Why We Love It
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$76,040Potential Avg. Salary*
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Growing DemandJob Outlook
* Salary & growth data is based on the recent Bureau of Labor and Statistics data published at https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193031.htm for 19-3031 Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists 11/2021. Based on national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary.
With a bachelor of science in psychology, students can succeed in careers in both the human sciences industry as well as general business.
By studying human behavior and development, students will be well-equipped to work in human resources, public relations, and even marketing. Or you can continue your education to earn a graduate degree to work as a counselor, psychologist, or therapist.
What is a Degree in Psychology?
A bachelor’s degree in psychology is a flexible degree that helps students understand human behavior. Students study a variety of topics that include neuroscience, experimental and abnormal psychology, research methods, ethics, human personality, and human development.
By studying and understanding these topics, students learn how to motivate, counsel, and assist people throughout their lifetimes. While many students go on to earn graduate degrees, there are many job opportunities with only a bachelor’s degree.
A bachelor’s degree in psychology is an excellent degree for individuals who want to work in human resources, public relations, or marketing roles in businesses across a variety of industries.
For students who want to continue their educations, graduate and doctoral degrees enable students to earn the licenses and credentials needed to enjoy careers as school counselors, therapists, mental health counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists in either private practices or other institutions.
Recommended Schools
What Courses Would I Take For a Major in Psychology?
- Psychological Research and Ethics
- Personality Psychology
- Child and Adolescent Psychology
- Adult Development and Aging
- Research and Statistics
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Experimental Psychology
- Abnormal Psychology
What Jobs Can You Get with a Degree in Psychology?
With wider access to health insurance among the general public and more health insurance companies recognizing and covering mental health care, there’s an increased demand for qualified and licensed mental health professionals.
Additionally, increased legal regulations related to hiring and employee relations have created an increased demand for educated human resource professionals. For these reasons, demand for individuals with psychology degrees should stay strong in the coming decade.
How Long does it take?
A bachelors in Psychology will have a typical length of 4 years in a full time schedule. That said, there are many ways to speed up the timeframe by either taking more units via online coursework, community college, or taking free classes at OnlineDegree.com that could transfer to universities in the US.
Online Psychology Degree
Studying an online bachelor’s degree program is an appealing choice to many full-time or working students. Many universities offer entirely online programs without the need to visit the university campus.
The programs usually include around 120 credit hours. Students are required to complete around 30 credit hours of coursework before getting enrolled in the psychology specialization.
What Can You Do With a Psychology Degree?
Psychology is the science focusing on the mind and behavior. It has expanded significantly in the last century with the development of many theories and schools. Psychologists study principles as conscious and unconscious phenomena in addition to feeling and thought.
They also explore factors contributing to behavioral and mental processes such as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, intelligence, subjective experiences, motivation, brain functioning, and personality.
More advanced studies deal with the interpersonal relationships and collective behavior of groups or societies. Studying psychology is important for a variety of fields including education, sociology, public relations, politics, marketing, and human resources. Knowledge of psychology is getting more attention recently to study how humans respond to the rapid changes in the world caused by the development of new technologies or by situations such as the COVID pandemic.
What does a psychology science student learn?
The courses included in psychology degree programs can be divided into introductory courses and core courses. The introductory courses provide the scientific tools that are used in the field while the core courses focus on topics related to the mind, behavior, development, and society.
The following list shows in more detail the courses commonly studied in psychology programs:
- General introductory courses: English academic writing, introduction to computing, and statistics. These are essential tools used in all scientific fields including psychology.
- Introduction to psychology: the course introduces the main terms and principles used in the field of psychology including definitions such as mind, behavior, consciousness, motivation, and personality.
- Developmental psychology: this course focuses on the factors that affect psychology during childhood and adolescence as they shape the permanent personality and psychology of a person.
- Biological psychology: the development of advanced imaging technologies in addition to tools for monitoring brain activity allowed the explanation of psychology and human behavior based on biological phenomena. This course introduces topics such as cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, and psychological disorders related to biological diseases.
- Social psychology: this course deals with the collective cognition and behavior of a society as a whole taking into consideration how people affect the psychology of each other.
- Cross-cultural psychology: this is a wider scope of psychology that studies psychological phenomena among societies with different cultures focusing on the effect of culture on mind and behavior.
- Psychological research methods: this course introduces the essential tools used in research including the design of surveys, monitoring brain activity, statistical methods, psychological testing, and laboratory practice.
- Other topics in psychology: family psychology, the psychology of women, motivation, and learning, the psychology of violence, group dynamics and leadership, educational psychology, abnormal psychology, organizational psychology, and counseling psychology.
Now I have a psychology degree…where can I work after graduating?
Studying psychology helps to understand human thinking and behavior and how to deal with and change them. This is a critical skill for a wide variety of jobs which makes significant demand for psychology graduates in the job market.
The following list shows some of the career options that you may consider after completing your degree in psychology:
- Clinical psychologist: the role of this position is to help people who suffer from psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, addictive behaviors, eating disorders, or learning disabilities that may accompany other mental or physical diseases.
- Educational psychologists: they work in schools and colleges to assist students who have learning disabilities, behavioral problems or suffer from psychological trauma. They may also provide help to teachers who face difficulties in their jobs.
- Human resources officer: knowledge of psychology is an essential skill for recruiting the right talents and workforce for an organization, and evaluating the performance of employees.
- Life coach: the role of a life coach is to help clients achieve more happiness and success in their lives by identifying personal strengths and areas of possible development.
- Market research: the role of market research is to identify new trends and market opportunities for investment. They also aim at the development of marketing tools that can deliver the message most effectively.
Should I choose a psychology degree?
Studying psychology is an exciting and personally rewarding thing to do. You will enjoy knowing the different personalities and understanding the underlying motives behind decisions.
Your study will also help you develop several skills that are beneficial to your life and career:
- The ability to empathize with people and acknowledge their diversity
- Effective communication skills
- Sensitive listening and organized questioning skills
- Ability to adapt and cope with emotionally demanding situations
Recommended Schools
Best Jobs for Psychology Degrees
Individuals with psychology bachelor’s degrees may choose to continue their educations, earning graduate degrees to become licensed as counselors, psychologists, or therapists.
However, there is work with only a bachelor’s degree as well. An education is psychology provides a thorough understanding in human behavior, which is great for careers in marketing, human resources, and public relations.
How to save time and money
Our mission is to help you to avoid paying full price for college. We want your Psychology degree to be affordable and accessible. Here’s how you could save:
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