Personal attention, hands-on learning set our psychology major apart
What is it that makes us attracted to one person but not another? What role does the parent-child relationship play as students transition to college? How can we best help at-risk children and teens live healthier lives? Can elephants cooperate? Whatever questions bring you to Eckerd College in Florida for a psychology degree, you’ll be glad you came. We combine hands-on learning, liberal arts classes and daily interaction with Ph.D. professors to teach you skills you simply won’t get at other colleges.
Only@Eckerd
Personal attention
Your personal faculty mentor will help plan your course schedules, decide on a career path and get the out-of-class experiences that will get you where you want to go. Want to do research? Your mentor can set you up.
Real-world experience
Co-author papers with Eckerd professors, present them at psychological conferences and publish them in psychological journals. Internships allow you to apply classroom learning to real-world settings.
In Their Own Words
“The small class sizes and thoughtful professors make studying psychology at Eckerd great. The professors here have really shaped my journey at Eckerd, and have provided me with multiple opportunities to get involved with their research when I’ve reached out to them. They are also super understanding of life’s circumstances and help you out in times of need.”
—James Udowenko ’24
Psychology major
Beyond the Classroom
- Work side-by-side with Ph.D. professors to do research on college student mental health, stereotyping & prejudice, memory, the effects of stress or animal cognition. First-year student research associates can do this during their first year at Eckerd!
- Study animal behavior in our Comparative Psychology Lab or how people think, learn, remember and forget in our Cognition and Memory Lab.
- Study how people think and reason about categories in the CAR Lab or how one’s ideological beliefs influence social judgments in the SCIP Lab
Whether you intern at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital or Carlton Manor, which serves vulnerable youth, an internship opens doors to grad school and future jobs.
The Leadership and Self Discovery Practicum is a Winter Term program for first-year students modeled after executive training that builds skills in leadership, teamwork, goal setting, time management, communications, presentations, self-awareness, and provides strategies for constructively handling conflict. The program is a practicum. This means that students learn by doing — not through lectures!
Sign up for one of our alternative spring break service trips to orphanages, missions and communities in need abroad and in St. Petersburg.
Service Pics on Flickr Sign up for more about Eckerd and our psychology program
Popular classes
Cross-Cultural Psychology
This class explores how fundamental psychological processes vary across different cultural groups.
Perspectives in Mental Health
Examines thoughts and behaviors that deviate from the social norms.
Facilities
- Learn about research and statistics in state-of-the-art classrooms equipped with the latest computer software.
- Use our five-room psychology lab to conduct research of all kinds, including studies using two-way mirror observational suites.
Outcomes
What can I do with a psychology degree?
- Animal trainer
- Applied behavior analyst
- Caseworker
- Conservation psychologist
- Couples and families therapist
- Entrepreneur
- Mental health counselor
- Researcher
- School counselor
- Sports psychologist
- Teacher
*Some require graduate study
Where our psychology majors go to graduate school
- American University
- Boston College
- Brown University
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- Florida State University
- Georgetown University
- Harvard University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
Where our psychology majors go to work
Eckerd College Psychology news
- Eckerd College professor and colleagues awarded grant to study groundbreaking dog-training techniques - August 20, 2024
- Eckerd College introduces public health minor geared for fast-growing healthcare industry - May 23, 2024
- Long-running reality competition show inspires psychology Winter Term course - February 2, 2024
- New Eckerd College psychology professor changes dolphins midstream - October 17, 2023
- Marine science professors and students find devastation, hope during climate change research in the Florida Keys - October 6, 2023
- First full cohort of animal studies majors graduates Eckerd College - June 1, 2023
