Psychology BA

The Department of Social Sciences’ psychology program provides students a general overview of the field of psychology. Students are introduced to research techniques, theories of learning, psychometrics, and a variety of other subfields of psychology.

Majors are not only exposed to the central concepts of psychology but also see how these concepts are utilized in a broad range of courses that address specific areas of study.

The courses you choose to meet the requirement for the psychology major may not count as General Education Program courses. See your advisor for further information.

Graduatges with a BA in Psychology should be able to:

Analyze data in the social sciences with basic statistical techniques.
Apply scientific methods to questions about human mind and behavior.
Explain many of the important theories and ideas in psychology.

Degree Requirements

General Education Program		40 Hours
	Psychology majors must take STAT 1150 (Principles of Statistics) to satisfy the GEP Quantitative Reasoning requirement. Students are required to take either BIOL 1130 (Principles of Anatomy and Physiology 1) or BIOL 1151 (General Biology 1) as a prerequisite. Either of these courses will satisfy the GEP Natural Science requirement. See the General Education Program .
First Year Experience: University Foundations		1 Hour
Psychology Core Courses		12 Hours
Psychology Capstone Courses		3 Hours
Upper Division Psychology Courses		27 Hours
General Elective Courses		37 Hours

Total Hours Required		120 Hours

First Year Experience: University Foundations (1 Hour)

Minimum of 1 hour. Complete the following course:

UNIV 1100 - First Year Experience: University Foundations

Psychology Core Courses (12 Hours)

12 hours: Complete the following courses:

Upper Division Psychology Courses (27 Hours)

Choose a total of 27 credit hours from the following list of classes. You must choose, at a minimum, the hours specified from each category. Additional courses may be chosen and will count as general electives.

Clinical Psychology

6 hours: Complete two of the following courses:

Developmental and Social Psychology

9 Hours: Complete three of the following courses:

Learning and Cognition

6 hours: Complete two of the following courses:

Biopsychology

Minimum 6 hours: Complete two of the following:

Psychology Capstone Courses (3 Hours)

Minimum of 3 hours: complete one of the following courses:

General Elective Courses (37 Hours)

Although electives may be chosen from the broad spectrum of university courses, you may choose to take your electives within the social sciences department (anthropology, geography, history, government, psychology, and sociology). Electives can be utilized for the completion of a minor. For those students interested in pursuing graduate school, many graduate programs require calculus as a prerequisite. Students considering a future master’s or doctorate degree in psychology should take MATH courses up through MATH 2120, Calculus 2.

Special Notes

All Psychology majors MUST complete a minimum of two (2) Writing Intensive (WI) Psychology courses. These courses are marked as “WI” in the course descriptions.
Students must earn a “C” or higher grade in every course in the psychology major.
Psychology courses taken on a pass/no pass basis will not count toward the major.
Transfer students who have taken psychology courses at another institution must take at least 18 hours of upper division psychology courses at Shawnee State University.
The chairperson must approve any variation from the required program.