Psychology

Psychology Major Requirements

IF YOU HAVE FALL 2014 SEMESTER TO SUMMER 2018 CATALOG RIGHTS, YOUR MAJOR REQUIREMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN THIS ARCHIVED CATALOG.
IF YOU HAVE FALL 2018 SEMESTER OR SUBSEQUENT CATALOG RIGHTS, YOUR MAJOR REQUIREMENTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Based on the 2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog.

REQUIRED COURSES:

You must complete all of the following courses:

  • PSY 101 (Introduction to Psychology)
  • PSY 200 (A Major's Guide to Psychology at CSU)
  • PSY 217 (Behavioral Science Statistics: Description) – (MTH/STA 147, SOC 354, OMS 201, or BUS 201 can satisfy this requirement)
  • PSY 317 (Behavioral Science Statistics: Inference) – (MTH/STA 347 or OMS 202 can satisfy this requirement
  • PSY 312 (Research Methods)
  • PSY 412 (Psychology Laboratory) or PSY 415 (Evaluating Psychological Research)
  • PSY 499 (Exit Evaluation)

CORE COURSES: So that you will be exposed to a broad range of topic areas in psychology, you must take courses that are distributed across the four core areas listed below. You must complete at least one course from each of the following four core areas, and a second course from one of the core areas. Additional core courses that you take beyond this minimum will count toward the ‘elective’ requirement described in the next section.

  • Psychological Health Core: PSY 345 (Abnormal Psychology) or PSY 353 (Health Psychology)
  • Social / Personality Core: PSY 339 (Social Psychology) or PSY 342 (Psychology of Personality)
  • Perception and Cognition Core: PSY 368 (Perceptual Processes) or PSY 372 (Memory and Cognition)
  • Neuroscience Core: PSY 482 (Biological Basis of Behavior) or PSY 487 (Brain and Cognition)
  • One additional course from any Core area

ELECTIVE COURSES: You must take enough Psychology courses so that you have completed 42 credits of psychology courses.

NOTE: For a course to count toward the Psychology major, you must earn a C or better.

What are "catalog rights"?

The requirements for a psychology major or minor depend on what the University calls your “catalog rights”, which are labeled according to a particular semester and year. Generally, your catalog rights are for the semester and year in which you entered Cleveland State University. (For example, typically, a student who enters the University in Fall, 2014, has “Fall Semester 2014 catalog rights”.)

You can find the semester of your catalog rights by getting a degree audit report in CampusNet. 

The requirements for any set of catalog rights are specified in the University’s Undergraduate Catalog, which is published once per year. For example, the major, minor, general education, and other academic requirements published in the 2014-2015 catalog specify the expectations of students with Fall 2014 Semester catalog rights, Spring 2015 Semester catalog rights, and Summer 2015 Semester catalog rights.

There are three reasons for which your catalog rights might change:

  1. You may, at any time, elect to have the catalog rights of a newer catalog. For example, if you have Fall 2012 Semester catalog rights but would prefer to complete the requirements specified in the 2013-2014 catalog, you may choose to change.
  2. If you stop taking classes at CSU for a year or more, you lose your previous catalog rights and are assigned the catalog rights (and obligations) of the semester in which you return to the University.
  3. If you leave CSU to attend another institution—even for a semester—and then return to CSU, you will have lost your catalog rights. When you return, you will be assigned the catalog rights (and obligations) of the semester in which you return. (This does NOT apply to students who travel abroad for a semester or who take a summer class or two at another university; it applies only to people who officially become students of another university.) If you are a CSU student who intends to take courses at another institution, before doing so you should consult an advisor in the COSHP Advising Office (MC 218B; 216-687-9321).