College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
B.A. Program Requirements (Fall 2016 and later)
The B.A. program requires 34 semester hours of psychology and is intended for those students who are pursuing a broad undergraduate education with a special emphasis in psychology. Students planning to enter a graduate program in a field that emphasizes applied preparation more heavily than research training may wish to choose the B.A. program. The B.A. program may be combined with specialized work in one or more other disciplines (e.g., education, social work, business, journalism, nursing). Transfer students and students who have changed majors after already fulfilling most of the General Education Program may find the B.A. program particularly suitable. The B.A. program involves an introductory psychology course, a behavioral neuroscience course, two courses in research methods and data analysis, and lower and upper level courses in psychology. Students entering the B.A. program must also complete either a statistics or a computer science course and at least 9 semester hours of coursework at The University of Iowa in a second area of concentration. Courses used to satisfy the second area of concentration may not be used to satisfy the College of Liberal Arts General Education Program, but a second major or a minor in any discipline will satisfy the requirement.
Requirements
| Course Number | Course Name | S.H |
|---|---|---|
| PSY:1001 | Elementary Psychology | 3 |
| PSY:2701 | Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience | 4 |
| PSY:2811 | Research Methods and Data Analysis in Psychology I | 3 |
| PSY:2812 | Research Methods and Data Analysis in Psychology II | 3 |
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Lower Level Courses (complete all four) |
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| PSY:2301 | Intro to Clinical Psychology | 3 |
| PSY:2401 | Intro to Developmental Science | 3 |
| PSY:2501 | Intro to Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSY:2601 | Intro to Cognitive Psychology | 3 |
| Upper Level Electives (select three courses)
Note: Not all courses are available each semester (or summer session). |
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Cognate Requirement (select one from the list below) |
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| CS:1020 | Principles of Computing | 3 |
| CS:1110 | Introduction to Computer Science | 3 |
| STAT:1020/PSQF:1020 | Elementary Statistics and Inference | 3 |
| STAT:1030 | Stats for Business | 4 |
| STAT:3510 | Biostatistics | 3 |
| STAT:4143/PSQF:4143 | Intro to Statistical Methods | 3 |
| BIOS:4120 | Intro to Biostatistics | 3 |
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Second Area of Concentration At least 9 s.h. of graded coursework at the University of Iowa in a single department beyond courses used to satisfy the College of Liberal Arts General Education Program requirements. Transfer coursework form other institutions may not be used for the Second Area of Concentration. |
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Program Planning Information
Course Sequence for the B.A. Program
First year students should enroll in Elementary Psychology and General Education courses. From there, students continue to work on General Education courses and a combination of Intro to Behavioral Neuroscience, the Research Methods and Data Analysis sequence, and lower level Psychology courses. Finally, students complete upper-level Psychology electives.
It is important for students to compete the Psychology Core as early as possible as it is not possible to move on to upper-level major coursework until these courses are completed.
Please note that students must earn a C- or better in Research Methods and Data Analysis II (PSY:2812) and the corresponding lower level course plus complete the Psychology Core prior to enrolling in more advanced courses.
Enriching the B.A. Program
Students in the B.A. program who plan graduate study in psychology or a related discipline should consider enriching their preparation. It may be wise to elect good college statistics and math courses and challenging natural science courses in chemistry, biology, or physics. Students should consult carefully with their adviser in planning such an enriched B.A. program.