The accelerated BA/MA programs in General/Theoretical Psychology and Industrial/Organizational Psychology combine the undergraduate BA in Psychology and graduate (MA) degrees in these areas. These programs allow students to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in just five years. The savings in time and tuition are accomplished through a process of cross-crediting 15 undergraduate and graduate credits. Within the undergraduate portion of the program, it is possible to complete one of the specialized undergraduate tracks described above, without incurring additional undergraduate credits. The 3+2 combined BA in Psychology and a Master’s in Social Work (in conjunction with FDU’s online Social Work program) also allows students to complete the typical BA/MSW course sequence in five years, rather than the usual six years of full-time study.

Degree Plan

The following BA Psychology degree requirements apply to all tracks listed below.

Required Major Courses (14 credits)

Learning/Cognition/Psychological Domain(1 course [3 credits] needed)

Courses that satisfy domain

Social/Personality Domain (1 course [3 credits] needed)

Courses that satisfy domain

Clinical/Developmental Domain (1 course [3 credits] needed)

Courses that satisfy domain

Applications of Psychology Domain (1 course [3 credits] needed)

Courses that satisfy domain

Major Psychology Electives (1 course [3 total credits])

Courses that satisfy domain: any psychology course

General Theoretical Track Graduate Courses
(36 credits)

Admission Requirements

Students must have completed 12 credits in psychology and have an overall GPA of at least 3.0. Students’ academic and work experiences should reflect a strong potential for successfully completing the academic requirements of the accelerated BA/MA program. Academic potential will be determined by the College of Psychology on the basis of the following:

  • Academic transcripts
  • A minimum of two letters of recommendation
  • A personal statement regarding academic and career goals

Students will be allowed to continue in the graduate component of the five-year degree program upon evaluation of performance in the undergraduate component of the program; this evaluation will be performed by a committee of psychology faculty at the end of each student’s fourth year. With regard to credits earned in graduate courses, students are required to maintain a minimum overall grade point ratio of 2.75 and must not earn more than two C level grades throughout their graduate coursework. Students receiving two or more grades below a B- in core courses will not be permitted to continue in the program. Students in this circumstance who are not permitted to continue in the graduate program will receive the BA in psychology upon successful completion of their undergraduate curriculum (a total of 120 credits).

A written comprehensive examination of the candidate’s knowledge of general is required at the end of the graduate component of the program. The comprehensive examination may be taken only twice. Failure to pass the comprehensive examination will result in dismissal from the program.

 

Industrial Organizational Psychology Graduate Courses
(38 credits)

The specialization in industrial/organizational psychology is designed to equip the graduate with a working knowledge of practices and procedures for applying psychology in a variety of organizational settings.

Admission Requirements

Students must have completed a minimum of 60 undergraduate credits in an accredited two-year or four-year college or university, with a minimum of 9 credits in psychology. A course in statistics must be completed before applying. If students are transferring into the University, they must have completed at least 9 credits at FDU before they can apply. Students’ academic and work experiences should reflect a strong potential for successfully completing the academic requirements of the accelerated BA/MA program. Academic potential will be determined by the graduate Admissions Committee of the Department of Psychology and Counseling on the basis of the following:

  • Completed application 
  • Academic transcripts
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • A résumé indicating prior work and life experience
  • A personal statement regarding academic and career goals
  • A personal interview

The decision to accept applicants will be made on the basis of the foregoing data.

Required Major courses (26 credits)

Undergraduate Major Electives (1 course [3 credits] needed)

Required Graduate courses (15 credits) (3.0 GPA required)

(15 dual credits to be used to complete BA degree)

The BA degree (120 credits) must be completed before the additional graduate courses may be taken for the MA degree)

Required Graduate courses (21 credits) (3.0 GPA Required)

Graduate Thesis or Electives (6 credits)

Students may complete a research thesis OR complete Techniques of Interviewing and Leadership Studies.

Research Opportunities:

Students are encouraged to work with faculty on research. A variety of opportunities are available to help students understand the research process and learn how to conduct their own research studies. The following opportunities are available to our students:

  • Work on Fairleigh Dickinson’s own Journal of Psychology and the Behavioral Sciences which publishes student research. Students can submit their own research, review submissions, edit accepted articles, and/or help format articles for publication.
  • Complete a thesis research project as part of the MA program.
  • Work with faculty on their ongoing research projects. This could entail a variety of activities such as preparing materials for presentations, searching for related published research in databases, data entry, preparation of tables and charts, data collection and analysis, and assisting in the writing and editing of articles.

BA in Psychology/MSW in Social work (3+2)

Application Requirements

Students must have completed 12 credits in psychology and have an overall GPA of at least 3.0. Students must apply for the program prior to earning 80 credits toward their undergraduate degree. Students’ academic and work experiences should reflect a strong potential for successfully completing the academic requirements of the BA/MSW program. Academic potential will be determined on the basis of the following (this is to be submitted to the psychology department):

  • Academic transcripts
  • A minimum of two letters of recommendation
  • A personal statement regarding academic and career goals
  • A resume

Program Information

  • Psychology majors will complete 90 credits toward the undergraduate degree by the end of their third year. The remaining 30 credits will be completed in their 1st year of the MSW program.
    • 9 credits in the MSW program will count toward PSYC major electives.
    • 21 credits in the MSW program will count toward general free electives (undergrad PSYC majors currently have 35-37 free elective credits).
  • Students will transition to the BA/MSW check sheet upon enrollment.
  • Minors must be completed by the end of the 3rd year (90 credits)/prior to beginning the MSW coursework.
  • The 4th and 5th year for the student will be the 1st and 2nd year in the MSW program and courses will follow the program requirements (https://www.fdu.edu/program/og-social-work-msw/).