Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Psychology Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)

General Admission Information for Psychology

High school students should have at least one year of algebra. Social science courses, including psychology and natural science courses such as biology and chemistry are also encouraged. Transfer students may be given credit for appropriate transfer courses in the major and for electives. Transfer credits will be limited to 20 lower division courses and no more than 30 transfer credits total can be applied toward the degree.

General Degree Completion Requirements for Psychology

Students who major in psychology but who transfer some lower division psychology coursework from other colleges/universities must complete at least 50 hours of upper division credits in the 70 credit psychology major.

Note:

• two years of a single high school world language or one year of a single college-level world language is required;
• if a student takes PSYC 201 or PSYC 305 or PSYC 306 for Cluster A, they cannot take PSYC 201 or  PSYC 305 or PSYC 306 as an elective;

Capstone Course: the university capstone requirement is met by the department capstone PSYC 490 and must attain a grade ≥C.

Required courses are designed to provide students with the foundations of the field. Through careful planning in the selection of cluster and elective courses, students may develop a program of study to prepare for application to graduate school programs or meet specific career goals in psychology-related business/human services occupations.

Major Requirements

• To declare psychology as a major, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA ≥2.0 and completed PSYC 100 or its equivalent with a grade ≥C.
• Transfer students may be given credit for appropriate transfer courses in the major and for electives. Transfer credits will be limited to 20 lower division credits and no more than 30 transfer credits total applied toward the major.
• Students must attain a grade ≥C for each of the required courses:
  • ​PSYC 100, PSYC 309, PSYC 310, PSYC 413, PSYC 490
  • PSYC 495, PSYC 398/PSYC 498 and PSYC 399/PSYC 499
• There is no overall GPA requirement for this major.

The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.

Courses may be offered in different terms and not all courses are offered every term, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. There may be some courses that have required prerequisites not listed in the plan, review the course descriptions for information. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.

This major requires the completion of the World Language requirement. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree must complete two years of a single language in high school or one year of a single language in college.

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University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate.  Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.

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Cluster A Core Course Requirements–choose at least four from the approved list.

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Cluster B Applied/Lab and Speciality Course Requirements–choose at least three from the approved list.

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Electives–courses used as electives in the major must come from the approved Cluster A or B or Focus Experience list (those not used to meet the minimum cluster requirements).

Students who earn a BA in Psychology from EWU should be able to:

• evaluate empirical research in psychology;
• explain how APA’s principles of ethics can be applied to a research study in psychology;
• investigate a major theoretical perspective from psychology;
• utilize APA (American Psychological Association) style requirements when writing.