The American Psychological Association (2013) has created guidelines for what should be taught in the undergraduate psychology major. These guidelines include five goals:

Knowledge Base in Psychology

As shown in Chapter 1, psychology is a broad field with many different subfields within it. To help students develop a strong knowledge base in psychology, programs typically require that students take not only an introductory psychology course, which provides an overview of many different areas of psychology, but also take courses across different areas of psychology.

Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking

To reach this goal, psychology students learn about research methods and statistics in psychology and often practice designing their own research study, collecting data, and analyzing and interpreting that data using statistics.

Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World

Undergraduate psychology students can expect to learn about professional ethics in the field of psychology, to learn how to build relationships with others both similar and different from themselves, and to value diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing of others.

Communication

Communication can be thought of as containing two important components. First, psychology students will learn how to communicate the results of scientific research in psychology in a variety of formats, such as presentations and writing assignments. Second, psychology students will learn how to communicate well with others, to express themselves clearly, and how to adapt communication styles to different settings.

Professional Development

Finally, an overall goal of psychology programs is to prepare their graduates for their careers after graduation. This includes the ability to apply psychological knowledge and skills to real-world situations, to build a sense of confidence and competence in students, to enhance skills in managing projects, time, and working with others, and to be able to identify opportunities for yourself after graduation.

Consider these 5 goals in relation to your values. How well do your personal values align with the psychology major? This is not a question you need to answer immediately, but one to consider as you learn more about the psychology major.

Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology

A bachelor’s degree is usually completed with a minimum of 120 credits, or approximately 40 courses. (If an associate’s degree has been transferred, the number of credits from that degree usually counts toward the 120 credits. For example, if an associate’s degree was 60 credits, then a student must take 60 additional credits to achieve their bachelor’s degree.)

Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science (BS) are the psychology degree titles at this level and differ primarily in their focus on exploring a broader range of subject areas, as with a BA, versus focusing in more depth on a particular subject, as with a BS. At CSU Pueblo, a BA in Psychology requires additional language courses, while a BS requires additional courses in science or math.Regardless of whether a student is pursuing a BA or a BS, each of these programs requires a balance of credits or courses in different subject areas. In the United States, a bachelor’s degree comprises courses from three categories: general education courses, major courses, and electives. A fourth category of courses would be those required for a minor, which we will discuss in more detail in the section on majors and minors.

General Education

General education courses, also called core curriculum, is a group of courses that are often set as requirements by your state or by your individual college. These courses provide you with a foundation of knowledge across a breadth of fields and are also intended to help you further develop college-level critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities. You may be able to select courses from a general education menu of courses available at your institution. More than half of your bachelor’s degree program is likely made up of general education courses.

Table 2.2 General Education Categories. While your college may use different labels, general education courses often include a selection of courses from these categories.

Major Courses

Major courses are courses in your field of interest and provide you with the foundational knowledge required for further study in that field. Major courses often have a series of prerequisites, or courses that must be taken in sequence prior to other courses, starting with an introductory course and progressing into more depth. Major courses usually make up about a fourth or more of a bachelor’s degree (30 credits, or approximately 10 courses).

In an undergraduate psychology degree, major courses typically include:

• A general introductory psychology course, which provides an overview of the history of psychology and its major subfields
• Courses that explore subfields in depth, including abnormal psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, and physiological psychology
• Courses on research methods and statistics in psychology

Electives

Electives are free-choice courses. Though you may have a choice to select from a menu of options to meet general education and major requirements, electives are even less restricted. Some students may be able to take more electives than others due to their choice of major or if they are able to take courses that meet more than one requirement (for example, a sociology course may be both a major requirement and a general education social science course). Some colleges intentionally allow room for electives in a program to ensure that students, particularly those students who are undecided about their major, are able to explore different programs without exceeding the total number of credits required to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. In other cases, students may have taken all of their major courses and fulfilled their general education requirements but still need additional credits to fulfill the minimum to graduate. The additional courses taken to meet the total credit requirement (if necessary) are considered electives.

Majors and Minors

One of the most common questions an undergraduate college student will be asked is “What’s your major?” As we already noted, your major is only one part of your undergraduate (associate’s or bachelor’s) degree, but it is the part that most demonstrates your interests and possible future goals. At some point during your studies you will be asked to decide on, or declare, a major. At CSU Pueblo, psychology majors are also asked to select a minor. Whereas a major comprises approximately 10–12 courses of a bachelor’s degree program and is required, a minor is usually 5–8 courses.

When selecting a major and possibly a minor, you’ll want to consider how the knowledge and skills you gain through those fields of study prepare you for a particular career. Majors and minors can be complementary. For example, a major in psychology might be well-matched with a minor in Spanish, thus allowing the student to pursue a career in human services working with both English and Spanish speakers. It is important to research careers of interest to you when selecting your major and/or minor to determine what will best help you to meet your goals.