Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 120 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the required major credits.
Completing LAC coursework outside of the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies, and International Studies — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
PSY 120 (3) is recommended to fulfill the Social & Behavioral Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
PSY 230 (3) or PSY 265 (3) is recommended to fulfill Social & Behavioral Sciences as the additional 3 credits required in Arts & Humanities or History or Social & Behavioral Sciences and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
School of Psychological Sciences faculty recommend that students fulfill their Liberal Arts Curriculum requirement for Natural & Physical Sciences by taking BIO 100 (3 credits) and BIO 105 (1 credit).
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major Credits — 45 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| UNIV 101 | Foundations for Learning and Development | 3 |
| PSY 120 | Principles of PsychologyLAB3 | 3 |
| PSY 166 | Skills and Careers in Psychological Sciences | 3 |
| PSY 200 | Psychological Statistics | 3 |
| PSY 201 | Research Methods in Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 380 | Behavioral Neuroscience | 3 |
| PSY 491 | Psychology Field Experience | 1- 6 |
PSY 120: (LAC Social & Behavioral Sciences)
PSY 491: 3 credits required; 6 credits maximum
Core Classes — 6 credits
Choose two of the following courses:
Experimental Group — 3 credits
Choose one of the following courses:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Group — 3 credits
Choose one of the following courses:
| PSY 280 | Psychology of Human Sexuality | 3 |
| PSY 340 | Psychology & Culture | 3 |
| PSY 365 | Psychology and the Law | 3 |
| PSY 467 | Psychology of Prejudice | 3 |
| GNDR 240 | Gender, Race, Class, and SexualityLAB3LAMS | 3 |
| | or | |
| SOC 240 | Gender, Race, Class, and SexualityLAB3LAMS | 3 |
GNDR 240 and SOC 240: (LAC Social & Behavioral Sciences; LAC U.S. Multicultural Studies)
Choose 12 additional credits from the following courses:
Any additional courses from the above groups. (For example, if you satisfied the Core Classes requirement with PSY 230 and PSY 255, you may select PSY 265 to help you reach the required 24 elective credits.)
Any additional psychology course with the PSY designation.
| PSY 247 | Adolescent Learning and MotivationLAB3 | 3 |
| PSY 271 | Psychological Testing and Measurements | 3 |
| PSY 323 | Health Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 330 | Child and Adolescent Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 331 | Maturity and Aging | 3 |
| PSY 347 | Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers | 3 |
| PSY 349 | Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers | 3 |
| PSY 350 | Theories of Personality | 3 |
| PSY 366 | Industrial Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 422 | Directed Studies | 1- 3 |
| PSY 430 | Developmental Disabilities and Psychopathology | 3 |
| PSY 460 | Clinical Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 465 | Forensic Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 475 | Evolution and Behavior | 3 |
| PSY 492 | Instructional Aide | 1- 3 |
| PSY 493 | Practicum in Psychology | 1- 3 |
| PSY 495 | Special Topics in Psychology | 1- 5 |
Electives from outside the PSY designation. (No more than 6 credits of the following courses may be included in the major as electives.)
| HUSR 397 | Foundations of Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment | 3 |
| SES 333 | Psychology of Exercise and Physical Activity | 3 |
| SES 438 | Sport Psychology | 3 |
| GNDR 240 | Gender, Race, Class, and SexualityLAB3LAMS | 3 |
| | or | |
| SOC 240 | Gender, Race, Class, and SexualityLAB3LAMS | 3 |
Majors Only Seminars (Juniors or above, 3.0 cumulative grade point average and above)
| PSY 401 | Advanced Research Methods in Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 407 | Introduction to Counseling Theories | 3 |
| PSY 481 | Advanced Behavioral Neuroscience | 3 |
| PSY 482 | Behavioral Genetics | 3 |
Graduate Classes (Juniors or above, 3.0 grade point average and above)
| PSY 530 | Life Span Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 540 | Theories and Principles of Learning | 3 |
| PSY 575 | Educational Assessment | 3 |
| PSY 580 | Psychopharmacology | 3 |
| PSY 590 | Seminar in History of Psychology | 3 |
| PSY 595 | Special Topics in Psychology | 1- 5 |
Additional credits of PSY 491, Field Experience (6 credits maximum).
| PSY 491 | Psychology Field Experience | 1- 6 |
3. University-Wide Electives — 44 credits*
Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for this degree at UNC; for this degree, that will typically be 44 credits.
*Note: Students who apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum and the major requirements will have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree. See your advisor for details.
Accelerated (4 + 1) Psychology B.A. and Educational Psychology M.A.
Motivated and high-achieving students may seek to complete the requirements for the B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Educational Psychology in five years. To obtain both degrees, students must complete all the requirements for the B.A. described in the Undergraduate Catalog and all of the requirements for the M.A. described in the Graduate Catalog. Completing the requirements for both degrees in the accelerated Master's program is made possible by taking 9 credits of graduate course work in the junior and senior years (paid for at the undergraduate tuition rate). These 9 credit hours will be counted towards both the B.A. and M.A. degree requirements. Students remain eligible for financial aid as an undergraduate; any Graduate School aid is not available until students are admitted as a Graduate student.
Students interested in transferring into an accelerated Master’s Program must:
- Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 to take graduate-level courses as a junior or senior.
- Meet with the program’s advisor in their junior year, apply (following the same procedure and meeting the same requirements as other M.A. applicants). Full admission is dependent on completing the B.A. requirements in the senior year while maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA.
- Students and faculty identify the graduate courses the students should take. The program application will be signed and forwarded to the Graduate School with signatures of the program advisor indicating the approval of graduate course transfer.