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The Master of Arts Program in Psychology, offered by the Department of Psychology , affords its candidates an opportunity for advanced study of psychological theory and research techniques with the following objectives in mind:

• To ultimately earn a doctorate in psychology - the course work and experience obtained in the Psychology Program is designed to enhance students’ credentials when applying to highly competitive doctoral programs.
• To succeed in business, industry or a research setting - our program’s emphasis on the mastery of statistical and methodological procedures, research experience, and critical thinking produces graduates that are well suited for many careers in business, government, and/or an array of research settings.

University Admission Requirements

Applicants must submit a complete graduate application by applying through the CSU Cal State Apply system and meet all the university admission requirements .

Department Requirements

To be eligible for admission into our program, you must:

Meet all of the University’s graduate admission requirements :

1. Have the equivalent of a U.S. baccalaureate degree
2. Have completed a minimum of 30 semester units in undergraduate psychology
3. Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the last 60 semester units (90 quarter units) of all college and/or university course work
4. Have a minimum GPA of 3.0 in all college and/or university psychology courses taken

Advancement to Candidacy

The university requirements for advancement to candidacy  for the master’s degree are outlined in the Graduate Policies and Procedures  section. Students should seek advancement to candidacy as soon as possible for their given program and on the advice of their graduate program coordinator. Graduate students may submit a Petition for Advancement to Graduate Candidacy form to the Graduate Admissions & Program Evaluations (GAPE) office after satisfying the following: achieved classified status; completed a minimum of nine letter-graded units with all grades “C” or higher; fulfilled the Campus Graduate Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (CGGWAR) requirement; achieved a minimum cumulative and program 3.0 GPA, and, graduate within the seven-year time limit for degree completion. Graduate students must submit their petition no later than one semester prior to graduating. Courses that satisfy the CGGWAR are listed in the course requirements for the program.

Additional Department Requirements

General university requirements and procedures for completing the Master of Arts degree are described in the Academic Regulations section of this catalog . In addition to these, the following departmental requirements must be fulfilled:

1. The student’s combined total of approved undergraduate and graduate work in psychology must be at least 60 semester units, including 33 units for the MA Degree Program.
2. The student must complete at least 33 approved graduate units. At least 30 of these 33 units must be psychology or statistics units; of the 30, at least 27 must be 200-level courses, i.e., up to six units may be from 100-level courses with the program coordinator’s approval.
3. The candidate must complete an acceptable thesis. This thesis will be a quantitative investigation of some degree of originality and of publication caliber.
4. Satisfactory performance on a final examination is required. This examination may be written, oral or both, as determined by the student’s thesis advisory committee. This is typically satisfied through the oral defense of the student’s thesis research.

Program of Study Requirements

Students must complete all residency, curriculum, unit, GPA, and culminating experience requirements as outlined in the Graduation Requirements section of the Graduate Policies and Procedures . Students must comply with all other graduate requirements contained in this catalog.

Thesis Requirement

The thesis serves as the culmination of a student’s course work, research experience, and growth as a scholar and scientist. This process is guided closely by a thesis advisor; a tenured or tenure-track faculty member of the Department of Psychology. As the student’s ideas develop into a full thesis proposal, a thesis advisory committee is formed to provide further guidance and expertise. Collection of the thesis data begins once the proposal has been approved by the committee and the proper human subjects approval has been obtained. The introduction, analysis, and interpretations of these data will form the core of the student’s written master’s thesis. These efforts all culminate in an oral presentation and defense before the thesis committee. A detailed statement of thesis policies is available in the Psychology Department Office and on the departmental website.