For millennia, our survival as human beings has depended on our ability to understand and predict others’ behaviors. Today, personal and professional success continues to depend on understanding and predicting human experiences and behavior. Psychology is the scientific study of these experiences and behaviors. Given humans’ imposing complexity, psychologists employ a range of perspectives, including evolutionary, biological, social, organizational, institutional, and sociocultural. In turn, these perspectives influence psychologists’ levels of explanation, from genetics to brain physiology, personality, individual differences, social interactions and group memberships, the institutions that we inhabit, and the cultures in which we spend our lives. Like all liberal arts disciplines, psychology addresses human experience, but what makes psychology unique as a scientific discipline are the concepts that psychologists use to make sense of people and the methods that they use to learn more about them. Our baccalaureate programs provide students with a strong general background in all areas of psychology and with the ability to think and reason critically in a wide variety of settings. All psychology students complete three critical courses essential to achieve those goals: PSY 1001 (Introduction to Psychology) provides a broad overview of what psychologists know about human behavior; PSY 3001W (Introduction to Research Methods) focuses on the skills necessary to generate new knowledge; and PSY 3801 (Introduction to Psychological Measurement and Data Analysis) addresses the skills necessary to test hypotheses using statistical methods. Students will complete additional courses focused on their individual interests, and even if they never plan to become psychological scientists, students will develop the skills needed throughout their lives to be sophisticated evaluators of psychological information and to navigate the complexities of human behavior. The B.S. degree emphasizes outside coursework closely related to biological and quantitative psychology, including fields such as neuroscience, cognitive and computer science, biology, chemistry, and mathematics. The B.S. prepares students for graduate work in psychology and related fields, and we encourage students interested in the biological, genetic, or evolutionary underpinnings of human behavior to complete outside courses in the life sciences, including biology, chemistry, and evolution. We encourage students interested in quantitative approaches and the cognitive underpinnings of human behavior to complete outside courses in mathematics, statistics, and computer science. A B.S. degree in psychology provides a valuable background for a variety of careers and graduate and professional academic programs, including psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and computer science. A professional career as a psychologist requires training beyond the baccalaureate degree.

Prospective majors are strongly encouraged to complete PSY 3801 (or a Department of Psychology approved equivalent transfer course) and two Outside Foundation Courses prior to formally declaring the major. To declare a major, students first complete the Online Declaration Module (https://cla.umn.edu/psychology/undergraduate/majors-minors/declare-your-major) and then schedule an appointment with a psychology advisor (psyadvis@umn.edu).

At least 16 upper-division credits in the major must be taken at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Students may earn no more than one undergraduate degree in psychology: a BA or a BS or a minor. Students may combine the psychology BS with the developmental psychology minor, but not with the developmental psychology BA or BS. All incoming CLA first-year (freshmen) must complete the First-Year Experience course sequence. All incoming CLA first-year (freshmen) students earning a BA, BS, or BIS degree must complete the second-year career management course CLA 3002. All students must complete a capstone in at least one CLA major. The requirements for double majors completing the capstone in a different CLA major will be clearly stated. Students must also complete all major requirements in both majors to allow the additional capstone to be waived. Student completing an additional degree must complete the capstone in each degree area.