UT Permian Basin’s online Bachelor of Arts in Psychology is highly marketable and broadly applicable, equipping you with the soft or durable skills most employers are seeking in candidates today. By aligning our BA in psychology with your areas of professional and personal interest, you can enjoy a more enriching educational and occupational experience. Our program enables you to achieve this with four optional focus areas representing popular psychology subfields and specializations.   

Let’s explore those focus areas and their recommended courses now, along with some future career options in psychology and beyond. 

Clinical Psychology 

Clinical psychology focuses on studying, evaluating, diagnosing, preventing, and treating emotional and behavioral disorders. If you’re interested in this field, we recommend taking the following courses during your BA program: 

Potential careers in clinical psychology include clinical psychologist (with additional education) in a range of healthcare and education settings, counseling roles, and more. 

Developmental Psychology 

Developmental psychology is dedicated to examining the physical, mental, and behavioral changes occurring from conception to old age. If you’re interested in this field, we recommend taking these courses during your BA program: 

Potential careers in developmental psychology include developmental psychologist (with additional education) or child development specialist in a range of healthcare, education, and government settings. 

Forensic Psychology 

Forensic psychology is the use of psychological principles and techniques in contexts related to civil and criminal legal systems. If you’re interested in this field, we recommend taking these courses during your BA program: 

Potential careers in forensic psychology include forensic psychologist (with additional education) in a range of criminal justice system settings, criminal investigator, correctional officer, treatment specialist, or victims’ advocate. 

Health Psychology 

Health psychology studies connections between behavior, cognition, physiology, and social/environmental factors in health outcomes. It integrates psychological and biological research to develop evidence-based interventions for preventing and treating illness and assesses the physical and psychological condition of individuals before, during, and after medical and psychological treatments. If you’re interested in this field, we recommend taking these courses during your BA program: 

Potential careers in health psychology include health psychologist (with additional education), health care facility administrator, employee health maintenance program specialist, substance abuse counselor, and veterans counselor.  

Ready to apply?

See the American Psychological Association’s extensive list of career options for individuals with a psychology bachelor’s degree.  

Note: Focus areas are optional. If you elect to pursue a focus area, it will not appear on your degree or student transcript.

Sources: 
https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide/subfields/developmental