McCausland College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Psychology
Bulletin Year: 2026-2027

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Semester One (16 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
!	ENGL 101	Critical Reading and Composition (CC-CMW)	3	C
!	PSYC 101	Intro. to Psychology (or PSYC Major course3) (CC-GSS)	3	C
!	PSYC 120	Professional Development in Psychology (MR)	1	C
		Foreign Language4 or other Carolina Core Req.5 (or MATH 111 if needed to meet PSYC 220 prereq.) (CC-GFL)	3
		Carolina Core Requirement5 (CC)	3
	UNIV 101	The Student in the University or Carolina Core Requirement5 (PR/CC)	3

Semester Two (16 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
!	ENGL 102	Rhetoric and Composition (CC-CMW, CC-INF)	3	C		C or better in ENGL 101
!	PSYC 220	Psychological Statistics6 (MR)	3	C		C or better in PSYC 101 & MATH 111 or equivalent placement exam score
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		Foreign Language4 or other Carolina Core Req.5 (CC-GFL)	3
!	BIOL 101 & Lab or BIOL 102 & Lab or BIOL 110 or BIOL 120 & Lab or BIOL 243 & Lab or BIOL 244 & Lab	Biological Principles I or Biological Principles II or General Biology or Human Biology or Human Anatomy & Physiology I or Human Anatomy & Physiology II (CC-SCI)	4

Semester Three (16-17 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
	PSYC 221	Research Methods in Psychology (MR)	4	C		C or better in PSYC 220
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
!	MATH 122 or MATH 141	Calc. for Bus. Admin. & Soc. Sciences or Calculus 1 (CC-ARP)	3-4			C or better in MATH 111/111I/115 (MATH 122); C or better in MATH 112/115/116 (MATH 141); or through placement exam
		Foreign Language4 or Carolina Core Requirement5 (CR/CC)	3
		History7 (CR)	3

Semester Four (15-16 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
	MATH 142 or MATH 170 or MATH 172 or MATH 174	Calculus II or Finite Mathematics or Math. Modeling for the Life Sciences or Discrete Math. for Computer Science (CC-ARP)	3-4			See Bulletin listing.
		Carolina Core Requirement5 or Elective9 (CC/PR)	3
		Cognate or Minor Course8 (PR)	3	C (minor)
		Social Science (CR)	3

Semester Five (15-16 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		Carolina Core Requirement5 (CC)	3-4
		Cognate or Minor Course8 (PR)	3	C (minor)
		Cognate or Minor Course8 (PR)	3	C (minor)
	STAT 201	Elementary Statistics	3			C or better in MATH 111 or higher or in STAT 110 or 112; or through placement exam

Semester Six (15 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		Cognate or Minor Course8 (PR)	3	C (minor)
		Carolina Core Requirement5 or Elective9 (CC/PR)	3
	CSCE 102	Web Design & Dev. using AI Tools (CR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3

Semester Seven (14 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		Minor Course8 or Elective9 (PR)	3	C (minor)
		Humanities or Fine Arts (CR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	3
		Elective9 (PR)	2

Semester Eight (12 Credit Hours)

Critical	Course Code	Subject and Title	Credit Hours	Min. Grade1	Major GPA2	Prerequisites
		PSYC Major Course3 (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		PSYC Major Course3 (or Elective9) (MR/CC-INT)	3	C
		Minor Course8 or Elective9 (PR)	3	C (minor)
		Elective9 (only if needed to meet hours to graduate) (PR)	3

Graduation Requirements Summary

Minimum Total Hours	Minimum Major Requirements Hours	College and Program Requirements Hours	Carolina Core Hours	Minimum Institutional GPA
120	32	44-56	32-44	2.000

