• Courses at Marquette University are numbered: courses numbered 1000-2999 are “lower division,” whereas courses 3000 and above are “upper division.”
• Some of these credits might be earned through AP courses in high school or through transfers from another college or university (these credits are granted by the university, not by the department).

The Psychology Major

The major in psychology consists of a total of 38 credit hours taken within the Department of Psychology (unless given permission otherwise) and 15 credits of additional cognate courses.

Students who maintain a high GPA in psychology and who are interested in research are encouraged to consider applying for the Honors in Psychology program.

Psychology Courses

Psychology courses include: three required courses taken by all majors (11 credit hours); six course from the five psychology content areas (18 credit hours) and three elective psychology courses of which at least two must be upper-division (9 credit hours).

Courses Taken by All Majors (11 credits)

All students who major in psychology take the same three courses.

• • PSYC 1001. General Psychology (or AP equivalent) (3 credits)
  • MATH 1700 Modern Elementary Statistics (3 credits) AND PSYC 1700 Psychology Introductory Statistics Lab (1 credit), taken concurrently.
    • (or PSYC 2001. Psychological Measurements and Statistics, 4 credits)
    • (or PSYC 2001H. Honors Psychological Measurements and Statistics, 4 credits)
  • PSYC 2050. Research Methods and Designs in Psychology (4 credits)
    • (or PSYC 2050H. Honors Research Methods and Designs in Psychology, 4 credits)

Majors are encouraged to consider taking the honors versions of the courses in statistics (MATH 1700H and PSYC 1700H) and research methods (PSYC 2050H). Note that PSYC 2050H is required to graduate with honors in psychology.

Required Content Areas Courses (18 credits)

Majors must take at least one upper division course from each of the following content areas:  Developmental, Personal Processes, Social Processes, and Diversity and Inclusion (12 hours minimum), and majors must take at least two courses from the Neurocognitive Foundations content area (6 hours minimum).

Courses that meet criteria for these content areas are shown:

Psychology Electives (9 credits)

Majors must also take at least 3 “elective” courses – two of which must be upper-division. These courses can be within the content areas (see previous section), or they can be other courses not included in the content areas.

On the other hand, there are many “elective” courses that are very popular but that do not fit in any particular content area, including the following:

Other Psychology Courses in Research, as Peer Tutors, and in Field Experience

Credits toward the major can also be earned through research experience, through internship, and/or through being a peer tutor. See other attachment for a more thorough description of these opportunities.

Cognate Course Requirements

The psychology major also requires 5 other courses (15 credits) taken from other departments.

Additional Information

• Handbook for Undergraduate Psychology Majors
• Undergraduate Student Resources