Degrees & Majors
Choose from dozens of nationally ranked and recognized programs and more than 250 majors, minors and pathways at the university offering the widest variety of fields of study in Georgia.
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The information shared here is intended to provide an overview of Georgia State’s offerings. For details on admissions requirements, tuition, courses and more please refer to the university catalogs.
Program Evaluation, Post Masters Certificate
Our Program Evaluation post master’s certificate can provide you with the credentials you need to do consulting work or program evaluation. This program includes the following: program evaluation models specialized topics in program evaluation issues in program evaluation This program will help you if you’re in the following settings: education business industry government agencies nonprofit organizations This program includes classroom experiences and hands-on practicum experiences to build skills as students progress towards completion of the certificate. The certificate is designed for individuals interested in working in a wide variety of education, training, and development areas, including those found in business, industry, government agencies, the military and nonprofit organizations.
Psychology Pathway, A.S.
Perimeter College
What Is Psychology? Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Rooted in science and philosophy, it examines a variety of topics, including individual and interpersonal behavior, thinking, problem-solving, motivations and emotions. Why Study Psychology? Psychology can increase understanding of oneself and others in a variety of contexts and has many applications to people’s daily lives. Much of life entails developing and maintaining relationships, whether with coworkers, managers, customers, patients, students, teachers, parents, partners, spouses or children. Psychology provides a foundation for students to understand themselves and people’s interactions with them. A note on pathways: A pathway is an advising guide to help students prepare for their intended bachelor's degree major. By following the course of study outlined in the appropriate Associate of Arts or Associate of Science pathway, students will have the necessary prerequisite courses to continue in their chosen disciplines. A pathway is not a major and will not be represented on the diploma.
Psychology Ph.D., Developmental Psychology
The doctoral program in Developmental Psychology trains scholars in the methods and the science of normative as well as atypical paths of development from toddlers through adults. The program offers personalized training through a curriculum that is designed individually by the student in conjunction with faculty advisers. Our goal is to prepare doctoral-level scientists to serve as faculty in university and other research or applied settings and to prepare professionals who will advance the science and practice within developmental psychology. Areas of particular concentration include: typical and atypical development of communication and language and issues surrounding school achievement and policy. Both basic and applied foci are reflected across research laboratories. Coursework and research programs encompass genetic, neuropsychological, perceptual, cognitive, communicative, linguistic, methodological, social context and policy concerns. Understanding development within diverse populations is central to our research and training. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, B.A. or B.S.
College of Arts & Sciences
Georgia State’s psychology degree introduces you to the study of the mind and behavior. Our classes will have you applying the concepts you’re studying to clinical, industrial, community and other social contexts, while increasing your understanding of behavior and the formation of relationships. The program offers students the option of a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree. Both options will have you studying the theories and basic research methods in the industry and will make you a better communicator and listener. The B.S. option requires more STEM-related coursework in science and math and graduates tend to focus on the clinical applications of the degree in their jobs or graduate school attendance. The B.A. option allows you to dive into social sciences such as economics, political science or gerontology, among other topics. Many students find that a bachelor’s degree in psychology is a good foundation for moving into graduate work in a number of fields. Students have the following curriculum options depending on their degree choices: General Program in Psychology (B.A., B.S.) Concentration in Community Psychology (B.A., B.S.) Concentration in Pre-Medicine (B.S. Only) The psychology undergraduate program has an active Honors Program and Presidential Assistants Program for exceptional students interested in advanced training in behavioral and psychological research, along with a large Psi Chi club for majors and minors. Applied and research practica are available in a variety of areas for advanced students taking in-person classes at the Atlanta Campus. *Complete Your Degree Online This program allows new students with the equivalent of two years of credits toward a psychology bachelor's degree to complete the final two years online. LEARN HOW
Psychology, Ph.D., Clinical Neuropsychology
