After that season, McGraw moved to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. He next got a Master's degree in experimental psychology in 1976. He then got a Ph.D in clinical psychology in 1979 at the University of North Texas. At the University of North Texas, his dissertation was titled "Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention."