Students declaring the Psychology Major after June 30, 2021 fall under these graduation requirements. Please consult Locus to confirm your graduation requirements. Look under the Academic Progress Tile and click My Academic Requirements.  If you Requirement Term (or Catalog Year) for the Psychology Major is Fall 2021 or newer then these are your requirements. If you declared your major under an earlier catalog and would like to switch to these requirements please consult with your University or CAS advisor to make the change.

 

A total of 14 psychology courses plus two ancillary quantitative courses are required. Psychology Honors requires 15 courses including 369/370, plus two ancillary quantitative courses.

 

Students must take 101, 201, 304, 306, one course for the Diversity and Inclusion Requirement, one course for each of the five Knowledge Pillars, one Advanced Lab Course, and one capstone course (or a 2^nd Advanced Lab Course). Students graduating with Psychology Honors must take 369/370 as their Capstone. Remaining courses may be any psychology course except 100.

 

When planning your course schedule with your Psychology Department Faculty Advisor, please consult the Psychology Major Checklist 2023-2024. You can also view the Psychology Major Checklist 2024-2025. The Psychology Course Matrix may also be of use in planning your course schedule.  You can also view Psychology Course Descriptions or look at many past Psychology Course Syllabi.

Psychology Majors should complete Psychology Advising and Career Development (201) as soon after taking 101 as possible. During that course you will receive a Psychology Faculty Advisor, but if you want to be assigned an advisor before you take the class please fill out this form.  It is your responsibility to contact your advisor. Before meeting with your Advisor please take time to review the requirements found on this page and the Psychology Career Finder. More information on student advising at Loyola maybe found by visiting the Advising Webpage.

Students should take General Psychology (101) and Psychology Advising and Career Development (201) their first year. Students should then take their Knowledge Pillar courses. It is recommended that students complete at least one of their Ancillary Quantitative Courses prior to beginning the 304-306 sequence. Note that PSYC 304 (Statistics) is a prerequisite for 306 (Research Methods). No other statistics course (including STAT 103) or a statistics course from another Loyola department can serve as a prerequisite for 306 if you are a Psychology Major. Students may not take 304 and 306 at the same time. Electives may be any 200 or 300 level psychology courses or NEUR 101. 306 and their specified Knowledge Pillar courses serve as prerequisites for advanced lab courses. 

Students should discuss the Ancillary Quantitative Requirement with their Psychology Faculty advisor as early as possible after declaring the major. It is expected that students will have completed at least one, and preferably both courses before beginning the 304-306 sequence. Thus, students should plan to take these courses during their first two years. Assuming a strong background in math, a computer science course is strongly recommended to prepare students for future academic and non-academic careers.

Psychology majors are to abide by Academic Council's double dipping policy which instructs that not more than three courses offered by one department may count towards two different majors. There are two notable exceptions for the Psychology Department:

• Co-Majoring in Neuroscience. Neuroscience Majors/Minors may count any psychology courses they take that count towards the Neuroscience Major/Minor towards both majors.
• Co-Majoring in Social Work. Social Work Majors may count PSYC 101 and 304 and any other three PSYC classes approved by the School of Social Work towards both the Psychology and Social Work Majors.

Psychology majors are exempt from the “Societal and Cultural Knowledge” and “Quantitative Literacy” areas of the core. Additional information about the Core can be found here.

Three courses of the major (or the minor) can be fulfilled with courses transferred into Loyola. Please consult with your CAS Advisor to ensure that you have received transfer credit for courses taken at other universities.

Students able to maintain a cumulative 3.5 GPA and interested in psychology independent research, should discuss the possibility of participating in the Honors in Psychology program with their Psychology Faculty Advisor or ideally their psychology research mentor. For more information on the program please visit the Honors in Psychology Webpae.  Questions about the program should be addressed to the program director, Dr. Jeff Huntsinger.

Loyola's psychology department offers countless opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research under the supervision of faculty members—an experience that is highly valued by employers and graduate schools. More information on Research in the department can be found under the Research Tab of the Psychology Department Website. Students can earn course credit for this research experience through independent studies and research courses, PSYC 397 (Independent Research) and PSYC 399 (Special Studies in Psychology). Qualified students may also plan and conduct psychological research by enrolling in the two-course honors sequence (PSYC 369 and 370). PSYC 397 and PSYC 370 count towards the Loyola's engaged learning requirement, while PSYC 399 does not. More information on Independent Study courses in Psychology are available on the Independent Research webpage  or by clicking the hyperlinks for the individual courses above.

PSYC 390 is an intensive, work/academic experience that combines 100 hours (minimum) of supervised work at a psychology-related job site, arranged by the student prior to the start of the semester. PSYC 390 class meetings include class discussions and activities, reading and writing assignments, and an independent project. This is a unique and time-intensive opportunity that allows students to learn how psychology is applied in real-world settings. The course is open to psychology juniors and seniors. Students interested in the program should learn more by visiting the Internship in Psychology Webpage.  Questions about the program should be addressed to the internship coordinator (psyc-internship@luc.edu). Admission to the internship course is by application only. Applications are due midway through the SEMESTER BEFORE the internship is to be taken.