Psychology Major
The psychology major at the University of New England's coastal Maine campus in Biddeford is one of the largest majors in the College of Arts and Sciences. Our program distinguishes itself from other programs in psychology because of the diverse faculty, a required internship experience, and our emphasis on psychology as a science.
Additionally, the graduates of our program have an excellent track record of obtaining admission into graduate programs and getting entry level jobs related to the major.
- Career Placement: Approximately 30 percent of our graduating seniors are accepted immediately into graduate programs and an additional 50 percent report within one month of graduation that they have secured entry level jobs related to their academic major.
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Distinguished and Diverse Faculty
The major draws on the extensive expertise of our faculty in the areas of human development, clinical psychology, cognitive neuroscience, learning and memory, social psychology, the biological basis of behavior and animal modeling.
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All of our tenure track faculty have doctoral degrees in their specialties, and all have graduated from top programs in the United States.
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We also have two licensed clinicians on our faculty, which is very rare among undergraduate programs across the country. More on our faculty ...
Since many of our students are interested in clinical/counseling psychology as a future health profession, we have faculty that can assist these students in pursing that path. One of those faculty members, Professor Rankin, directs our internship experiences, and her expertise and supervision for our students allows our interns to secure entry level placements in social service agencies.
Internship/Field Experience
A second strength of the psychology major includes the required internship or field experience. The internship is a critical part of our students' learning and is typically completed in the third year or fourth year.
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The internship experience is supervised by a licensed clinician, and students not only work in the field, but process their experiences in a group internship class. This structure provides students the opportunity to learn experientially, to explore different career directions based on their unique interest, and it often leads to the first job after graduation for our students.
- Some students elect to take an advanced internship (if space permits) while others students more interested in the scientific analysis of behavior may choose to take an advanced research course. This would typically entail a student writing a senior thesis or becoming a research assistant in one of the psychology department labs.
Psychology as a Science
Finally, the third distinguishing strength of the psychology major is our focus on psychology as a science.
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We require course work in research methodology and statistics taught by departmental faculty, and the theme of psychology as a science is infused in all courses across the curriculum.We also have numerous opportunities for students to work with faculty in their ongoing research programs in social, cognitive, developmental, clinical, and neuroscience labs. Find out more about our facilities and research opportunities.
- Students support each other as well, working in groups on research projects for courses that are often useful to the broader community. For example, students are currently using classroom projects to help York County social service agencies providing services to at-risk youth investigate whether their interventions are preventing recidivism. A second project students have recently worked on within an upper division course is student psycho-social adjustment to college life.
Course work across the psychology curriculum includes a focus on the scientific method and how psychological science can inform real world problems and practice. Thus, students interested in the psychology major at UNE graduate with skills that lend themselves to a wide range of careers, including health care, business and industry, social services, and research and development.
Minor in Psychology
The Department of Psychology also offers a psychology minor for qualified students from other departments and majors.
