The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents has given approval for Tarleton State University to establish a new Specialist in School Psychology degree program.

The current program, Master of Science in Educational Psychology School Psychology option, will be offered under the new title and will align Tarleton's program with similar ones across the nation.

"This new degree will more accurately reflect the 60-plus graduate semester hours of training of our students and gives them the recognition they deserve," said David Weissenburger, the psychology professor who proposed the new program.

"The Specialist in School Psychology or SSP degree is above a master's degree and below a doctoral degree," he said. "It is a first for Tarleton and will be of great benefit to our students when they graduate and are wellprepared to enter the profession of school psychology."

Tarleton has offered the School Psychology option since 2000. The change in degree title will not result in additional costs to administer and deliver the program.