A Champlain Psychology student presents her research findings

Psychology Major

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What motivates people to do the things we do? What kinds of internal and external factors shape our actions?

Learn how to predict—and influence—behavior. If you are eager to make a positive impact on your communities and the world through understanding and changing human behavior and society, psychology is the perfect path for you.

Why study Psychology at Champlain College?

You'll certainly find psychology majors at other small colleges and at large universities. But you're not likely to find another undergraduate program that immerses you so thoroughly in the various ways you can use your psychology degree, and you'll be hard-pressed to find one that offers our combination of small-college community and big-university opportunity—or that pushes you to apply psychology to the real world in a way that will give you a competitive advantage.

In our Upside-Down Curriculum, you will start taking psychology classes from day one and continue them through all four years of your education. That’s four years of exploring career fields, diving into research, and building hands-on experience. You'll choose a concentration that gives you a specific area of expertise.

The major intentionally embeds Champlain’s Career Collaborative into many of its classes already from semester one and throughout all four years, connecting you with internship and career advising like no other psychology major does anywhere. This truly pushes you to be ready to apply this versatile degree to a future of your chosen success.

  • This professionally-focused program requires two internships and integrates Career Collaborative services in the classroom to build both your professional experience and your confidence.
  • Conduct graduate-level research with faculty in the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab and contribute to work that often ends up getting published.

JUST THE FACTS

$81,040


The annual median salary of psychologists in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

70%


Rough percent of publish research from the lab that lists students as co-authors, giving them a competitive advantage in future research opportunities.

95%


95% of Champlain's Psychology graduates over the past six years have been either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduating.

EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES

Behavioral Neuroscience Lab

Collaborate on research projects with faculty who have extensive experience in their fields of study. Champlain's Behavioral Neuroscience Lab—the only lab of its kind in Vermont—allows our undergraduate Psychology students to explore topics of interest using state-of-the-art tools such as EEG testing, physiology recording equipment, and a tDCS machine (to stimulate specific areas of the brain)

Internships

Learn how to use your psychology background outside the classroom and laboratory. You'll have a wide variety of internship opportunities—in fields like human resources, marketing, and research & development—that can expand both your perspective and your résumé. Students often come away from internships with a new career plan (and sometimes even full-time job offers).

Champlain students cross the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in Northern Ireland

Study Abroad

As a Psychology major, your cultural understanding, flexibility, and adaptability are absolutely essential skills—and each will be significantly enhanced by a semester abroad. Whether through a third-party program (go almost anywhere in the world!) or a Champlain Abroad campus in Dublin or Montreal (your financial aid comes with you!) we encourage students to embark on a semester of global exploration

My fall semester I was in D.C., where I did an internship at the U.S. Cyber Command site under the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. We were collecting data from cybersecurity people and different government agencies and organizations... We did a lot of research, meta-analysis, and interviews.

Mikaylan Diallo, Psychology ’21

YOUR FUTURE

Use Psychology to Impact Your Communities and The World

Champlain Psychology graduates use their degrees to accomplish a wide variety of career goals. Some pursue graduate education to become psychologists, while others apply the principles of psychological science to politics, advocacy, technology, business, human resources, guidance, teaching, health, law enforcement, or any number of other in-demand professions. What Champlain Psychology graduates no matter their chosen career path all have in common is this: a sincere belief that they can impact and change their communities and the world for the better, and the applied skill sets to do just that!

Creating Your Psychology Career Path

  • Early on, you'll be introduced to the countless ways psychology applies to career choices. You'll work closely with upper-level Psychology students right from the beginning so that you can learn directly from the experiences of your upper-level peers who are about to go into the job market.
  • During your first and second years, you'll decide how you will apply your psychology education after graduation.
  • From that basis, you will determine your continued concentration path for your third and fourth years of the program: Health & Wellbeing, Social Change/Social Impact, or a Flex Path that allows you to design a path unique to your personal aspirations. These very applied concentrations will give you that needed competitive edge compared to your peers coming out of other psychology programs.

Upon graduation, you'll be able to...

  • Apply major psychological concepts, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings to personal, social, organizational, and professional issues.
  • Use a historically informed and culturally sensitive perspective when applying psychology to personal and professional situations.
  • Design, conduct, analyze, and interpret basic and applied psychology research.
  • Justify your own and evaluate others' actions using the general ethical principles of the American Psychological Association as a framework.

See all learning outcomes for the Psychology program.

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Thanks for getting in touch—stickers and information will be on their way shortly. Please reach out anytime if you have any questions about Champlain; you can call or text us at 802.625.0201 or email us at admission@champlain.edu.

In the meantime, check out our list of majors, schedule your visit or event, and enjoy The View, for the latest news and updates from the College!

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