B.S. or B.A. in Psychology

Student-Faculty Research 

The department faculty actively mentor student research, through PSYCH-390, PSYCH-391, or honors theses. This high-impact practice helps students, in a one-on-one relationship, develop their scientific literacy and writing skills. Students regularly present at internal (e.g., SXU Research Expo) and local (e.g., Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area, Midwestern Psychological Association) conferences and some have even published research. These often lead to mentoring students through the graduate school application process and successful acceptance into graduate programs.

Internships

The department has ample opportunities for students to participate in internships, including social services, research, behavioral health clinics, and more. Interns can develop and strengthen new skills and receive valuable feedback and guidance from experienced employees. This experience allows students to further pursue their career interests, apply academic knowledge they have learned to psychology professional settings at the bachelor's level, and gain valuable real-world work experience. 

Formalized Professional Development

Early in their academic career at SXU, students take PSYCH-102, Psychology as a Science and Career, an introductory course to the major that introduces concepts and develops skills that students will utilize throughout the major and allows the department to scaffold these skills across the curriculum. This course provides the introductory concepts of scientific literacy that students will use in their core domain courses and PSYCH-301, Research Methods. This course also provides professional and career assignments that allow students to explore different career options, understand which steps they need to take to reach those career options, and develop a plan of action to follow over the next four years that will help them reach their career goals. 

Courses Utilizing Evidence-Based Best Practices for Teaching and Learning

Courses across the program are designed to maximize student learning and include many engaging practices, including hands-on activities, discussions, demos, labs, flipped classrooms, hybrid classrooms, and more.

Skills-Based Courses

Courses in the core series focus on developing skills through hands-on practice, such as by analyzing data or conducting experiments. Additionally, the courses are taken to maximize students' growth of key skills in critical thinking, scientific literacy, writing, data analysis, and collaboration throughout their time in the program.

Studets will be acquire:

• Knowledge Base in Psychology: Describe key concepts, principles and overarching themes in psychology
• Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking - Scientific Literacy: Demonstrate psychology information literacy. Be able to interpret basic psychological research.
• Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking - Conducting Research: Design and/or conduct basic elements of psychological research.
• Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World: Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science and practice.
• Communication - Writing: Demonstrate effective writing.
• Communication: Speech: Demonstrate effective presentation skills.
• Professional Development: Develop meaningful professional direction for life after graduation. Specifically demonstrate career option awareness and build teamwork skills.

Why study psychology at SXU?

• Small class sizes allow for close interaction with your professors and classmates.
• Each full-time faculty member has a Ph.D. and professional and publication expertise that aligns with each of the core, domain, and capstone areas, ensuring that students will learn from experts in the field.
• Elective courses are taught by experts or practitioners in applied areas of psychology (e.g., school counseling, clinical mental health counseling), thus providing students opportunities for interacting with applied practitioners outside of academia.
• Students have the opportunity to work alongside faculty to participate in the creation of knowledge by conducting research, presenting their research at local conferences, and publishing their research findings.
• The department has ample internship opportunities for students to apply their psychology knowledge to the real world and gain additional real-world experience.
• Faculty are invested in highly effective and scientifically supported teaching practices and are committed to student success.
• The curriculum includes both knowledge- and skills-based courses to ensure students are prepared to use psychological knowledge, analytical thinking, scientific writing and literacy, quantitative literacy, and more for careers to meet the requirements of the ever-changing workforce.

Psi Chi is an international honor society whose purpose shall be to encourage, stimulate and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology. The mission of Psi Chi is to produce a well-educated, ethical, and socially responsible member committed to contributing to the science and profession of psychology and to society in general.

The SXU Psychology Club is an excellent place to meet students who have similar goals and aspirations; everyone is welcome regardless of major! We aim to be a great resource for networking opportunities and research options in the field of psychology. We host a multitude of events throughout the year to help both the community out as well as the Psychology student body.

Students planning to minor in psychology must complete, with a grade of C or better, five courses (15 credit hours) in psychology beyond PSYCH 101. At least three of the courses must be taken at Saint Xavier University.