Social & Behavioral Sciences Undergraduate
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
BS Bachelor of Science in Psychology
A psychology degree with 38 credits of free electives, offered on campus, online, and accelerated, including a dual-degree track into the MS in Counseling.
Start here
Four paths through the psychology major
The psychology coursework is the same in each. What differs is the length of the program, where you study, and the credential you earn.
Route 01
The traditional four years, on campus
You want the campus experience: small classes, faculty who know your name, and the chance to work on research with somebody who publishes.
Faculty here come from clinical, instructional and research backgrounds, and class sizes are small enough that working closely with a professor is a normal expectation rather than a lucky break.
Route 02
Accelerated: in as few as three years
You are working, or you simply do not want to spend four years on this. You need evenings, weekends and year-round courses.
The accelerated program can be completed fully online or as a mix of on-campus and online classes, with courses running year-round, days, evenings and weekends.
Route 03
Double major with Human Services
You are heading for direct practice: case management, community agencies, social services, and want the applied training alongside the theory.
There is a combined Human Services and Psychology double major track. The 38 free elective credits are what make a second field fit without adding time.
Route 04
Dual degree into the MS in Counseling
You already know you want to be a counselor, and you would rather not apply to graduate school as a separate exercise two years from now.
There is an accelerated dual-degree track leading directly into the MS in Counseling program. Raise it at admission. It is a route you enter rather than one you transfer into later.
Program structure
Five areas of study
These five areas form the core of the major, before your electives take you further.
Developmental psychology
How people change across a lifespan: the strand underneath most work with children, families and ageing.
Personality psychology
What makes individual difference measurable, and what the major theories actually claim.
Social psychology
Behavior in the presence of other people: influence, attitudes, groups, and why context beats disposition more often than we expect.
Cognitive psychology
Attention, memory, language and reasoning: the mechanics of thought and how they are tested.
Abnormal psychology
Psychopathology, classification and treatment: the foundation for any clinical route afterward.
Thirty-eight elective credits
A minor in human services, business or something else entirely, taken without extending the degree.
Getting in
How to apply
Admission is rolling, and financial aid is available.
What you need
- The online application
- Official transcripts: high school, and any college or university you have attended
- Rolling admission. There is no fixed deadline; applications are reviewed as they arrive.
- Decide your route early. The accelerated and dual-degree tracks are entered at admission, so raise them in the conversation rather than after your first semester.
- Financial aid is available. Submitting every transcript is what puts you in scope for transfer credit and scholarship consideration.
The four routes
Career outcomes
A degree that opens more than graduate school
Psychology graduates go into countless professional fields, from business and marketing through to healthcare: because what the degree actually trains is reading people and reading evidence.
What employers are actually buying
Communication, critical thinking and problem-solving are the three skills the program names, and they are why psychology graduates end up in fields with no obvious connection to the major. The 38 elective credits are the lever: pair the degree with the field you want to enter.
Accreditation
New England Commission of Higher Education
University of Bridgeport is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Undergraduate psychology programs do not carry a separate programmatic accreditation. The institutional accreditation is the one that applies, and it is what transfer credit and graduate admission are assessed against.
Institutional and programmatic accreditations are listed on the University’s accreditation and memberships page.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Can I finish in three years?
Yes, through the accelerated route. Courses run year-round: days, evenings and weekends, and can be taken fully online or as a mix of on-campus and online classes. That is how the degree compresses from four years to as few as three.
Can I do the whole degree online?
Yes. The accelerated program can be completed fully online, or in a combination of on-campus and online classes if you would rather have some of it in person.
How do I become a counselor from here?
Counselling licensure requires graduate study, so the BS is the first half. There is an accelerated dual-degree track that leads directly into the MS in Counseling program: worth entering deliberately at admission rather than applying separately later.
Can I minor in something else?
Comfortably. The major leaves 38 credits of free electives, which many students use to minor in human services, business or another field: while still graduating in the same time as a traditional psychology major.
Is the psychology program accredited?
University of Bridgeport is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Undergraduate psychology degrees are not separately accredited by a programmatic body. That is normal for the field, and institutional accreditation is what matters for transfer credit and graduate school admission.
What is the psychology minor?
PSYC 103 with a grade of C or higher, plus five additional three-credit psychology courses, 18 credits in total. It is a common pairing for students majoring in human services, business or education.
What can I do with the degree that is not clinical?
A great deal. Graduates go into business and marketing, human resources, healthcare, research and user-facing roles of every kind. Communication, critical thinking and problem-solving are what the degree builds, and the elective credits are what let you point them at a specific industry.
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Start your application
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and financial aid is available. Admissions can walk you through the accelerated route and the dual-degree track into counselling.