Minor in Psychology

Why minor in Psychology?

A minor in psychology can provide foundational knowledge in understanding human behavior.  This foundation often supports and broadens your ability to understand and apply discipline-specific knowledge from your major. "Minors...are increasingly popular as students try to master multiple subjects on the way to flexible careers or future education," suggested Michelle Slatalla in an article for The New York Times.

A minor in Psychology has a minimum of 18 units of PSYC and/or STAT. At least 12 of the 18 units must be upper division (i.e., courses numbered 100+ at SJSU). At least 12 units must be separate and distinct from the units used for the major program of the student. PSYC 1 is a prerequiite for most courses with a PSYC prefix so it is commonly used but not required.

Optional Lower-Division Courses (6 units maximum)

  • PSYC 001 Introduction to Psychology
  • STAT 095 Elementary Statistics 
  • PSYC 030 Introductory Psychobiology
  • Advisor-approved course transferred from an accredited institution

Required Upper-Division Courses (12 units minimum)

Complete 12+ units of upper division work in Psychology (or STAT).  

Declaring the Minor or questions about the minor?

Adding this minor as a lower division student is easy (lots of room to plan); as an upper division student you'll need to show us how it fits in with your educational plan.

  • All changes of Major and Minor are done by the advisor, we do not use the .pdf change of major/minor forms.
  • You can run a "what if" degree progress report in MySJSU MyAcademics to see what outstanding requirements for graduation with a Psychology major or minor would be.  You should also let the advisor know if there are any possible courses taken elsewhere that are not included in the 'what if' report as meeting a psychology requirement.

Psychology Minor Form (fillable) [pdf]

Contact our Psychology Advisors