The B.A. and B.S. degrees
There are two baccalaureate degrees in psychology at Penn State Altoona: the Bachelor of Arts degree (PSCBA) and the Bachelor of Science degree (PSCBS). The basic difference between the two degrees is that the PSCBS degree has options for specific career areas, while the PSCBA degree offers a broader curriculum that includes a foreign language component and additional general education courses. The PSCBS program offers two options: science and business. These are described in detail in section B below.
If you know that you are interested in the relation of biology and chemistry to behavior or plan to go into a field where this kind of knowledge would be helpful (drug counseling, psychiatry, etc.), the PSCBS with the science option might be best for you. If you’re planning to go into the business world or continue in psychology in the areas of personnel work or industrial/organizational psychology, the PSCBS with the business option would be best. However, there doesn’t seem to be a particular advantage for one degree over the other in terms of getting a job or going on to graduate or professional school. What is more important for a successful future is to take the most challenging courses you can do well in.
