Undergraduate Major

LSU offers a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree at the undergraduate level. This degree program allows breadth of training in many areas of psychology and emphasizes the scientific methodology in psychological research. In addition, it provides a strong background for graduate training in Psychology, Counseling, Social Work, and related degrees. The department has offerings in biological bases of behavior, human development through the life span, industrial psychology, cognitive science, abnormal behavior and social psychology, to name a few. Psychology is one of the most popular majors on the LSU campus and the department is known for its excellence in teaching and research.

If you intend to pursue a career in psychology, the department also offers many opportunities for independent study. An honors program is available for upper division students who wish to conduct their own research projects. A new '3+3' Pre-Law program is also available for students interested in creating an efficient path from their undergraduate work to a post-baccalaureate law degree. 

For a short description of the degree, see the major in psychology page.

For a description of the recommended path, see the path description in the course catalog.

See the current Course Catalog

Concentrations 

In addition to the general Psychology B.S. degree detailed above, there are two concentrations available for interested students. For students interested in human brain activity and cognitive processes, we offer a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience. For students interested in the intersection of psychological services and the judicial system, we offer a concentration in Forensic Psychology.

See the concentration requirements in the course catalog.

If you would like to declare a concentration in addition to your general degree, please make an appointment with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. See the HSS Advising page for more information on booking an appointment. 

Honors Program

The Psychology capstone honors program consists of 12 credit hours:

  • HNRS 3800, 3 credits, taken fall of the junior year
    This is a seminar on psychological research taught by a psychology faculty member.
  • HNRS 3900, 3 credits, taken spring of junior year  
    This is an independent study course taken with the student's thesis advisor--a faculty member in the psychology department.  The result of this course will be a written and oral thesis proposal submitted to a committee of two psychology faculty members (your thesis advisor and one other psychology faculty member) for approval.
  • Honors 4000, taken for 3 credits each semester of the senior year.
    These two semesters are spent setting up your experiment and gathering data (fall semester), and analyzing your data and writing up the results and the final thesis paper (spring semester).  All this is done under the guidance of your thesis advisor. The thesis is then orally defending in front of a committee of three faculty members, including the thesis advisor, one other psychology faculty member and one faculty member not in the department of psychology. 

The students who complete this program with at least a 3.5 G.P.A. graduate with capstone honors. The department has an extremely active honors thesis program. See the Honors College website for more information about capstone projects in general; note that the psychology capstone is a 12 credit sequence while other majors have a 9 credit sequence.  

3+3 Pre-Law Program

The Psychology department is one of many in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences offering students the option of completing their first year of LSU Law Center coursework in their senior year of undergraduate work. This effectively reduces what is a 3-year law school post-baccalaureate program into a 2-year post-baccalaureate program. This also allows Louisiana resident students with TOPS funding to use that funding for their first year of Law School, because it is applied during their 4th year of funding as an undergraduate student. Please click the links below for more information.

Overview of the 3+3 program

Overview of the Psychology Curriculum plan for 3+3 students