Why study Psychology at Washburn?

As an undergraduate student in psychology program at Washburn, you’ll develop personal relationships with faculty and fellow students because of small class sizes. You’ll be able to get involved in research, and you’ll gain real-world experience through internships and academic opportunities including our Washburn Transformational Experience, study abroad, and volunteer opportunities in the community. You can choose 100 percent online, or on campus courses.
Career Forecast Growing OutlookStudent:Faculty 15:1on campusonline
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Psychology

Many people seek out Psychology as a way to better understand others and themselves, or to be able to help others. Whether you see yourself in a clinical setting, or you want to be able to build top-notch people skills all employers seek, psychology is a great foundation.

If you like to work with people, want to better understand human behavior, and want to be able to communicate complex information, you can use a psychology degree to launch your career in education, law, criminal justice, healthcare, marketing, sales, and the non-profit sector.

  • Almost 60 percent of students in this program graduate in four years.
  • In the last five years, an average of 40 percent of our psychology graduates have gone on to some form of graduate education in psychology or another field, including law school.

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Admissions scholarships

Washburn University offers generous scholarships based on your interests, career aspirations, community service and academic success.

Psychology Department scholarships

The Psychology Department offers a limited number of scholarships to high achieving students. To find out if you qualify, please download and complete the scholarship application. Please send completed applications to the department's administrative assistant via email no later than 5 p.m. on the last Friday in March.

Types of tuition

Financial aid

Washburn University offers generous undergraduate financial aid, including scholarships and grants.

Tuition waiver programs

If you don’t currently live in Kansas, learn about our Tuition Waiver programs that may qualify you for in-state tuition.
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Meet psychology alumna Lydia

The ability to personalize the program to focus on her interests is one of the reasons Lydia Shontz chose to study psychology at Washburn. Lydia graduated with her BA in psychology and went on to the Clinical Psychology master’s program at Washburn.

1

COURSES: PY100, PY151, Gen Eds, EN101, Math course, WU101

Pro tips: Take your general education courses from a variety of disciplines to get a taste of a lot of fields. Join a student organization and attend campus and community events. Meet with your advisor and explore Washburn Career Engagement resources.

2

COURSES: PY210/211/212, PY231, PY251, PY299, PY386, Gen Ed, Foreign Language

Pro tips: Use job boards to get a sense for what interests you, and begin to build your skills in the direction you want to pursue. Get involved on campus and in the community with volunteer opportunities and event attendance.

3

COURSES: PY301 or PY306, PY305 or PY307, PY309 or PY310, PY389, Gen Ed, EN300

Pro tips: If you plan to do a research capstone, begin talking with faculty about the possibilities. If you plan to complete an internship capstone, visit with the faculty member teaching PY 336 to explore site options. Present your work as a Washburn Transformational Experience poster or presentation.

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COURSES: 12 credits of upper-division electives outside of psychology, 3 credits of upper division psychology elective

Pro tips: Start preparing for your next step early. If you plan to apply to graduate school, take the GRE

If you know you want to continue on to a master’s degree and work in a clinical setting, the Washburn BA to MA program can make the process easier for you. Learn more.
If you plan to go to law school, you can LEAP with Washburn’s Law Early Admission Program that enables you to earn both your BA and JD in five years. Learn more.

The 33-credit certificate can be earned as a minor in human services plus additional credits. Work with your advisor if this is an area of interest for you.

In addition to meeting requirements for the WU Certificate in Addiction Counseling, the following 11 courses (33 credit hours) correspond to Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board (BSRB) educational requirements for becoming a Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) in the state of Kansas. To be eligible for the LAC, students must have a Bachelor’s degree in a helping-related profession and pass the BSRB licensing exam.

  • A minor in Human Services requires 15 credits of HS coursework
  • To be awarded the certificate, a student must have a Bachelor’s degree or receive the degree concurrently

Required courses (3 credit hours each):

  • HS312/512* Substance Abuse & Co-Occurring Disorders
  • HS316/516* Addictions Treatment
  • HS324/624* Addiction Services Coordination
  • HS325 Group Work in Human Services
  • HS410 Pharmacology and Substance Use Disorders
  • PY356 Psych. of Marital & Family Processes (sub. for HS411)
  • PY333 or 350 Counseling Psychology or Intro. to Clinical Psychology (sub. for HS414)
  • HS445 Legal, Ethical and Policy Issues in Human Services
  • PY251 Research Methods (sub. for HS495)
  • First Internship: PY336 Field Experience (sub for HS280)
    Placement must be pre-approved by HS & PY Depts. Supervisor must have BSRB clinical license. Students must log 200 clock hours in addictions treatment activities and one hour of supervision from site and university supervisors for every 10 hours of internship. Hours/supervision logs (signed by site & university supervisors and student) must be submitted to HS dept. on completion of internship.
  • Second Internship: HS380 (200 clock hours with one-in-ten supervision hours)
    Student must apply and be accepted to HS internship program by October 1st for Spring-semester internships and March 1st for Fall-semester internships. Application materials are on HS website.

*600/700-level courses require department approval and are generally reserved for students enrolled in Washburn University's master's degree programs.

Students majoring in other areas who wish to supplement their coursework with a variety of psychology courses should consider the minor in Psychology. A minor in psychology consists of no less than 15 hours, including at least nine hours of upper division courses. At least four hours must be taken at Washburn. Students should consult an advisor in the Psychology Department in order to select the most appropriate courses to complement their major.

Minor requirements

Students must have a grade of C or better in each course applied to the minor.

Recommended minor courses for premed students and students in all health-related majors

Individuals who minor in Psychology are free to take any courses of their choosing within the constraints outlined above. However, the Psychology Faculty highly recommends that students pursing a major related to the healing arts strongly consider choosing from the following courses in their minor plan of study:

  • PY 100 Basic Concepts in Psychology
  • PY 231 Abnormal Psychology
  • PY 251 Research Methods
  • PY 305 Sensation and Perception
  • PY 307 Physiological Psychology
  • PY 326 Health Psychology
  • PY 338 Childhood Psychopathology
CAREER FORECAST: growing outlook

Career fields

Non-profits (volunteer coordinator)
Marketing (account coordinator or client services)
Government (constituent services, citizen outreach)
Sales
Any job that requires a bachelor’s degree is available to you.

Common minors

Communication Studies
Criminal Justice
Sociology
Human Services

Graduate with experience

An internship for credit option is available to all students. Our robust internship placement program means your experience can align with your future goals.

Internships

Undergraduate Internship Opportunities and Information
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Our Alumni

Success Stories from Undergraduate Students
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GET IN TOUCH WITH Department of Psychology

Department of Psychology
Henderson Learning Resource Center, Room 211
Washburn University
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621

Phone & Email
Phone: 785.670.1564
psychology@washburn.edu

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