Clinical neuropsychology is a scientific discipline that involves expert understanding and application of the science of brain-behavior relationships. Clinical neuropsychologists advance and use evidence-based assessment and intervention to evaluate and improve functioning in healthy individuals, as well as those who have difficulties due to central nervous system disease or disruption. Ph.D. students in the Clinical Neuropsychology concentration receive general clinical psychology training, as well as specialized clinical neuropsychology training consistent with American Psychological Association (APA) requirements for doctoral training in clinical psychology and the Houston Guidelines for training in neuropsychology. Our students are trained as scientist-practitioners. They develop skills at critically evaluating and integrating information, generating hypotheses or alternative explanations that are grounded in the research literature, developing methods to evaluate those hypotheses or explanations and communicating effectively in scholarly and lay contexts. They also learn to deliver state-of-the-art clinical services, applying assessment and intervention techniques that are grounded in scientific evidence. Upon graduation, students will have completed predoctoral requirements for clinical licensure in most states and will have solid preparation for American Board of Professional Psychology certification in their areas of specialty. For more information about professional licensure, download our Professional Licensure Sheet PDF document. The faculty, who include both clinical neuropsychologists and psychologists, have wide-reaching interests across the lifespan, various neurological and clinical populations, and complementary scientific methods. Students have formed an interest group in the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training, the trainee organization of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (APA Division 40). The concentration is jointly administered by the Clinical Psychology program area and the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience (NCN) program area, reflecting a balanced emphasis on training in clinical psychology and cognitive and affective neuroscience. Students participate in both the Clinical Psychology and NCN program areas. Faculty in both areas are primary advisers. A secondary adviser is assigned when appropriate to ensure appropriate training in both areas. We offer three clinical training concentrations: General Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, and Clinical/Community Psychology. Each prepares students for distinctive paths within psychology. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, Ph.D., Clinical Psychology
The General Clinical Psychology concentration trains psychologists committed and equipped to improve the human condition and alleviate suffering through transdisciplinary scientific inquiry and advanced psychological assessment and intervention. The program meets American Psychological Association (APA) requirements for doctoral training in clinical psychology. Upon graduation, students will have completed predoctoral requirements for clinical licensure in most states and will have solid preparation for American Board of Professional Psychologists certification in their areas of specialty. For more information about professional licensure, download our Professional Licensure Sheet PDF document. Our students are trained as scientist-practitioners. They develop skills at critically evaluating and integrating information, generating hypotheses or alternative explanations that are grounded in the research literature, developing methods to evaluate those hypotheses or explanations and communicating effectively in scholarly and lay contexts. They also learn to deliver state-of-the-art clinical services, applying assessment and intervention techniques that are grounded in scientific evidence. We offer three clinical training concentrations: General Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical/Community Psychology. Each prepares students for distinctive paths within psychology. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, Ph.D., Clinical/Community Psychology
Training in the joint Clinical/Community Psychology concentration is informed by the traditions of prevention and social justice in community psychology and by the focus on assessment and individualized mental health interventions in clinical psychology. This dual-enrollment program provides a strengths-based, culturally competent approach to mental health and healthy development that emphasizes theory, research and practice at multiple levels of analysis – psychological, sociopolitical and ecological. Upon graduation, students will have completed predoctoral requirements for clinical licensure in most states and will have solid preparation for American Board of Professional Psychology certification in their areas of specialty. For more information about professional licensure, download our Professional Licensure Sheet PDF document. In addition, CLC students receive training in a range of indirect services necessary for interventions at the institutional and community levels: Consultation Program development and evaluation Social policy Action research The CLC concentration is jointly administered by the Community and Clinical program areas. Students participate in both the Clinical Psychology and Community Psychology program areas. Faculty in areas serve as primary advisers. A secondary adviser is assigned in most cases to ensure appropriate training in both areas. We offer three clinical training concentrations: General Clinical Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical/Community Psychology. Each prepares students for distinctive paths within psychology. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, Ph.D., Cognitive & Affective Neuroscience
The Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) concentration focuses on the neural bases for cognitive and affective processes in humans, and typically uses a combination of psychological experimental methods and non-invasive imaging techniques in healthy populations. Our program is unique in that some faculty also focus on clinical populations or the translational components of noninvasive nonhuman primate-based research. The focus of this work is on its direct or translational value to human cognition and emotional systems. Graduate students earn a master’s degree en route to the Ph.D. degree. The CAN Ph.D. concentration does not provide clinical training nor is the primary work in behavioral neuroscience. Students interested in neuropsychology and clinical licensure should apply to the Clinical Neuropsychology (CLN) concentration. Students interested in behavioral neuroscience and/or research on basic model organisms should apply to the Neuroscience Institute. The CAN and other faculty with neuroimaging research interests are involved in the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS) with regular presentations and speaker series, collaborative projects and research initiatives. Georgia State has a rich neuroscience community that fosters collaboration among our colleagues in the Neuroscience Institute and the Georgia State/Georgia Tech Center for Advanced Brain Imaging. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, Ph.D., Cognitive Sciences
College of Arts & Sciences
The Cognitive Sciences concentration encompasses interdisciplinary interests in experimental psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and translational science. With cognition as its unifying thread, the program provides opportunities to specialize in research and training in basic or applied cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, social cognition, language and cognitive development, psycholinguistics and comparative cognition. Research methods include noninvasive behavioral and cognitive testing with children, adults and non-human primates, as well as electroencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, transcranial magnetic stimulation, diffusion tensor imaging, eye-tracking, virtual reality/virtual environment testing, neurogenomics and cognitive neuroinformatics. We accept students with wide-ranging interests across the cognitive sciences for this terminal Ph.D. program. Students shape their own programs of research in consultation with their advisers. Prospective applicants should contact faculty for more information about individual research programs. Specific faculty interests include learning and memory; language acquisition and use, including the roles of experience, gesture and specific brain structures and processes; economic decision-making; attention and executive functioning (such as metacognition, planning, cognitive control); false memories and eyewitness accuracy; decision-making, including speeded judgments, economic decision-making and reasoning; inequity perception and response; comparative cognition; individual and group differences (such as species, race, gender, diagnostic category, age); cooperation and prosocial behavior; and brain-behavior relations that underlie various cognitive competencies. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Psychology, Ph.D., Community Psychology
Ph.D. students in the Community Psychology concentration receive training that will enable them to conduct research and collaborate with communities to improve the well-being of individuals and social settings. Community psychologists: Seek to expand "helping" beyond traditional psychotherapy to promote wellness. Engage in action-oriented research to develop, implement and evaluate programs. Base their work on a scientific foundation to better understand the multiple influences of the social environment on health and wellness. Build collaborative relationships with community members, groups and organizations to solve social problems. Consult with and provide tools to organizations to build capacity to address social problems such as exploitation and victimization. Analyze government, civic life and workplace settings to understand and improve fair and diverse participation. Fight oppression, seek to reduce social inequalities and work with marginalized people toward their empowerment. The department also offers a joint concentration in community-clinical psychology and a dual program in public health and community psychology. Students in the Clinical-Community (CLC) concentration seek training in clinical and community psychology and aim to be eligible for clinical licensure following graduation. Dual enrollment provides a strengths-based, culturally competent approach to mental health and healthy development that emphasizes theory, research and practice at multiple levels of analysis — psychological, sociopolitical and ecological. The dual M.P.H.-Ph.D. program in Public Health and Community Psychology provides professional and graduate students with a solid and well-rounded background across two disciplines. Successful candidates will earn a master of public health degree upon completion of the graduate health behavior and promotion concentration or the epidemiology concentration offered by the School of Public Health and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) upon completion of the community psychology concentration. Our faculty share a common perspective as researchers rooted in psychology and informed by related disciplines, such as education, public health, sociology and women’s studies. We share an emphasis on changing resources, social norms and public policies that affect individuals and the contexts surrounding people’s lives (for example, social institutions, neighborhoods, families). We are involved at the local, state, national and international levels and work with community and governmental organizations to design, implement and investigate the efficacy of social interventions using a variety of research methods ranging from rigorous experimental designs to qualitative case studies. We collaborate with community partners to evaluate and improve existing programs. Welcome from the Directors of Graduate Studies FAQs for Graduate Program Applicants Faculty Accepting Students for Fall 2022
Public Administration, M.P.A.
