The Bachelor of Science degree program in psychology is designed to provide a research-based undergraduate education for students with a broad range of interests in basic and applied psychology. Psychology majors engage in academic course work and other experiences that span the breadth of psychology, as well as in-depth explorations that meet their own specific interests. Students have an opportunity to take fundamental and advanced courses spanning biological psychology, cognition, social psychology, personality psychology, sensation and perception, clinical psychology, applied psychology, learning and motivation, developmental psychology, and other subfields of psychology. By its very nature, psychology is a wide-ranging, cross-cutting field of study, and we encourage and offer interdisciplinary explorations via a highly flexible interdisciplinary cluster of courses that counts toward the BS curriculum, strong ties to other departments and programs, and experiential education to enhance the learning process, including conducting research in faculty laboratories and participation in Northeastern’s co-op program.
Academic Progression Standards
Please see the university's progression standards.
Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.
Universitywide Requirements
All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.
NUpath Requirements
All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.
Psychology Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory Course | ||
| PSYC 1101 | Foundations of Psychology | 4 |
| Personal/Social Bases of Behavior (Area A) | ||
| Complete two of the following: | 8 | |
| Personality | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Developmental Psychology | ||
| Clinical Psychology and Mental Health | ||
| Biological/Cognitive Bases of Behavior (Area B) | ||
| Complete two of the following: | 8 | |
| Learning and Motivation | ||
or PSYC 3451 | Learning Principles and Behavior Analysis | |
| Sensation and Perception | ||
| Biological Psychology | ||
| Psychology of Language | ||
| Cognition | ||
| Statistics | ||
| Complete the following course. Students who receive transfer credit for the Advanced Placement Statistics exam may complete the 1 SH PSYC 2315 course (requires department permission). | 4-5 | |
| Statistics in Psychological Research | ||
| Psychology Seminar | ||
| Complete one of the following: | 4 | |
| Seminar in Biological Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Psycholinguistics | ||
| Seminar in Cognition | ||
| Seminar in Personality | ||
| Seminar in Social Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Clinical Psychology | ||
| Seminar in Sensation and Perception | ||
| Seminar in Cognitive Neuroscience | ||
| Seminar in Developmental Psychology | ||
| Lab Requirement | ||
| Complete two psychology lab courses OR one psychology lab course and one psychology directed study research or honors thesis: | 8 | |
| Lab | ||
| Laboratory in Research Design | ||
| Laboratory in Biological Psychology | ||
| Laboratory in Psycholinguistics | ||
| Laboratory in Cognition | ||
| Laboratory in Social Psychology | ||
| Laboratory in Personality | ||
| Laboratory in Sensation and Perception | ||
| Laboratory in Affective Science | ||
| Laboratory in Life-Span Emotional Development | ||
| Laboratory in Developmental Psychology | ||
| Directed Study Research or Honors Thesis | ||
| Directed Study Research | ||
or PSYC 4971 | Junior/Senior Honors Project 2 | |
Psychology Required Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete five PSYC courses. | 20 | |
Supporting Courses
Interdisciplinary Cluster
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete three of the following courses. Choose from one group only. Students may petition to create their own interdisciplinary cluster. | 11-15 | |
| Educational Psychology | ||
| Education in the Community | ||
| Culture, Equity, Power, and Influence | ||
| Child and Adolescent Development, Learning, and Teaching | ||
| Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity | ||
| Society and Psychology | ||
| Peoples and Cultures | ||
| Gender and Sexuality: A Cross-Cultural Perspective | ||
| Religion and Modernity | ||
| Language and Culture | ||
| Sociology of the Family | ||
| Sociology of Gender | ||
| Drugs and Society | ||
| Forensic Psychology | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Gender, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Race, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Cross-Cultural Psychology | ||
| Peoples and Cultures | ||
| Language and Culture | ||
| Sociolinguistics | ||
| Expressive Therapy | ||
| Conceptual Drawing | ||
| Music Therapy 1 | ||
| Introduction to Acting | ||
| Counseling and Applied Psychology | ||
