University of Colorado at Boulder

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Psychology

Advising Center

Muenzinger D243

(303) 492-1234

Degree Requirements for Students Declaring a Psychology Major After May 15, 1998

Current University of Colorado at Boulder students can obtain complete degree and A&S Core audits though the utilization of the CU-Boulder's Personal Lookup System. If you are not currently a psychology major and are interested in declaring, click here for dates of mandatory major declaration meetings.

• A major in psychology requires a minimum of 31 hours in psychology with grades of C- or better. At least 18 of these hours must be in upper division courses.
• A minimum of 12 hours of upper-division course work for the major must be completed on the Boulder Campus. Of those 12 hours, majors must complete one course in area #5 and in area #6 (see below) with a grade of C- or better.
• It is recommended that psychology majors complete areas #1, #2 , #3, and #4 before attempting areas #5, #6, & #7.
• No more than 45 hours in psychology will apply toward graduation. The only exception to the 45 hour limit is coursework for honors seminars and thesis (Psychology 3001,4001, 4011 but only up to six hours). Any course that is cross-listed with several departments will count in the department in which the student has the most hours, regardless of how the student registers for the course.
• The average GPA of all work in psychology must be at least a 2.0 (C). A grade of D in a required psychology course will not fulfill the requirement, although the credit hours will count toward graduation. If a student receives a grade of D in a required course, he or she must receive a C- or better on an alternative course that meets the requirement or retake the course and earn a C- or better (and receive zero hours college credit because the student has already received credit for the D).
• In order to graduate with a degree in psychology, all students are required to take an assessment test. The test will be administered once a year in the spring. Spring, summer, and fall graduates should take the test at that time. Dates of the examination will be posted in the Psychology Advising Center, Muenzinger D243.

 1.    PSYC 1001 (4) General Psychology

 2.  All of the following lower division psychology core courses:

PSYC 2012 (3) Biological Psychology

PSYC 2145 (3) Introductory Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 2606 (3) Social Psychology

 3.   PSYC 3101 (4) Statistics and Research Methods in Psychology

 4. One of the following natural science sequences (with a grade of C- or better):

CHEM 1011 (3) & 1031 (4) Environmental Chemistry I & II

CHEM 1051 (4) & 1071 (4) Intro to Chemistry and Intro to Organic & Biochemistry

CHEM 1111 (5) & 1131 (5) General Chemistry I and II

CHEM 1111 (5) & 1071 (4) General Chemistry and Intro to Organic & Biochemistry

EBIO 1210 (3) & 1220 (3) General Biology I & II

MATH 1300 (5) & 2300 (5) Analytic Geometry and Calculus I & II

MCDB 1150 (3) & 2150 (3) Intro to MCD Biology and Principles of Genetics

MCDB 1150 (3) & EPOB 1220 (3) Intro to MCD Biology and General Biology II

PHYS 1110 (4) & 1120 (4) General Physics I & II (science and engineering majors)

PHYS 2010 (5) & 2020(5) General Physics I & II

(Note: Math 1300 & 2300 and MCDB 1150 & EBIO 1220, are acceptable natural science sequences to fulfill the psychology requirement, but are not acceptable for A&S core.)

 5. At least one of the following courses:

**PSYC 3313 (4) Psychopathology

PSYC 3102 (3) Behavioral Genetics (Pre-req. PSYC 3101)

**Students who take PSYC 3313 cannot also receive credit for PSYC 4303 (Abnormal Psychology)

 6. At least one of the following upper division laboratory & methods courses:

(Note: All of the courses in area #6 require at least PSYC 3101 as a prerequisite, see catalog for other degree requirements)

PSYC 3001 (4) Junior Honors Seminar (beginning Fall 2007)

PSYC 4052 (4) Behavioral Neuroscience

PSYC 4136 (4) Human Judgement & Decision-Making Lab

PSYC 4145 (4) Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 4155 (4) Cognitive Neuroscience/Neuropsychology

PSYC 4165 (4) Psychology of Perception

Psyc 4175 (4) Computational Cognitive Neuroscience

PSYC 4205 (4) Psychology of Learning

PSYC 4376 (4) Research Methods in Social Psychology

PSYC 4443 (4) Research Methods in Clinical Psychology

PSYC 4733 (4) Psychological Testing and Assessment

 7. Psychology electives (including additional courses under #5 &#6) to bring the total credit hours in psychology to at least 31 (but not more than 45), of which 18 credit hours must be upper division. No courses taken on a Pass/Fail basis will be counted toward the major. Independent Study (PSYC 4841) grades are awarded on a Pass/Fail basis only, therefore they will not be included as fulfilling the minimum hours requirement in the major (31). However, Independent Study will count in the maximum number of psychology hours allowable (45).

Please be sure to also visit the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Center website for further and more complete information on college requirements. The University of Colorado at Boulder Catalog and the Registration Handbook and Schedule of Courses are also excellent sources of information related to these requirements.