Frequently Asked Questions about APPIC's Stipend Requirement
for Interns and Postdoctoral Fellows

Updated 12/2020

1. Why does APPIC require a stipend be paid to all interns and postdoctoral fellows?

The APPIC Board discussed this issue for a number of years before taking action. The Board wanted to strike a balance between maintaining the number of quality programs available for training while at the same time avoiding an undue burden on trainees by adding to their debt load. The APPIC Board was concerned with the number of new internships that did not pay a stipend and wanted a policy that reaffirmed the value of psychology trainees. A vote of the membership was required to change the APPIC membership criteria. In addition, APAGS endorsed this requirement and provided great support for the change.

2. What is APPIC expecting of programs?

Since the membership criteria change in 2006, APPIC no longer accepts NEW member programs unless they provide a stipend to trainees that is consistent with regional standards, equal among all trainees, and stated clearly in advance (through promotional materials, the APPIC Directory, etc.).

3. What does APPIC mean by "consistent with regional standards"?

APPIC expects that new programs that submit application materials for membership will provide data about how their stipend compares to other APPIC member programs in their region. For example, if the average for stipends paid by internships in Minnesota is $30,100, then most programs should be within this range. The Board understands the need to compare on the basis of geography, as the cost of living in New York City is significantly different from a program in Center City, Minnesota. Updated information about stipends in various training settings can be found at https://www.appic.org/Directory/Directory-Statistics.

4. Given the example in #3, what standard is being used to determine what is really "consistent with regional standards"? Is $29,500 okay? Is $28,000? What about $27,500?

The answer to each of these questions is YES. However, any program with a stipend significantly below other training programs in the region will be asked to submit materials again in one year and will be evaluated for what steps have been taken to increase their stipend.

5. How is this monitored?

For new programs submitting application materials for the first time, they must have funding for a stipend. If they have a stipend but one that is relatively low compared to other programs in the region, they will be asked to re-submit materials in one year regarding action they have taken to increase the stipend in order to maintain membership. Current member programs that were already APPIC members in 2006 (at the time of the change in membership criteria) must submit materials every three years for renewal of membership. At the time of review, the APPIC Review Committee will insure that the stipend is appropriate. If the stipend is not appropriate, the Committee will ask for additional materials in one year in order to monitor progress and emphasize the importance of this criterion. Any time that APPIC learns about a low stipend, the Board will take the opportunity to review materials and challenge the program to work toward greater funding in order to insure continued APPIC membership. APPIC will require that renewal members provide APPIC with documentation of reasonable efforts to secure funding and describe plans to obtain future funding in order to meet this criterion.

6. What about different stipends amongst an intern cohort such as a consortium where different agencies come together under an umbrella organization to offer internship training but have different funding available for stipends? How discrepant can they be?

Programs have always been asked to provide full disclosure about this type of inequity in all promotional materials so that applicants know in advance the differences between programs within a consortium program. APPIC expects all of the stipends to be fair and reasonable compared to regional standards. These programs will be challenged to create equity across interns and to resubmit materials to document progress and steps taken if there is inequity.