| Counseling Theories and Practice | ||
| Mental Health and Counseling | ||
| Counseling in Human Services | ||
| Child Intervention and Treatment | ||
| Artificial Intelligence and Information Science | ||
| Theory of Computation | ||
| Artificial Intelligence | ||
| Natural Language Processing | ||
| Principles of Information Science | ||
| Human Computer Interaction | ||
| Language | ||
| ASL Linguistics | ||
| Linguistic Analysis | ||
| Language and Culture | ||
| Phonology | ||
| Bilingualism | ||
| Sociolinguistics | ||
| Syntax | ||
| Semantics | ||
| Language and Gender | ||
| Speech and Hearing Science | ||
| Human Factors | ||
| Principles of Information Science | ||
| Information System Design and Development | ||
| Information Retrieval | ||
| Human Computer Interaction | ||
| Empirical Research Methods | ||
| Child and Adolescent Abnormal Psychology | ||
| Youth Crime and Justice | ||
| Child Intervention and Treatment | ||
| Sexual Violence: Counseling, Programs, and Policy | ||
| Drugs and Society | ||
| Human Resource Management and Business | ||
| Cultural Aspects of International Business | ||
| Management Information Systems | ||
| Introduction to Marketing | ||
| Organizational Behavior | ||
| Business, Ethics, and Human Rights | ||
| The Twenty-First-Century Workplace | ||
| Philosophy of Science and Psychology | ||
| Science and Pseudoscience | ||
| Introduction to Logic | ||
| Philosophy of Science | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Ethics | ||
| Comparative Ethics | ||
| Moral and Social Problems in Healthcare | ||
| Business, Ethics, and Human Rights | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Moral Philosophy | ||
| Biological and Chemical Sciences | ||
| General Biology 1 and Lab for BIOL 1111 | ||
| General Biology 2 and Lab for BIOL 1113 | ||
| Microbes and Society | ||
| The Human Organism | ||
| Biology of Human Reproduction | ||
| Integrated Anatomy and Physiology 1 and Lab for BIOL 2217 | ||
| Integrated Anatomy and Physiology 2 and Lab for BIOL 2219 | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Neurobiology | ||
| Evolution | ||
| General Chemistry for Health Sciences and Lab for CHEM 1101 | ||
| General Chemistry 1 and Lab for CHEM 1211 | ||
| General Chemistry 2 and Lab for CHEM 1214 | ||
| Introduction to Marine Biology | ||
| Ecology | ||
| Physical Sciences and Mathematics | ||
| In addition to the following courses, any math skill course may be used with advisor approval: | ||
| Environmental Science | ||
| Global Climate Change | ||
| Oceans and Coasts | ||
| Dynamic Earth | ||
| Earth's Changing Cycles | ||
| Geophysics | ||
| Statistics and Stochastic Processes | ||
or any PHYS course | ||
| Health and Wellness | ||
| Microbes and Society | ||
| Biology and Society | ||
| The Human Organism | ||
| Biology of Human Reproduction | ||
| Integrated Anatomy and Physiology 1 and Lab for BIOL 2217 | ||
| Health Communication | ||
| Human Nutrition | ||
| Contemporary Issues in Nutrition | ||
| Clinical Nutrition Applications in Health and Disease | ||
| Wellness | ||
| Moral and Social Problems in Healthcare | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| The Ethics of Food | ||
| Introduction to Sports Medicine | ||
| Drugs and Society | ||
| Communication, Culture, and Society | ||
| Sex, Relationships, and Communication | ||
| Communication in a Digital Age | ||
| Social Networks | ||
| Communication and Gender | ||
| Free Speech in Cyberspace | ||
| Interpersonal Communication | ||
| Communication and Inclusion | ||
| Nonverbal Social Interaction | ||
| Youth and Communication Technology | ||
| Online Communities | ||
| Language and Culture | ||
| Sociolinguistics | ||
| Language and Gender | ||
| Social Work Track | ||
| Social Change and Human Services | ||
| Race, Identity, Social Change, and Empowerment | ||
| Research Methods for Human Services | ||
| Social Policy | ||
Mathematics Requirement
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Complete one of the following courses: | 4 | |
| Discrete Structures | ||
| Interactive Mathematics | ||
| Mathematical Thinking | ||
| Calculus for Business and Economics | ||
| Calculus 1 | ||
| Calculus 2 | ||
| Calculus and Differential Equations for Biology 1 | ||
| Calculus and Differential Equations for Biology 2 | ||
| Intensive Calculus for Engineers | ||
| Calculus 1 for Science and Engineering | ||
| Calculus 2 for Science and Engineering | ||
BS in Psychology Major Credit Requirements
Complete 68 semester hours in the major. A maximum of 34 semester hours of transfer credit is allowed in the major. Note: Up to 12 semester hours of psychology-related electives will count toward the major only after the “Interdisciplinary Cluster” section has been completed.
