Financial Informed Consent Reduces Undergraduate Students’ Interest in Graduate Psychology Education

Recent research has demonstrated that the costs of graduate psychology education are extraordinary, with psychology doctoral degree earners holding substantial student debt— especially graduates of color, lower socioeconomic status graduates, and first-generation graduates. Further research has found that, generally, undergraduate students are unaware of the costs associated with, or the average salaries afforded by, graduate psychology education. Scholars have previously suggested that, as a result, prospective applicants’ financial informed consent is crucial. Certainly, financial informed consent is ethically imperative; however, what might happen to student interest in psychology careers if given information about the costs? This study describes the effects of a financial informed consent intervention on a sample of 341 psychology students. The sample was predominantly white (61.9%) and women (80.9%), and the majority (96.5%) was undergraduate (11.4% freshmen, 22.9% sophomores, 29.9% juniors, 32.3% seniors). Results suggested that student interest in graduate psychology education (and graduate education broadly) and in psychology careers significantly decreased postintervention. Food insecurity was associated with further decreased interest at posttest. Thus, financial informed consent may dissuade prospective applicants and possibly particularly inhibit students experiencing financial precarity from pursuing a career in psychology. The results of this study are consistent with prior work suggesting that undergraduate students are unaware of the costs of graduate psychology education, emphasizing the need for awareness-raising; additionally, there is also a great need for advocacy to address the multiple, systems- and structural-level causes of the costs of education and living. Results, implications, and recommendations are discussed.