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) is the degree of choice for individuals with an interest in public affairs and professional management in the public and nonprofit sectors. Whether you’re seeking a first job in government or with a nonprofit organization, or are interested in advancing in an existing career, Georgia State's MPA program provides the skills and knowledge government and nonprofit agencies seek. Join us as we explore new ideas and perspectives on public and nonprofit administration, policy and governance in the 21st century. Our MPA program is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Read the NASPAA Code of Good Practice. The college is also a member of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management. Recent national studies have ranked our overall public affairs curriculum among the top 21 programs nationwide, and among the top 10 for public finance and budgeting, urban policy, nonprofit management and local government management. Our Department of Public Management and Policy provides access to a community of research and teaching scholars with national and international reputations for their expertise and contributions to knowledge and practice across a broad range of administrative processes and policy concerns. For answers to frequently asked questions about the MPP program (and its sibling MPA program), check here.
Public Administration/Juris Doctor, M.P.A./J.D.
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, College of Law
The College of Law and the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies offer a joint Master of Public Administration/Juris Doctor degree. This joint program provides an opportunity to pursue studies in law and public affairs and public management concurrently. Students in the program use credit hours earned in one program to satisfy some or all of the elective course requirements for the other program, earning both degrees one to two terms earlier than would be required to earn each separately.
Public Health, B.S.
School of Public Health
The School of Public Health is proud to offer a new bachelor of science (B.S.) degree program that puts a special emphasis on urban and global health issues. Our bachelor of science curriculum includes elements of the life and biological sciences, social sciences, and humanities to provide students with an understanding of public health from a broad spectrum of approaches. Students will build the knowledge and skills needed to excel in a wide array of public health professions, or to continue on to graduate school in any number of medical, science, social science, or public health fields.
Public Health, DrPH
The Doctor of Public Health — or DrPH — is a graduate degree designed to prepare professionals for positions in leadership, applied research, and other practice-based roles. This program will allow professionals to complete their degree while maintaining full-time employment. With a local and national shortage of highly-trained public health professionals, now is the time to pursue your DrPH. Visit publichealth.gsu.edu/academics-student-life/degrees-programs/drph/ for more information.
Public Health, Graduate Certificate
The Graduate Certificate in Public Health is a 16-credit hour program of study. The content is nearly the same as the core courses taught in the Master of Public Health degree program. The graduate certificate program is offered in flexible formats that are convenient for busy professionals: online, in-person or a mix of both. You’ll gain the foundational knowledge to maintain, upgrade or advance your public health knowledge and skills or further your career. The program is specifically designed for students working in public health or professionals coming from a variety of backgrounds, including physicians, nurses, health educators, clinical research professionals, policy experts and more. Note that applicants must possess at least a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution to be considered for admission.
Public Health, Ph.D.
Georgia State offers students who seek a career in research or academia the only public doctoral program in metro Atlanta, one of the world’s great global cities and home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Depending on the interest area, graduates of a Ph.D. in Public Health program often teach in universities, lead research laboratories, or direct research projects at the federal, state, or local level. At Georgia State, Ph.D. candidates find unique opportunities to engage in cutting-edge research on public health issues impacting urban areas, ties to the community that offer real-world experience to complement the required 62 credit hours of coursework, and the flexibility of a part-time option to suit working public health professionals. For the latest information about required courses, view the School of Public Health website.
Public Management and Policy: Non-Profit Leadership, Minor
Public Management and Policy: Non-Profit Leadership, Minor
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
The nonprofit leadership minor allows students to learn about the important role of nonprofit organizations in addressing social issues and interests in a democratic society and participating in the formulation and implementation of public policy. Through this minor, students will become aware of the many and diverse career opportunities in the nonprofit sector, in areas such as the arts, social services, education, health care, the environment, policy advocacy, and international relief and development, and they will learn the skills, knowledge and challenges of leadership in this sector. This minor will prepare students for entry level jobs in nonprofit management and for graduate study in nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, and related fields. For information on program requirements, visit the Andrew Young School of Public Policy website.
Public Management and Policy: Planning and Economic Development, Minor
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
The planning and economic development minor prepares students to work in both the public and private sectors addressing issues facing urban communities. This minor is appropriate for students who want to pursue careers or further study in the planning, development and management of communities. Courses introduce students to forces shaping the development of urban regions. Special attention is paid to planning for economic development, environmental quality, housing, land use, neighborhood revitalization, and transportation. During their studies, students learn about the variety of policies and strategies that citizens and planners can use to influence development. For information on program requirements, visit the Andrew Young School of Public Policy website.