1. Regardless of individual course grades, students must achieve a minimum 2.25 cumulative GPA for Upper Division status. Students must maintain a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA for graduation.
2. Some colleges require a minimum GPA for major courses. Courses indicated in this column are included in the major GPA for this program of study.
3. Students must complete at least one course from each of the 5 groups:
   1. Select one of the following: PSYC 400, 405, or 470 (cross-listed: ANTH 373, LING 300)
   2. Select one of the following: PSYC 420, 430, 465, 480, 487
   3. Select one of the following: PSYC 410, 440, or 510
   4. Select one of the following: PSYC 450, 455, 460, 503, or 507
   5. Select one of the following Advanced Laboratory Courses: PSYC 570, 571, 572, 574, 575, 598, or 599

                      In addition, each student must complete 9 additional hours of PSYC course work:

1. 1. 3 hours from PSYC 300 or above (excluding 399)
   2. 6 hours from PSYC 400 or above

A maximum of 6 hours of independent study (PSYC 498), individual research (PSYC 598, PSYC 599), internship (PSYC 495) and/or practicum (PSYC 489) courses may apply as major credit and are recommended during the junior/senior year.  Students must meet all required prerequisites, which are listed on the Bulletin.  Students may not receive major credit for both PSYC 455 (recommended for students completing the B.S. degree) and 460. 

4. Students in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences are required to demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language equivalent to the 122 course through course credit or the corresponding foreign language placement score.

5. The Carolina Core provides the common core of knowledge, skill and academic experience for all Carolina undergraduate students.

6. Students must show mastery of college algebra as a pre-requisite to PSYC 220. This may be accomplished by a score of 61 or higher on the math placement exam or by taking MATH 111. MATH 111 does not meet the CC-ARP requirement or any other program of study requirement, but would count for elective credit.

7. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences requires one U.S. History and one non-U.S. History course, both of which must be chosen from the approved Carolina Core GHS courses. Whichever is not fulfilled through the Carolina Core GHS requirement must be fulfilled through this college requirement.

8. The cognate is intended to support the interests of the student. The cognate must consist of twelve hours of courses at the advanced level, outside of, but related to the major. In place of a cognate, a student may choose a minor consisting of at least 18 credit hours of courses concentrated in one area that follow a structured sequence. All minor courses must be passed with a grade of C or higher. For B.S. degrees, grades of D are acceptable for completion of the cognate requirement. A second major eliminates the minor/cognate requirement.

9. No courses of a remedial, developmental, skill-acquiring, or vocational nature may apply as credit toward degrees in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. The McCausland College of Arts and Sciences allows the use of the Pass-Fail option on elective courses. Further clarification on inapplicable courses can be obtained from the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences.

Program Notes

• ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 must be completed in the student’s first 60 semester hours of work in order for these courses to be credited toward graduation. PSYC 101, PSYC 120, PSYC 220, and PSYC 221 must be completed in the first 45 hours as a declared Psychology major in order to remain in the Psychology program. Other courses identified as “critical” should be completed during the first year to ensure proper background knowledge before moving into PSYC 221 and 400-level PSYC courses.
• Students may repeat psychology major courses only once to earn the required grade of C or better. If after the second attempt, a student has not earned a grade of C or higher in PSYC 120, 220, or 221 the student will be removed from the major.
• All undergraduate students must take a 3-credit course or its equivalent with a passing grade that covers the founding documents. This course may fulfill any requirement in the program of study. Courses that meet this requirement are listed in the academic bulletin.
• The last 30 credit hours toward your degree must be earned in residence at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.

Code Definitions

University Requirements: Bachelor’s degree-seeking students must meet Carolina Core (general education) requirements.

Code	Definition
CC	Carolina Core
CC-AIU	Carolina Core – Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding
CC-ARP	Carolina Core – Analytical Reasoning and Problem-Solving
CC-CMS	Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Spoken Component
CC-CMW	Carolina Core – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Written Component
CC-GFL	Carolina Core – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Foreign Language
CC-GHS	Carolina Core – Historical Thinking
CC-GSS	Carolina Core – Social Sciences
CC-INF	Carolina Core – Information Literacy
CC-INT	Carolina Core – Integrative Course
CC-SCI	Carolina Core – Scientific Literacy
CC-VSR	Carolina Core – Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility
CR	College Requirement
MR	Major Requirement
PR	Program Requirement