Psychology focuses on understanding, predicting and solving problems related to human behavior in today's information-rich world, which makes it one of the most relevant, versatile fields of study.
Majoring in Psychology will help you employ a variety of lenses - including clinical, biological, cognitive, developmental, industrial/organizational, social, and personality - to appreciate why people do what they do while building expertise in scientific methods, critical thinking, and statistical procedures.
Understanding human behavior is an asset in any job. While many psychology majors want to seek advanced master's and doctoral-level degrees, there are many interesting jobs for individuals who graduate with a BA alone.
Students can apply for entry-level jobs in areas including:
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Research
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Mental Health
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Human Resources
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Social Services
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Market Research and Marketing
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Corrections
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Education
The Dual Degree Dual Certification program is a 5-year program that leads to teacher certification in Elementary School Teacher in Grades K-6, teacher certification in Teacher of Students with Disabilities, a baccalaureate degree and a master’s degree. Interested students must apply to and be admitted to the Teacher Education Program as an undergraduate. Students must successfully complete the undergraduate portion of the program in order to be admitted to the Graduate School and complete the one-year master’s portion of the program.
Please visit the Teacher Education Program website for the required undergraduate professional sequence of courses, overall course outline, and other important Program requirements, guidelines, and procedures. Students also are strongly advised to review the Teacher Education Program Handbook.
120 credits of coursework is required for the baccalaureate degree with a minimum 3.0 overall GPA. Major GPA requirements differ depending on field of study. Consult the Teacher Education Program Handbook for more information.
Degree Requirements Overview
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| New Student Seminar | 1 | |
| SEEDS General Education Requirements | 12-15 | |
| Major Requirements | 39 | |
| Teacher Education Program Requirements | 57 | |
| Free Electives | 11-8 | |
| Total Credits | 120 | |
Major Requirements
Requirements for the graduate portion of this combined program can be found here.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| Psychology majors must earn a grade of C- or above in all Psychology courses. Psychology courses in which grades of less than C- are earned must be repeated and brought up to a minimum grade of C- in order to count toward the major. Note: The grades for all Psychology courses, including those below C-, are included in the major GPA. | ||
| PSYC 101 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 199 | Academic Success and Career Preparation in Psychology | 1 |
| PSYC 203 | Introduction to Psychological Research | 3 |
| PSYC 220 | Introduction to Statistical Methods in Psychology | 4 |
| PSYC 301 | Experimental Psychology | 4 |
| Electives | ||
| Biological Basis of Behavior | ||
| Complete one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Physiological Psychology | ||
| Perception | ||
| Drugs and Behavior | ||
| Neurocognitive Disorders | ||
| Comparative Animal Behavior | ||
| Motivation | ||
| Cognition | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| Cognition | ||
| Human Learning and Memory | ||
| Psycholinguistics | ||
| Personality | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| Developmental Psychology I | ||
| Psychological Foundations of Personality | ||
| Abnormal Psychology | ||
| Social/Applied | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 3 | |
| Health Psychology | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Psychology Of Work: Personnel Psychology | ||
| Psychology of Work: Organizational Psychology | ||
| Clinical Psychology | ||
| School Psychology | ||
| Advanced Electives | ||
| Advanced Electives I | ||
| Complete 6 credits from the list below. | 6 | |
| Advanced Electives II | ||
| Complete 6 credits from the list below. | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 39 | |
Advanced Electives I
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PSYC 100-499 (except for courses used in the major core or other elective categories) | ||
| PCOM 100-299 | ||
