Psychology

Earn a degree that takes you where you want to go.

Whether you want to become a PhD-level psychologist helping people at a mental health facility or embark on a career in consumer research at a Fortune 500 company, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology will prepare you.

Psychology majors graduate with an understanding of the human experience and why people think, act and feel the way they do. They know how to design and conduct research studies and analyze the results using statistical methods. They have exceptional communication skills, which prepare them for work in social services, case management, consumer research and human resources.

Our students don’t stop learning in the classroom. They have access to the university’s state-of-the-art observation, biofeedback and human interaction labs. And all of our students are given opportunities for professional-level research and field internships.

Whatever direction you pursue, you’ll graduate prepared to make a difference in the lives of others.

What do our graduates do?

Psychology majors go on to a variety of careers and graduate schools from St. Edward’s. Here’s a sample.

• Research and planning analyst for a community college district in San Diego
• Coordinator in the People Department on the flight operations/technology recruiting team at Southwest Airlines
• Chief of staff at a global tax firm
• Research assistant at the Terrorism Research Initiative
• Psychometrician at Elsevier, a global information analytics company
• Director of Forensic and Family Services for Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center
• Policy analyst at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
• Graduate students at The University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, Columbia University, the University of Houston and more

The Classroom and Beyond

As a Psychology major, you’ll graduate with practical experience you can put on your resume. Whether you choose a research assistantship, teaching assistantship or field internship, you’ll get a head start on your career.

For example, St. Edward’s students have recently explored how cues to status affect college students’ preferences for relationship partners, and how different types of distractions affect working memory. To get the full research experience, you’ll travel to a conference like the Southwestern Psychological Association or the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and present your work. These meetings give you a chance to see research that other undergraduates, graduate students and professors have conducted, network with graduate school in mind, and decide if a career in research is right for you.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships strengthen your understanding of the material in the class you’re serving and develop your interpersonal skills. At St. Edward’s, all classes are taught by professors, but student teaching assistants help tutor and lead study sessions. You’ll expand your communication and people skills by helping other students learn the material.

Field Internship

In a field internship, you’ll apply your knowledge of psychology in a professional setting. While you’re there, you’ll complete a product – a handbook, institutional report or presentation – that the organization can keep using after you move on. Your internship site depends on what you’re curious about: child development, mental health and mental illness, counseling, criminal justice, LGBT+ issues or politics, to name a few. Students have recently interned at these Austin organizations:

• Center for Child Protection
• Lone Star Victims Advocacy Program
• Austin Family Institute
• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• QWell Community Foundation
• Therapists in private practice – several of them St. Edward’s graduates

Whatever setting you choose, you’ll discover how the psychology you learned in class translates into the world of work, and you’ll build your portfolio of professional skills.