“This program changed my life.”- Annamarie Olson, Cohort 3 “I am so thankful to you and the other professors in the program who taught us things on the applied side of I/O Psychology so that we could jump into our careers and hit the ground running with the knowledge and skills we learned in the program.”- Athar Naseer, Cohort 3 “I enjoyed school growing up, but really didn't like undergrad. This program has me considering whether I want to collect degrees for the rest of my life. This has been such a fun program.”- Katrina Galvin, Cohort 10 2023 Article: How the UGA IOMP strengthened one graduate's professional medical career - Dr. Beth Duggan, Cohort 7 What sets the UGA IOMP apart: Program Rankings Flexibility & Pace The In-Person Cohort Experience Practical Expertise Career Advancement Master’s in I-O vs. MBA Program Rankings A series of studies of I-O Master’s programs published in 2018 by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) ranked UGA’s IOMP among the top in the nation out of 157 Master’s programs affiliated with SIOP. These rankings highlight the applied focus of our program and the ability of our alums to provide immediate value to organizations relative to other I-O Master’s programs. This is especially impressive given that the measurement of several dimensions in these studies favored traditional programs where students attend school full-time and work part-time. Our top rankings by category include: #1 Alumni Perceptions #1 Learning Practical Skills #18 Overall Student Perceptions Links to relevant studies: Alumni & Students. Flexibility & Pace The UGA Professional I-O Master's Program (IOMP) is specifically designed to meet the needs of working professionals who desire to pursue graduate education while continuing to work. The program is structured with a blended format that combines distance and classroom learning. Students only meet in-person five times each semester. These class sessions are delivered on weekends at UGA’s Gwinnett Campus on Friday afternoon from 3:30 to 7:00 and again on Saturday from 8:30 to 4:30. Did you know? Master’s-level respondents to SIOP’s most recent salary survey reported a median base salary of $100,000 in 2021 (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2022a). The In-Person Cohort Experience IOMP is built for working professionals who want more than a list of online courses: a cohort, a network, and instructors they get to know in person and build bonds with for life. Learn with and from each other. Students start in a cohort of about 20 to 25 classmates, progress through the curriculum together, and graduate together. An alumni mentor in your first year. IOMP matches incoming students who want a mentor with an IOMP alum, who meets with them about once a month, in person or virtually, throughout the first year. Community beyond the classroom. Cohorts make their own fun together, from parties on Saturdays at lunch to putting together care packages, and celebrating milestones in each other’s lives. Grow a network with long-term value. Guest speakers and workshops outside of class, employer information sessions, and I-O gatherings in metro Atlanta bring students together with alumni, faculty, and hiring organizations. Practical Expertise Half of the courses in this program are taught by talented, experienced practitioners from Atlanta area businesses and consulting firms. This includes HR executives, managing consultants, and independent business owners. The remaining courses are taught by faculty from the highly regarded UGA I-O PhD program, whose research has appeared in leading journals in the field including the Journal of Applied Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, and Personnel Psychology, and who serve on editorial boards for top journals in the field. Semester-long course projects are typically conducted within real organizations and include such focus areas as job analysis, skills-based talent strategy, leadership development, assessment development, and data analytics. Our curriculum constantly evolves to meet the needs of practice as people data and AI are increasingly leveraged in organizations. AI is changing how organizations hire, manage, and develop people. See how I-O psychology is part of that change: I-O Psychology and AI. Career Advancement As of 2026, U.S. News & World Report ranks I-O Psychologist as the #3 Best Science Job, #34 in Best STEM Jobs, and #60 Overall in their 100 Best Jobs list. Compared with other occupations in U.S. News' Best Jobs rankings, I-O Psychology is rated above average for upward mobility, and average for flexibility. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of industrial-organizational psychologists is projected to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3 percent for all occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026). This is a lucrative field that remains in high demand, and the UGA I-O brand is highly respected and valued by hiring managers in this field. At UGA, our students join a massive network of alumni from both the PhD and Master's programs who work as practitioners. This combined with the high demand for those with the capabilities in this field creates frequent opportunities for collaboration and growth. Alums from our I-O Master's program continue to be hired by organizations of all sizes for internal and external practitioner roles. See the list below for a sampling of employers and our Alumni Spotlights page for a sampling of career paths taken by our alums. Master’s in I-O vs. MBA? Why do working professionals choose the IOMP over an MBA? In the words of our alumni and faculty: “I knew that both business school and the IOMP would set me up for success in the corporate world. What set the IOMP apart in my decision was the fact that ‘people’ would be the core curriculum of my studies, not just an elective here and there. People are at the heart of every business and I wanted to be equipped with the science and research to best understand the people that make a business work.” - Allie Silver, Cohort 9, Director, Center for Emerging Talent, Cox Enterprises (accepted to Harvard Business School, chose the UGA IOMP) “I’ve earned both an MBA and a master’s in I/O psychology, and the difference is striking. The MBA gave me general business acumen, but the I/O degree reshaped how I see people and organizations... If I had to go back and choose only one, I’d choose I/O without hesitation. Every career involves people, and that makes the I/O lens universally valuable.” - Brandon Smith, PhD, Cohort 3, Director, Talent & Organization Development, Penske Transportation Solutions, and IOMP instructor “I didn’t need an extensive set of finance or general business courses, I wanted targeted learning that would help me excel in HR leadership. IOMP allowed me to focus on exactly what I was interested in from the start, making the learning process more engaging, enjoyable, and directly applicable to my career.” - Najdana Majors, Cohort 8, People Partner, CoinTracker “I’m incredibly grateful I picked the IOMP... it helps me approach every business challenge with a people first mindset, explaining to my leadership team why employee experience matters and how to enable our talent to overcome nuanced challenges. This has not only made me better at my job, it’s helped me build meaningful relationships with leaders and empower our teams to deliver better for the business.” - Emily Clark, Cohort 8, Vice President, Global Technology Enablement & Corporate Strategy, BlackRock “I wanted to learn how to solve organizational problems in a scientific and evidence-based way, and the I-O curriculum felt perfectly aligned with that objective. I didn’t feel an MBA program would prepare me for the type of work I wanted to do.” - Rachel (Roller) Snyder, Cohort 8, Employee Experience Analyst, EnerSys “I chose to [pursue] the IOMP instead of an MBA because the curriculum and discipline challenges you to think strategically and solve problems, while also considering how people (human capital) are impacted... IOMP’s approach emphasized communication and collaboration over competition, and I consider communication and collaboration to be vital skills in today’s workplace.” - Rob Dial, Cohort 9, Supervisor, Employee Experience & Engagement, Southwire “For me, the decision to pursue a Master’s in I-O Psychology over an MBA came down to focus and fit. While an MBA offers broad business training, I wanted a program that would deepen my expertise in people strategy, organizational behavior, and evidence-based talent practices. The UGA I-O Psychology program provided exactly that... a rigorous foundation in the science behind workplace behavior and the tools to drive meaningful, lasting impact on employee experience and organizational performance. It was absolutely the right choice for where I wanted to take my career.” - Ryan Belding, Cohort 8, Senior Talent Business Partner, Interface “An MBA shows you have learned general business, but a Master’s in I/O shows you have gone deep in areas that you will need in such roles.” - Val Markos, Part-time Clinical Assistant Professor, IOMP “While an MBA equips you with broad business acumen, a master’s in I/O psychology goes deeper into understanding people, motivation, and organizational systems... If your passion is driving impact through people and building organizations where both business and employees thrive, I’d recommend I/O psychology every time.” - Matthew Harrison, PhD, Part-time Clinical Assistant Professor, IOMP
