Psychology Majors and Minor

If you have an interest in psychology, you can choose from among a BA in Psychology, a BS in Psychology, and a minor in Psychology.

BA in Psychology

The BA in psychology is designed for students with a broad range of career and graduate school interests such as but not limited to: Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, Social Work, School Counseling, and Industrial and Organizational Psychology. The BA in Psychology requires a minimum of 62 credits, 36 upper division, and at least 20 credits while in residence at SPU.

BA Tracks

Animal Behavior — Designed for students that are interested in training animals, working with owners and their pets, or seeking to become a certified applied animal behaviorist.

Clinical-Counseling Psychology — Designed for students interested in working within a therapeutic context, this track focuses information and experiences relevant to clinical psychology, counseling psychology, marriage and family therapy as well as related graduate programs or jobs providing or researching the effectiveness of therapy or counseling.

Community Psychology and Behavioral Mental Health — Focuses on social justice, community development, and social services for students wanting to pursue further training or work in social work, nonprofit, community development, social justice, public health, or community behavioral health.

Cross-Cultural — Emphasizes cultural perspectives in examining psychological research and theories across various psychological disciplines. Designed for students pursuing training to work with culturally diverse populations or to work in areas such as international psychology, cultural studies, and cross-cultural or multicultural counseling.

Data Analytics — Provides an emphasis in statistics, research methods, data management, data visualization, and basic programming. Students learn to manage and analyze data as well as how to use data to inform practice (e.g., consumer trends, mental health outcomes). This track helps prepare students for positions such as analytics consultant, data analyst, statistician, and project manager or other business management positions.

Developmental Psychology — Provides students with coursework and experiences focused on change across the lifetime and best prepares students for graduate education and jobs in related areas such as early child life specialist.

Psychological Science — Designed for students with a broad range of career and graduate school interests. This track has the fewest credit requirements of our BA degrees, and as such, it provides students with the most flexibility in taking additional courses in Psychology or other disciplines as well as maximizing research or internship experiences.

Social-Personality Psychology — Emphasizes information and skills in Social and Personality Psychology for jobs or graduate programs such as research, data analysis, program development and review.

Sports Psychology — For students interested in working with athletes or teams, this track focuses on Sports Psychology and is designed for students hoping to pursue a job or graduate work in a related area.

Degree requirements for BA in Psychology

Download the BA in Psychology Suggested Course Sequence and Graduation Checklist

BS in Psychology

The BS in psychology is designed for students that are passionate about integrating psychology and natural sciences with the goal of pursuing careers or graduate programs such as but not limited to: Clinical Psychology, Behavioral or Cognitive Neuroscience, and Animal Behavior. The BS in Psychology requires a minimum of 88 credits, 50 upper division, and at least 20 credits while in residence at SPU.

BS Tracks

Animal Behavior — Through a biological and psychological perspective on behavior, this track is designed for students who are interested in jobs or graduate programs researching animal behavior.

Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience — Provides students with the knowledge and skills for graduate work or jobs in the research or application of neuroscience and neuropsychology.

Psychological Science — Designed for students with a broad range of career and graduate school interests but who are also passionate about integrating psychology and natural sciences. This track has the fewest credit requirements of our BS degrees. Given fewer credit requirements, the BS-Psychological Science track provides students with the most flexibility to take additional, strategic courses in Psychology or other disciplines as well as to maximize research or internship experiences.

Degree requirements for BS in Psychology

Download BS in Psychology Suggested Course Sequence and Graduation Checklist

Minor in Psychology

The Psychology Minor is designed to be flexible such that students can take elective courses that best fit their career or graduate school goals. As such, the Psychology Minor is an excellent accompaniment to many majors. The minor in Psychology requires a minimum of 31 credits, 15 upper division, and at least 15 credits while in residence at SPU.

Degree requirements for Minor in Psychology

Faculty Reference Request Forms

Undergraduate psychology majors requesting an official reference letter or phone interview from a psychology faculty member must use the following forms:

Request for Letter of Reference
Request for Phone Interview

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