Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Concentration
The mission of the Bachelor of Arts (3-year) is to strengthen your critical and creative thinking by offering a broad range of social, political, and cultural programs of study. A liberal arts education from Athabasca University is designed to broaden your perspective on local and global affairs, encourage community and social involvement, and prepare you for lifelong learning and occupational diversity.
The Bachelor of Arts (3-year) program is a well-respected credential in Canada and the United States. While the three-year degree program is a highly marketable credential, it is not aimed at providing students with direct access to graduate level studies. Often an additional year of study is required to achieve that academic goal.
Students who are currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts (4-year) degree and who wish to transfer to the Bachelor of Arts (3-year) degree program, may find it is not possible to transfer all their completed courses because of degree requirements.
Students may also be interested in the University Diploma in Arts, which is designed for students who wish to obtain an intermediate credential that provides a grounding in the intellectual skills required of university studies. It is also a foundation for further studies in Humanities and Social Science.
BA, Psychology Concentration
Athabasca University’s Psychology program is designed to develop or expand your knowledge of the broad field of psychology. Both the concentration and major degree programs will provide grounding in foundational courses central to psychology as a science. Students who complete the degree gain useful skills and knowledge that are applicable to general employment across a number of fields, such as business, management, government research, program evaluation, human services, and law. Please note that while the three-year degree program is a marketable credential, it is not aimed at providing students with direct access to graduate-level studies and therefore additional studies are often required.
Planning your program
Our online program plans can assist you in selecting the courses needed to fulfill your program requirements.
Counselling Services offers an assessment website, Mapping Your Future.
Athabasca University has developed program learning outcomes that can assist you in making informed decisions about you career options upon graduating.
Enrolment requirements
Students who hold a previous degree must enrol in the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) program and follow the second undergraduate degree requirements. This degree requires a minimum of 60 credits.
Program requirements
Students complete the program regulations in effect at the time of their enrolment.
Program structure
| Total credits in the program | 90 |
| Minimum credits required | |
|---|---|
| At the senior (300 or 400) level | 54 |
| In the concentration | 36 |
| Senior-level credits in the concentration | 24 |
| In the Arts (Humanities and Social Science) | 66 |
| 12 12 | |
| Science | 6 |
| Maximum credits allowed | |
| In any one discipline | 45 |
| Applied studies and/or Science | 24 |
| At the junior (200) level | 36 |
| At the preparatory (100) level | 6 |
| At the junior level in one discipline | 15 |
| Maximum Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) credits | 6 |
| Residency requirement. A minimum of 30 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University. | 30 |
| Graduation with Distinction or Great Distinction. At least 24 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University in order to be considered. | 24 |
Additional Psychology Concentration requirements
A minimum of 36 credits in designated Psychology Concentration courses including 24 senior (300 or 400) level credits.
Required courses
(15 credits)
| An introductory statistics course selected from one of the following: | (3) | |
| MATH 215 or MATH 216 or SOCI 301 | Introduction to Statistics or Computer-Oriented Approach to Statistics or Social Statistics | |
| Note: We strongly recommend that students consider taking MATH 216 for this requirement as most quantitative data analysis is completed using computer software and this is a valuable skill both for future study and work in various fields. | ||
| PSYC 289 | Psychology as a Natural Science | (3) |
| PSYC 290 | General Psychology | (3) |
| PSYC 375 | History of Psychology | (3) |
| PSYC 304 | Research Methods in Psychology | (3) |
Foundational courses
A minimum of 12 credits selected from the following foundational courses:
| PSYC 323 | Developmental Psychology Note: PSYC 228 and PSYC 323 are precluded courses, however, only PSYC 323 may be used for a foundational course credit in the degree program. | (3) |
| PSYC 355 | Cognitive Psychology | (3) |
| PSYC 356 | Introduction to Personality Theories and Issues | (3) |
| PSYC 379 | Social Psychology | (3) |
| PSYC 387 | Learning | (3) |
| PSYC 302 | Biological Psychology | (3) |
| PSYC 435 | Abnormal Psychology | (3) |
Elective courses
The remaining 9 elective psychology credits may be completed by taking the following courses:
| PSYC | Any PSYC course, including those from the Foundational Courses listed above | |
| A maximum of one (1) course from the following list: | ||
| CRJS 360 | The Psychology of Criminal Behaviour | (3) |
| ORGB 327 | Leadership | (3) |
| ORGB 364 | Organizational Behaviour | (3) |
Updated January 17, 2023 by Office of the Registrar (calendar@athabascau.ca)