The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Goddard College provides students with a fast track to earning a MA in Psychology or MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

In the Fast Track option, students complete 120 credits toward the requirements for a Bachelor of Arts. The final semester of undergraduate study serves as a transition term in which students also complete coursework toward graduate-level study. Students who progress on to the graduate program can complete the MA in just three semesters.

Opportunities in the field of counseling are increasingly requiring heightened qualifications and higher academic credentials for professional advancement. Our program meets the need to obtain heightened qualifications and higher academic credentials for professional advancement in the field of psychology and counseling. We offer a streamlined educational approach for learning skill development and obtaining a bachelor’s and master’s degree on a faster academic track.

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The Faculty

The Psychology and Counseling Faculty members work one-on-one with students as faculty advisors throughout the semester, as well as facilitating group studies, teaching workshops at residency, and acting as second readers to students’ final projects. Our faculty is comprised of national and international scholar practitioners with extensive experience supporting students taking charge of their learning. Faculty members’ work with students is focused, clear, and rigorous.

Admissions Information

Students in the BA in Psychology will arrive with at least 60 semester credit hours (typically their Associates degree) and no more than 75 credits will be accepted for transfer. Thus, students are expected to complete the BA in three or four FTE semesters. Students may not graduate with fewer than 120 undergraduate semester credits. Prospective students interested in the BA in Psychology who have not yet earned at least 60 semester credits are invited to apply to Goddard’s Bachelors of Arts Individualized Studies degree track to meet the minimum entry requirements and then apply for admission BA in Psychology for enrollment as a junior or third-year student.

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Location

Twice a year, at the start of each semester, students attend an intensive eight-day residency at the College’s Plainfield, Vermont campus. Residencies are a rich time of exploration, connection, and planning.

Low-Residency Model

At the start of the semester, students attend an intensive eight-day residency in Vermont, followed by 16 weeks of independent work and self-reflection in close collaboration with a faculty advisor and course mentor. Goddard pioneered this format nearly a half century ago to meet the needs of adult students with professional, family, and other obligations seeking learning experiences grounded in the real-world.

Residencies are a time to explore, network, learn, witness, and share with peers, staff, and faculty. Students work with advisors and peers in close-knit advising groups to forge individualized study plans that describe their learning objectives for the semester.

Working closely with their faculty advisors, and supported by fellow learners, students identify areas of study, personal goals, relevant resources, and avenues to achieve these goals. Students also attend and are invited to help organize workshops, keynote addresses, celebrations and other events intended to stimulate, inspire, and challenge.

This low-residency model combines the breadth of a collaborative community with the focus of personalized learning, enhanced by insightful exchanges with a faculty advisor and course mentors.

Curriculum

All students earning the Bachelor of Arts at Goddard College must fulfill general requirements for the BA. In addition, students pursuing the BA in Psychology must complete the following distribution.

Psychology Core Courses (33 credits)

Practicum (3 credits)

The practicum allows students to apply their learning in their communities in ways that are significant to them. Students will complete a practicum (minimum of 50 hours) in a community-based organization, such as a community mental health center, an inpatient unit, a human services agency, a school, or a private non-profit.

Capstone (6 credits)

The Capstone allows students working with their Academic Advisor to reflect on their undergraduate experience and to create work which best demonstrates their understanding of their personal and scholarly development. Completed in the final semester, the Capstone consists of two 500-level courses that are designed to focus the student’s memory, analysis, and creativity on their growth—one course on personal growth and the other on scholarly development. These courses will also include an academic content area of the student’s choosing that is relevant to their understanding of their growth.

Transition courses (6 credits)

Two (2) courses serve both undergraduate degree and MA for students pursuing the fast track. These may be elective courses or MA core course.

Senior Study (12 credits)

Senior studies typically assume diverse forms or structures. Two usual formats are:

• Written, Research-based Products: The central component is an extended research essay comparable in format and academic elements to conventional research papers or projects.
• Artistic/Creative Products: Many students have an artistic or creative product as the centerpiece of their senior study. (Written, research-based products, while creative in character, typically assume more traditional forms.) Artistic/creative products often take innovative forms. Past products have included artwork, curriculum guides, manuscripts, films, videotapes, manuals, handbooks, and more. Whatever their form, all artistic/creative products are influenced by students’ research, demonstrate depth and expertise, and contribute to a field or community. Written context papers that examine the aesthetic, philosophical, and historical foundations of the student’s work through discussion of key influential artists and thinkers accompany all artistic/creative projects.