| LNGN/CSIT/PHIL 288 | Introduction to Cognitive Science | 3 |
| BIOL 319 | Genes, Brains, and Behavior | 4 |
| BIOL 320 | Social Neurobiology | 3 |
Advanced Electives II
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PSYC 300-499 (except PSYC 301 or courses used in other elective categories) | ||
| PCOM 300-499 | ||
| BIOL 319 | Genes, Brains, and Behavior | 4 |
| BIOL 320 | Social Neurobiology | 3 |
| LNGN 488 | Seminar in Cognitive Science | 3 |
Teacher Education Program Requirements
New Student Seminar
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Students in the Adult Learner program must take GNED 100. | ||
| Complete one course from the following. Some courses may be restricted by major. Consult with an academic advisor. | 1 | |
| Pathways to Success | ||
| Freshman Seminar in Chemistry | ||
| First Year Seminar | ||
| Adult Academic Success Seminar | ||
| New Student Seminar | ||
| Freshman Seminar in Health and Physical Education | ||
| Pathways to Adult Learning | ||
| New Student Seminar | ||
| New Student Experience for Mathematical Sciences | ||
| Freshman Seminar for Music Majors | ||
| Introduction to Nursing | ||
| Freshman Seminar in Political Science and Law | ||
SEEDS General Education Requirements
Click here for a list of courses that fulfill the SEEDS requirements.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations | ||
| Effective Writing I | ||
| Complete one Effective Writing I course. | 3 | |
| Effective Writing II | ||
| Complete one Effective Writing II course. | 3 | |
| Interactive Communication | ||
| Complete one Interactive Communication course. | 3 | |
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| Fulfilled by PSYC 220 in the major. | ||
| Political and Civic Life | ||
| Fulfilled by ECEL 200 in the Teacher Education requirements. | ||
| World Language | ||
| Complete two sequential classes in one World Language when starting at the Beginner I or Beginner II level. Complete one class when starting at the Intermediate/Advanced Level. | 3-6 | |
| Exploration | ||
| Complete one course from four different Exploration categories: | 6 | |
| Analyzing Cultures and Societies | ||
| Fulfilled by PSYC 264 in the major. | ||
| Creative Expression | ||
| Ethical Inquiry | ||
| Historical Thinking | ||
| Literary and Artistic Analysis | ||
| Fulfilled by READ 209 in the Teacher Education requirements. | ||
| Scientific Reasoning | ||
| Total Credits | 18-21 | |
Recommended Roadmap to Program of Study Completion
This recommended five-year plan is provided as an outline for students to follow in order to complete their program of study requirements within five years. This plan is a recommendation and students should only use it in consultation with their academic advisor.
Fifth year courses are taken at the graduate level, after matriculation into the graduate portion of this combined degree program.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| New Student Seminar | 1 | PSYC 203 | 3 |
| PSYC 101 (Fulfills SEEDS: Exploration 1 - Analyzing Cultures and Societies) | 3 | SEEDS: Effective Writing II | 3 |
| SEEDS: Effective Writing I | 3 | SEEDS: World Language II or Free Elective | 3 |
| SEEDS: World Language I | 3 | ECEL 200 (Fulfills SEEDS: Political and Civic Life) | 3 |
| SEEDS: Interactive Communication | 3 | FSHD 214 | 3 |
| SEEDS Exploration 2 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| PSYC 199 | 1 | PSYC 301 | 4 |
| PSYC 220 (Fulfills SEEDS: Quantitative Reasoning) | 4 | PSYC Social/Applied Elective | 3 |
| PSYC Personality Elective | 3 | Advanced Elective | 3 |
| EDFD 220 (Fulfills SEEDS: Exploration 3 - Ethical Inquiry) | 3 | MTHM 201 | 3 |
| EDFD 221 (Fulfills SEEDS: Exploration 4 - Historical Thinking) | 3 | Free Elective | 3 |
| READ 209 | 3 | ||
| 17 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| PSYC Biological Basis of Behavior elective | 3 | PSYC Cognition Elective | 3 |
| FSHD 314 | 3 | Advanced Elective | 3 |
| MTHM 302 | 3 | ECEL 375 or CGST 250 | 3 |
| READ 399 | 3 | ECSE 305 | 3 |
| ECEL 279 | 3 | ECEL 408 | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Advanced Elective | 3 | Advanced Elective | 3 |
| ECEL 427 | 3 | ECSE 523 | 3 |
| ECSE 339 | 3 | ECSE 536 | 3 |
| READ 408 | 3 | READ 515 | 3 |
| Free Elective | 3 | ||
| 15 | 12 | ||
| Total Credits 121 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer | Credits | ||||
| ECSE 580 | 3 | ||||
| ECEL 691 | 3 | ||||
| ECSE 508 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | |||||
| Fifth Year | |||||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| ECEL 502 | 1-3 | ECEL 504 | 3 | ||
| ECEL 510 | 2-3 | ECEL 511 | 6 | ||
| ECEL 517 | 3 | GRAD CMP | 0.5 | ||
| ECSE 542 | 3 | ||||
| 9-12 | 9.5 | ||||
| Total Credits 27.5-30.5 | |||||