Psychology BA /BS Differences
Both the psychology BA and BS degrees are excellent options for students who want to pursue psychology-related careers or who intend to apply to psychology or counseling graduate programs.
All of the major requirements are the same for the psychology BA and BS degrees. The degrees differ in the College Requirement:
For the College Requirement, the Psychology BA degree students must document proficiency in a second language. Proficiency is defined as being able to read, write and speak a language other than English at the fourth level.
Students have several options for demonstrating language proficiency:
- If starting a new language complete 101, 102, 201 and 202. A grade of C or better is needed in the 202 level to meet the language requirement. Several languages have a different numbering system. Please work with an advisor to learn language options. The School of International Languages and Cultures offers a variety of languages including American Sign Language that students can choose from to complete the language proficiency requirement.
- If continuing with a language, take the free ASU placement exam and use the results to determine the most appropriate course to begin the language sequence.
A grade of C or better is needed in the 202 level to meet the language requirement. - Students who place into 300 level language courses may either take the 300 language course specified on the test result or consider taking the language proficiency exam to document proficiency rather than taking language course(s).
Note: The proficiency exam for the languages of French, German and Spanish is the CLEP exam. Students who pass the CLEP exam are eligible for college credit.
- International students who graduated from an international high school should discuss the language requirement with an advisor as there may be other options for demonstrating language proficiency.
More Information about the BS Degree
The College Requirement for students pursuing the Psychology BS degree includes two courses from the Science and Society list . One of the courses must be upper-division which means courses numbered 300 or higher. BS students are not required to complete language course but we do encourage language courses to help students integrate into our globalized world and workplace.