What are the different stages and behaviors do children experience as they grow from infants to adults? How do marriage and family dynamics impact the beliefs, tendencies, and behaviors of individuals throughout their lifetime? If you’re curious about the answers to these questions, you may want to consider majoring in human development and family studies in college. This degree program provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding life from many perspectives—from physiology to psychology.

Family studies students study development from a variety of angles. They take life science courses that enable them to understand the anatomy, biology, and physiology of human life, as well as social science courses that enable them to understand how social, political, ethnic, cultural, and gender issues affect and form beliefs and behaviors throughout lifetimes. Graduates go on to work in a variety of careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, working as social workers, counselors, and family advocates.

What Jobs Can You Get with a Degree in Human Development/Family Studies?

In recent years, mental health has become more and more recognized as something that’s just as important to growth and development as physical health, so many health insurance companies have started providing better coverage for mental health care. This has increased demand for individuals with human development and family studies expertise to work in counseling, therapy, social work, and advocacy roles. For this reason, graduates of human development degree programs should have a bright future.

How Long does it take?

A bachelors in Human Development/Family Studies 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.