Best Psychology Bachelor’s Programs for 2027

Florida distinguishes its campus BS from the online BA. Campus students choose Integrative Psychology, Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, or Behavior Analysis; the neuroscience specialization adds more mathematics and biology. The online BA follows Integrative Psychology. Students can also explore supervised research, teaching, community internships, or an honors thesis. These experiences have separate credit limits within the major, so laboratory and independent-work choices need to fit the degree plan.

NC State’s general psychology concentration requires social, developmental, cognitive, and biological psychology alongside introductory research and statistics. Fifteen credits of psychology electives let students pursue subjects such as health or industrial-organizational psychology, with at least two courses at the 400 or 500 level. The broader BA includes history, literature, world language, and additional social sciences. That mix leaves room to pair psychology with another academic interest while retaining a defined scientific core.

Binghamton's psychology BA ties a laboratory to a foundational subject such as perception, learning, cognition or behavioral neuroscience. You'll complete statistical analysis before research methods, then take the methods course before the laboratory. The major also includes substantial mathematics and science study outside psychology. Faculty research and internships can contribute to the degree: an approved combination of eight research or internship credits can replace one advanced psychology course. That option gives you a concrete reason to plan supervised experience with an advisor.

Florida State’s 36-hour psychology major requires research methods with a laboratory, neuroscience, and courses in three of four areas: social, cognitive, developmental, and clinical psychology. Statistics supports the methods sequence, while a separate minor adds another field of study. Directed Individual Study and research-topic courses can provide laboratory experience, subject to limits on major credit. Students choosing the BA complete additional humanities and history coursework beyond the BS requirements.

BYU’s 52-credit psychology major builds a research and writing sequence around psychological statistics, research design, and the history of the field. Before graduating, students apply their coursework through an internship, teaching, community service, or mentored research. At least 36 major credits must be upper level, and 23 must be completed at BYU. The experiential requirement gives students a choice of settings while keeping supervised work part of every degree plan.

Georgia’s psychology BS separates research design from research analysis in a seven-credit methods sequence. Students then take biological psychology courses, social or applied courses, and an advanced laboratory or seminar. Options range from cognitive neuroscience to workplace psychology and psychological testing. Faculty-supervised research is available through departmental courses and the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, giving students a way to practice investigation beyond the required classroom sequence.

The University of California-Los Angeles has you declare the psychology pre-major first and enter the Psychology BA only after finishing seven preparation courses and, for students who start as first-years, applying to the major, with entry guaranteed at a 2.9 GPA or higher in the preparation courses. Preparation covers Introductory Psychology, Psychological Statistics and Research Methods in Psychology, plus one course each in calculus, chemistry or physics, life or physiological science, philosophy, and computing or statistics. The major is 10 courses: five core courses from areas such as learning, behavioral neuroscience, cognition, clinical science, development and social psychology, one laboratory or fieldwork course and four upper-division electives. A one-year honors program with a faculty-sponsored thesis is open to students planning graduate study.

Madison's psychology major has six categories: Foundation, Biology, Breadth, Depth, Capstone and Electives, with at least 30 credits in PSYCH. Foundation means Introduction to Psychology, a statistics course and Research Methods, all with a C or better. You take three Breadth courses from three of five area groups (biological, clinical, cognitive and perceptual, developmental, social and personality), then two four-credit Depth courses that include a discussion or lab section, and one seminar-style Capstone such as Epigenetics and the Brain or Introduction to Psychotherapy. The major pairs with either the BA or the BS in the College of Letters & Science. The BS asks for the third unit of a language and two intermediate math, computer science or statistics courses, and the BA asks for a fourth unit of language. Honors in the Major includes a two-semester senior thesis.

Stony Brook lets you take psychology as a BS, which leans on natural sciences and mathematics, or as a BA, which gives a broader interdisciplinary mix. Either way, supervised research through PSY 273 can put you in a faculty lab for one to three repeatable credits, sometimes working with a graduate student. By mid-April of junior year you can apply to the honors program if you've finished PSY 103, PSY 201, two survey courses and a 300-level course. Honors means a two-semester senior thesis with a faculty mentor and a 3.50 GPA in psychology coursework.

Psychology at Maryland is a limited enrollment program, and the rules are specific: stay in the major by finishing PSYC100 with a B- or better, a calculus course (MATH120 or MATH140) with a C-, BSCI170 with a C- and a 2.00 GPA, all by the time you reach 45 credits. Transfer students need a 2.70 GPA on top of that. Courses fall into three themes: Mind, Brain and Behavior; Mental Health and Interventions; and Social, Developmental and Organizational Studies. The BS tends to attract students interested in biological aspects of behavior, while the BA draws those focused on social factors, and you decide with an advisor.

