Psychology, BA

Program Description

Mission

In keeping with the University’s mission, the discipline of Psychology seeks to discover, communicate, and apply knowledge about human behavior in a complex and changing world. The specific mission of the undergraduate program is three-fold:

1. to provide a basic education within the field of psychology as a foundation for graduate work in a professional field of psychology, such as clinical or counseling psychology, cognitive psychology, social psychology, or developmental psychology;
2. to provide disciplinary knowledge through a broadly-based curriculum which can be applied to related careers such as human services, business, communications, and research; and
3. to contribute to the education of students majoring in other areas of study.

An on-campus PSYC major provides a mix of face-to-face, blended, and online courses. The online PSYO major provides all psychology requirements via the web. Students enrolled in the online PSYO program will not be permitted to register for classes held in person. The course schedule for the online BA degree in Psychology (PSYO) will differ from on campus offerings and may not include all course options available to on-campus students in any given semester.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge Base of Psychology
  Students will demonstrate understanding of the concepts, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings in psychology.
• Research Methods in Psychology
  Students will understand and apply research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
• Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology
  Students will use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.

Program Requirements - Psychology BA (PSYC) & Psychology BA Online (PSYO)

A primary objective of the psychology program is to provide the psychology major with a broadly-based education in the discipline. Therefore, all psychology majors are expected to complete the required curriculum listed below. The remaining coursework will be selected by the student in consultation with the academic advisor and is designed to meet individual students’ needs and interests. The combination of psychology with a minor from another area, such as sociology or communications, often provides more marketable credentials at the bachelor’s level of training (note that within the College of Liberal Arts, only 6 SCH that count toward a major can be applied to a minor).

• In order to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in psychology, students must complete the following requirements of the College of Liberal Arts: the Core Curriculum Program, 6 hours of a foreign language. Psychology majors are encouraged to take MATH 1442 Statistics for Life (4 SCH) to satisfy the Mathematics Core Curriculum Program requirement. Students who do not take MATH 1442 Statistics for Life (4 SCH) in the Core Curriculum will be required to fulfill the Supporting Coursework requirement for the major.

• Psychology majors must complete a minimum of 37 semester credit hours (SCH) of psychology courses exclusively applied to the major with at least 25 of these SCH at the upper-division level. 

• PSYC 2301 General Psychology (3 sch) or permission of the instructor is required for admission into all psychology courses beyond the 1000-level.

• The Psychology degree requires knowledge of basic statistical theories and applications.  This requirement is fulfilled by the successful completion of MATH 1442 or MATH 1342, or transfer courses such as PSYC 2317 or other courses with MATH, MAT, STAT, STA, PSY, AND PSYC prefixes AND the course title which includes Statistics, Quantitative Reasoning, and/or  Psychological Science Methods. Students who do not take MATH 1442 Statistics for Life (4 SCH) in the Core Curriculum will be required to fulfill the Supporting Coursework requirement for the major.

General Requirements

¹

Full-time, first time in college students are required to take university seminar.

• USSE 1201 University Seminar (2 sch)

²

University Electives: 30-35 hours.

¹

MATH 1442 Statistics for Life (4 SCH) or its equivalent is a prerequisite course for taking PSYC 3411 Experimental Psychology (4 SCH).

²

PSYC 3411 Experimental Psychology (4SCH) is a prerequisite for this course. In order to register for PSYC 4310 Psychology Capstone Seminar (3 SCH), students must first complete 24 SCH of psychology coursework and have senior class standing or permission of the instructor.

³

This requirement is fulfilled by the successful completion of PSYC 2301or PSYC 2301 transfer courses or other transfer courses with PSY or PSYC prefixes AND the course title which includes “Introductory Psychology” or “Introduction to Psychology” or “General Psychology.”

⁴

This requirement may also be fulfilled by the successful completion of PSYC 2314 transfer courses or other transfer courses with PSY or PSYC prefixes AND the course title which includes “Developmental” or “Lifespan Growth & Development” or “Human Growth and Development” or “Development Through the Life Span.”

⁵

This requirement may also be fulfilled by the successful completion of PSYC 2319 transfer courses or other transfer courses with PSY or PSYC prefixes AND the course title which includes “Social Psychology.”

⁶

Only 6 hours total from PSYC 4395 & PSYC 4396 can count towards the major.

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Online offering

Course Sequencing

Courses