Category A.

PSYPACT member

South Carolina has no formal reciprocity agreements. S.C. Reg. 100-1(C)(5) provides that the Board has no formal agreements with other state boards and will consider licensure by reciprocity only for applicants previously licensed by a state board whose criteria are equal to or more stringent than South Carolina's; applicants licensed elsewhere must still substantiate the post-doctoral supervised experience via a Supervisor's Report Form. Separately, S.C. Code 40-55-110 lets the Board, in its discretion, waive the assembled examination for a person licensed or certified by a similar board of another state whose standards are not lower than South Carolina's, or who is board certified by ABPP. Non-resident consultants may petition for a temporary permit to practice up to 60 days in a calendar year ($250). South Carolina is an active PSYPACT member - the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact is enacted at S.C. Code 40-55-310 through 40-55-440, and the Board had PSYPACT implementing rules out for public comment as of this writing.

South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology

(803) 896-4664

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