Psychology, BS
Introduction
Please click here to see Psychology department information.
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences also offers a Psychology BA degree.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
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This is an on-campus program.
Declaring This Major
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Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
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Click here for information about Academic Policies
Program Requirements
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Students must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours, including a minimum of 31 PSYC credit hours and a minimum of 23 credit hours in ancillary course work.
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Students must complete a minimum of 16 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours in the major.
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Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all major courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the major GPA. Students cannot complete major or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
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Students must complete a minimum of 16 upper division (3000-level and above) PSYC credit hours with CU Denver faculty.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
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An experiential learning component is required and must be approved by the Bachelor of Science academic advisor. To fulfill the experiential learning requirement, some options have a minimum overall GPA of 2.5 or higher. Fulfilling this requirement with a project outside of the Psychology Department requires prior approval by the Bachelor of Science academic advisor. Independent study or internship credit hours taken outside of the Psychology Department will not count as Psychology credit hours. PSYC 4111 Senior Seminar in Psychology: Career Capstone can fulfill this requirement, and student does not need 2.5 GPA
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A maximum of 56 semester hours of PSYC coursework will count toward graduation.
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Successful (final grade of B or better) completion of PSYC 4680 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar, PSYC 4681 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar II and PSYC 4780 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research: Ethics & Issues fulfills the experiential learning requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Psychology dept core graduation requirement. It is required for students to have instructor permission to enroll in both PSYC 4680 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar and PSYC 4681 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar II
Psychology Major Course Requirements
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take all of the following | 19 | |
| PSYC 1000 | Introduction to Psychology I | 3 |
| PSYC 1005 | Introduction to Psychology II | 3 |
| PSYC 2090 | Statistics and Research Methods | 4 |
| PSYC 2220 | Biological Basis of Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3090 | Research Methods in Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 4054 | Behavioral Neuroscience | 3 |
Upper Division Level PSYC Electives
Group A
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take two of the following group A courses | 6 | |
| PSYC 3222 | Principles of Learning and Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3254 | Introduction to Animal Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3262 | Health Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3263 | Hormones and Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3264 | Exercise, Brain and Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3265 | Drugs, Brain and Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3724 | Developmental Psychobiology | 3 |
| PSYC 3810 | Neuropsychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3822 | Aging, Brain and Behavior | 3 |
| PSYC 3832 | Neural Basis of Learning | 3 |
| PSYC 4164 | Psychology of Perception | 3 |
Group B
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take one of the following group B courses | 3 | |
| PSYC 3205 | Human Development I: Child Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3305 | Abnormal Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 3415 | Experimental Social Psychology | 3 |
Experiential Learning
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take 3 credit hours of the following 1 | 3 | |
| PSYC 3939 | Internship | 1-3 |
| PSYC 4111 | Senior Seminar in Psychology: Career Capstone | 3 |
| PSYC 4840 | Independent Study: PSYC | 1-3 |
| PSYC 4880 | Directed Research | 1-6 |
| Successful (final grade of B or better) completion of PSYC 4680 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar, PSYC 4681 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar II and PSYC 4780 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research: Ethics & Issues fulfills the experiential learning requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Psychology dept core graduation requirement. | ||
| 1 | Students should consult with the BS advisor to choose the best option. Registration in PSYC 3939 Internship requires permission of instructor, meeting minimum grade requirements and approval of Experiential Learning Center. Registration in PSYC 4840 Independent Study: PSYC and PSYC 4880 Directed Research requires permission of instructor, meeting minimum grade requirements and approval of the CLAS advising office. It is required for students to have instructor permission to enroll in both PSYC 4680 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar and PSYC 4681 Behavioral & Biomedical Sciences Research Seminar II |
Ancillary Courses
Biology
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take the following | 8 | |
| BIOL 2010 | Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | 3 |
| or BIOL 2030 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2011 | Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | 1 |
| or BIOL 2031 | Honors Organisms to Ecosystems Lab (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2020 | Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | 3 |
| or BIOL 2040 | Honors Molecules to Cells (Gen Bio) | |
| BIOL 2021 | Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | 1 |
| or BIOL 2041 | Honors Molecules to Cells Lab (Gen Bio) | |
Chemistry
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take the following | 9 | |
| CHEM 2031 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| or CHEM 2081 | Honors General Chemistry I | |
| CHEM 2038 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 1 |
| or CHEM 2088 | Honors General Chemistry I Laboratory | |
| CHEM 2061 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| or CHEM 2091 | Honors General Chemistry II Lecture | |
| CHEM 2068 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| or CHEM 2098 | Honors General Chemistry II Laboratory | |
Upper Division Ancillary Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take two of the following | 6 | |
| BIOL 3225 | Human Physiology | 4 |
| BIOL 3244 | Human Anatomy | 5 |
| BIOL 3445 | Introduction to Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL 3611 | General Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 3621 | Introduction to Immunology | 3 |
| BIOL 3654 | General Microbiology | 5 |
| BIOL 3832 | General Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL 4134 | Human Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL 4165 | Neurobiology | 3 |
| CHEM 3810 | Biochemistry | 4 |
| CHEM 4810 | General Biochemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 4820 | General Biochemistry II | 3 |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.