Undergraduate Psychology @ Penn State

Class sizes and Class Offerings
Advising
The first two years
Degree Structure
Special Opportunities
Who should consider the Penn State Harrisburg Psychology Program?

The Psychology Program at Penn State Harrisburg, The Capital College has 10 full-time faculty and around 125 undergraduate majors. Only the Bachelor of Science degree is offered. The Psychology major emphasizes the scientific study of human behavior in areas such as cognition, development, learning, physiology, personality, and social processes. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a broad background in psychological theory and research and to develop the analytical and critical thinking skills necessary to be good consumers of scientific information. The Psychology program exposes students to a number of areas of psychology but allows flexibility in the specific courses that are taken in each sub-area. Students are also required to obtain applied experience by completing an internship or by assisting faculty with their research. Elective credits can be used for additional internship or research experience.

Class sizes and class offerings

The class sizes are typically small (20-35 students) even for the Introductory courses. Course offerings are broad with core courses offered every semester and different 400-level courses cycled across several semesters.

Advising

Students are assigned a psychology faculty member as an advisor when they declare intent to major in psychology. Students typically keep the same advisor until they graduate. Students may also go to the Division of Undergraduate Studies for advising assistance. The Psychology Program maintains a listserv for announcements about events and programs related to psychology.

The first two years

As in other Penn State Psychology programs, students in their first two years focus on lower-division courses, General Education, and completing prerequisites for more advanced courses. Students may either enter into Penn State Harrisburg or change location to or from another campus after their first two years.

Degree structure

The Penn State Harrisburg Psychology degree provides a broad background at the lower division levels. Students are required to take the following prescribed courses: PSYCH 100, 200, and 301W. All students take five 400-level courses in areas they would like to specialize—developmental, individual differences, clinical or experimental. Students may count 3 credits of internship or research experience toward the requirements of the major.

Special opportunities

Penn State Harrisburg provides a very supportive environment for student researchers. All faculty at Capital are active researchers. Undergraduate students are encouraged to work with faculty in their research. Many students take advantage of these opportunities. Students have the opportunity to work at the Capital Area Health and Human Development Institute, an off campus-based research center or in the various on-campus faculty labs. Students may also participate in off-campus internships. There are opportunities to intern in many companies and organizations including human services, child care and education, human resources, marketing, and management.

Who should consider the Penn State Harrisburg Psychology program?

The Penn State Harrisburg program is designed to have broad appeal across many areas of psychology. There are many great opportunities for close collaborations with faculty mentors. There are also opportunities for cross-disciplinary studies with many fields. Approximately 40% of our students go on to graduate school immediately while others begin their careers after graduating with their bachelor’s degree.

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