BA in Psychology > UTSA > University of Texas at San Antonio

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology

The minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree, including the Core Curriculum requirements, is 120. Thirty-nine of the total semester credit hours required for the degree must be at the upper-division level.

All candidates for this degree must fulfill the Core Curriculum requirements and the degree requirements, which are listed below.

The Psychology Department encourages students’ participation in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts Signature Experience by offering students a variety of opportunities to apply their ideas and knowledge to real-world settings. All Psychology majors enroll in Experimental Psychology and the accompanying laboratory. Experimental Psychology offers students the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of research design and use these fundamentals to design an original research project which addresses many questions of applied interest. In addition, students can enroll in internships and independent study projects as part of their program of study. Internships are arranged through the Department of Psychology Internship Coordinator and are designed to provide students with experiences at a wide variety of organizations and institutions in the San Antonio area. Independent study projects are arranged through consultation with individual members of the Psychology faculty and are designed to provide students with an opportunity to further develop their research skills. These projects are conducted under the supervision of a faculty member and usually involve work associated the faculty member’s primary line of research.

Core Curriculum requirements: Students seeking the Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology must fulfill University Core Curriculum requirements in the same manner as other students. The courses listed in the table below satisfy both degree requirements and Core Curriculum requirements; however, if these courses are taken to satisfy both requirements, then students will need to take additional courses in order to meet the minimum number of semester credit hours required for this degree. For a complete listing of courses that satisfy the Core Curriculum requirements see pages 5–9 of this catalog.

Core Curriculum Component Area	Courses that Satisfy Core Curriculum and Degree Requirements
Communications	English Rhetoric/Composition (6 semester credit hours) All students must take the following six hours to meet this core requirement: WRC 1013 Freshman Composition I WRC 1023 Freshman Composition II
Mathematics	Mathematics (3 semester credit hours) Any three hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement. Psychology majors are encouraged to choose MAT 1023, College Algebra with Applications, MAT 1033, Algebra with Calculus for Business, or MAT 1073, Algebra for Scientists and Engineers, to satisfy this core requirement.
Natural Sciences	Science (6 semester credit hours) Three hours from Level One and three hours from Level Two will satisfy this core requirement.
Social and Behavioral Sciences	United States History and Diversity (6 semester credit hours) Any six hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement. Political Science (6 semester credit hours) POL 1013 Introduction to American Politics, plus three additional hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement. Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 semester credit hours) PSY 1013, Introduction to Psychology Economics (3 semester credit hours) Any three hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement.
Humanities & Visual and Performing Arts	Literature (3 semester credit hours) Any three hours listed below under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement. The Arts (3 semester credit hours) Any three hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement.
World Society and Issues	(3 semester credit hours) Any three hours listed under this section in the list of core courses will satisfy this core requirement.

(TOP)

Degree Requirements

36 semester credit hours in the major, 24 of which must be at the upper-division level:
1. 12 semester credit hours of lower-division courses:
  1. PSY 1013 Introduction to Psychology
  2. 6 semester credit hours selected from the following:
    PSY 2503 Developmental Psychology
    PSY 2513 Abnormal Psychology
    PSY 2523 Personality
    PSY 2533 Social Psychology
  3. 3 semester credit hours selected from the following:
    PSY 2543 Theories of Learning
    PSY 2573 Psychology of Thought
2. 24 semester credit hours of upper-division courses:
  1. PSY 3403 Experimental Psychology
    PSY 3413 Experimental Psychology Laboratory
  2. 6 semester credit hours selected from the following:
    PSY 3103 Cognition
    PSY 3153 Sensation and Perception
    PSY 4113 Cognitive Development
    PSY 4143 Memory
    PSY 4163 Sensory Processes
    PSY 4213 Social Cognition
    PSY 4293 Visual Information Processing
    PSY 4323 Psychology of Language
    PSY 4333 The Perception of Sound
  3. 12 semester credit hours of upper-division courses in psychology. No more than 3 hours of Independent Study, Internship in Psychology, or Honors Thesis may be counted toward this requirement.
12 semester credit hours of support work outside of psychology. The courses taken to meet this requirement must have a common focus and must be approved by the student’s faculty advisor. A list of the sets of courses that meet this requirement is available from the student’s academic advisor. This requirement may be satisfied by completing a minor outside psychology.
PSY 2073, Statistics for Psychology, or approved substitute (Prerequisites: MAT 1023, MAT 1033, or MAT 1073, and one psychology course.)

NOTE: Requirement C must be satisfied before enrolling in PSY 3403 and PSY 3413, and should be completed during the freshman or sophomore year.
27 semester credit hours of electives