The BA and the BS in psychology at Texas A&M have identical psychology requirements, and they differ in what surrounds them: the BA adds 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level and extra humanities, while the BS adds more hours in the physical and biological sciences. Both start with Psychology as a Major and Profession, Introduction to Psychology and Introduction to Psychological Science Methods, then move through Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Elementary Statistics for Psychology and Research Design and Methods in Psychological Science, each of the last two worth four hours. You also choose one diversity course, such as Black Psychology or Psychology of Culture and Diversity, and select from lists in social and developmental topics and in cognitive and biological topics.

Research methods set the pace here. PSY 101, 121, 203 and the collaborative research course PSY 390 have to be taken one at a time, each a prerequisite for the next, so the major takes at least five semesters and no grade can fall below a C-. Around that core you choose three of eight foundation courses, three 300-level specialized courses and a student-led senior experience that can be an internship, integrative seminar or research project. Six specializations, including biopsychology and industrial and organizational psychology, are optional, and most students don't declare one.

UT Austin's psychology BA requires breadth across behavior and development, cognition and neuroscience, and diversity in behavioral science. You'll take a separate course for each area after building a foundation in introductory psychology, statistics, and psychological methods. Course choices include child language, psychopharmacology, moral development and diversity in cognitive aging. The methods course must be completed at UT, and introductory statistics and methods require at least a C before upper-division psychology registration. Plan that sequence before choosing advanced electives.

Transfer students make up about one-third of the psychology majors at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and every major takes PSY 3801, Introduction to Psychological Measurement and Data Analysis, for statistics. The BS emphasizes scientific training in biological and quantitative psychology and requires 18 credits of outside coursework from three of four areas: philosophy, math and computer science, physical sciences, and biological sciences. Its capstone has two parts, assisting in a faculty research lab and a Capstone in Psychology: Research Laboratory. The BA is a liberal arts degree with a second-language requirement and a flexible capstone, and students in the University Honors Program can add a three-semester research sequence ending in an honors thesis.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s psychology BS requires internship coursework as well as a senior project seminar and project. You can meet the internship requirement through research or supervised fieldwork courses, connecting the degree with either a laboratory or an applied setting. The core includes advanced research methods and multicultural psychology. A separate professional-skills requirement offers choices such as teamwork, the helping relationship, or intercultural communication, so practical preparation continues beyond the internship itself.

Hunter treats entry to the major as a checkpoint. Before you can continue, both introductory psychology courses need at least a B, math needs a C and your GPA has to stand at 2.00, and you declare in person with a psychology adviser who'll ask for your transcripts. After that you pick a focus: General Psychology or one of seven tracks, including animal behavior, cognitive, clinical and health psychology. Statistical Methods and an experimental psychology course are four credits each, and two lab science courses round out a major of 43 credits or more.

Baruch’s psychology BA moves from general psychology and statistics into a four-credit research methods course. In that course, students design projects using approaches such as surveys and experiments while examining validity and research ethics. Foundation choices include cognition, development, personality, and psychopathology. A fully online completion option begins in fall 2026 for students who already hold an associate degree; the eligibility requirement distinguishes it from the campus bachelor’s pathway.

Applying to the BS takes a 3.00 GPA on 60 hours and a psychology faculty sponsor, while the BA is open to anyone who meets College of Arts and Sciences requirements. Both degrees share Elements of Psychology, Career Exploration for Psychology, Understanding Statistics and a four-hour research methods course in experimental design. The BA then asks for three core courses and the BS for four, from Personality, Lifespan Development, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, Industrial Organizational Psychology and, for the BS, Physiological Psychology. Fifteen hours of 3000 and 4000-level psychology follow, and BS students must include six hours of research credit. The department describes the BS as a way to strengthen an application to doctoral training.

UCF combines a common foundation in statistics, research methods, physiological psychology, and the history of the discipline with a choice of six tracks. Two career-readiness courses address practical tasks such as résumés and interviews alongside the academic sequence. Courses include developmental, abnormal, and cross-cultural psychology, and students can seek research, volunteer, or internship experience. The university offers both campus study and a fully online version of the psychology BS.

San Diego State requires 31 upper-division psychology units, including either Introduction to Research Methods or Laboratory in Experimental Psychology. Students also complete courses across four breadth groups and use the remaining units for advanced electives. An Industrial-Organizational emphasis adds personnel psychology, organizational psychology, and psychological testing and measurement. The emphasis has course-grade prerequisites for testing, so students interested in workplace applications need to plan their methods and statistics sequence carefully.