MAJOR: PSYCHOLOGY
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At the undergraduate level, the Department of Psychology provides students with a solid grounding in psychology by presenting historical and contemporary research on human and animal behavior. Students learn to think creatively and critically about human behavior across gender, culture, and age, and to relate psychological principles to everyday living. Students are also trained in experimental design and statistics, enabling them to evaluate new research findings and communicate their findings in writing and in oral presentations. Currently, there are over 1,500 undergraduate psychology majors and double majors, with approximately 380 undergraduate psychology degrees awarded per year. The five most common career fields for recent graduates were business (23%), service (e.g. social work, 12%), health-related professions (e.g. medicine, 8%), education (6%), and law (4%). 64% of the respondents indicated they have pursued or are planning to pursue further education after their psychology undergraduate degree.

The American Psychological Association states that Psychology is "the study of the mind and behavior. The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience - from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to mental health care services, 'the understanding of behavior' is the enterprise of psychologists."

Declare This Major

Psychology is a restricted major and students must apply for admission. Current UT undergraduates may apply to the Psychology major by visiting the internal transfer page to learn about the minimum requirements for admission.

Prospective University of Texas at Austin students should visit to learn about the application process and how to declare a major.

Required Courses

View psychology (BA and BS) degree plans to learn more about required courses. Students may also view psychology courses descriptions.

Specializations

The Department of Psychology offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) and Bachelor of Arts degree. The Bachelor of Arts is the larger of our two degree programs and is appropriate for most areas of psychology at the graduate level as well as careers in business and law.

The Bachelor of Science degree is designed for those students who are interested in pursuing medicine or some of the more biologically oriented areas of psychology such as behavioral neuroscience.

Students may also look into teacher certification and Psychology Honors Program.

Skills

Students who major in psychology tend to hone their critical thinking skills, learn statistics and research methods, and gain experience in empirical research. There are many opportunities to enhance the psychology degree through research, student organizations, the Honors program, etc.