Program Requirement
128 total semester hours required
Five Years, Three Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall
| Year 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 1111 | 4 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | Vacation | 0 | Vacation | 0 |
| PSYC 1000 | 1 | PSYC elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1101 | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1214 (or other PSYC elective) | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| Math requirement | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 16 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Year 2 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| PSYC 2320 | 4 | EESC 2000 | 1 | Vacation | 0 | Co-op | 0 |
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | ||||
| Elective | 4 | PSYC area B elective | 4 | ||||
| Elective | 4 | PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 16 | 17 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Year 3 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| Co-op | 0 | ENGW 3315 | 4 | Elective | 4 | Co-op | 0 |
| PSYC elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC lab elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 0 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 4 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| Co-op | 0 | PSYC elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | Co-op | 0 |
| PSYC lab elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 0 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 5 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||||
| Co-op | 0 | PSYC seminar elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||||
| PSYC elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 0 | 16 | ||||||
| Total Hours: 130 | |||||||
Five Years, Three Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1
| Year 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 1111 | 4 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | Vacation | 0 | Vacation | 0 |
| PSYC 1000 | 1 | PSYC elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1101 | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1214 (or other PSYC elective) | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| Math requirement | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 16 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Year 2 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| EESC 2000 | 1 | Co-op | 0 | Co-op | 0 | Elective | 4 |
| PSYC 2320 | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||
| Year 3 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 3315 | 4 | Co-op | 0 | Co-op | 0 | Elective | 4 |
| PSYC area A elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||
| Year 4 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| PSYC elective | 4 | Co-op | 0 | Co-op | 0 | Vacation | 0 |
| PSYC lab elective | 4 | ||||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Year 5 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | ||||
| PSYC elective | 4 | PSYC seminar elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC lab elective | 4 | PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | PSYC elective | 4 | ||||
| Elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| 16 | 16 | ||||||
| Total Hours: 130 | |||||||
Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall
| Year 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 1111 | 4 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | PSYC elective | 4 | Vacation | |
| PSYC 1000 | 1 | PSYC elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||
| PSYC 1101 | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1214 (or other PSYC elective) | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| Math requirement | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 2 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| EESC 2000 | 1 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | Co-op | |
| PSYC 2320 | 4 | PSYC area B elective | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | PSYC elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC elective | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 3 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| Co-op | ENGW 3315 | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | Co-op | ||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||||
| PSYC lab elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 0 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 4 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| Co-op | PSYC lab elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | Vacation | ||
| PSYC seminar elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 0 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total Hours: 130 | |||||||
Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1
| Year 1 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 1111 | 4 | PSYC area A elective | 4 | PSYC elective | 4 | Vacation | |
| PSYC 1000 | 1 | PSYC elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||
| PSYC 1101 | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC 1214 (or other PSYC elective) | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| Math requirement | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Year 2 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| EESC 2000 | 1 | Co-op | Co-op | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||
| PSYC 2320 | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||||
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | ||||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||||
| PSYC elective | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||
| Year 3 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| PSYC area A elective | 4 | Co-op | Co-op | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||
| PSYC area B elective | 4 | Elective (or AP credit, etc.) | 4 | ||||
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | ||||||
| Elective | 4 | ||||||
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||
| Year 4 | |||||||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours | Summer 1 | Hours | Summer 2 | Hours |
| ENGW 3315 | 4 | PSYC lab elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | Vacation | |
| PSYC interdisciplinary cluster | 4 | PSYC seminar elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||
| PSYC lab | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| PSYC elective | 4 | Elective | 4 | ||||
| 16 | 16 | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total Hours: 130 | |||||||