WGU BS in Psychology (BSPSY)

[raekwon]

https://www.wgu.edu/online-nursing-healt...ogram.html

I'd seen some rumors about this for the past few months and it looks like it's now a reality.

April 1: students with 30 or fewer transfer CUs can start
June 1: students with 45 or fewer transfer CUs can start
Oct 1: prior WGU students or current students wishing to switch programs can start

Nothing on the partners site yet re: transfer credits from Sophia/SDC/community colleges/etc, but I imagine that'll be rectified soon.

I've seen (on Reddit) concerns about the fact that the program isn't APA-accredited, but looking at the APA's website tells me that they don't even evaluate non-doctoral programs anyway, so those concerns appear to be unfounded.

PDF guidebook here: https://www.wgu.edu/content/dam/wgu-65-a.../BSPSY.pdf
Transfer guidelines: https://partners.wgu.edu/general-transfe...gramId=147

[Jonathan Whatley]

I've seen (on Reddit) concerns about the fact that the program isn't APA-accredited, but looking at the APA's website tells me that they don't even evaluate non-doctoral programs anyway, so those concerns appear to be unfounded.

You're correct. The APA only accredits doctoral programs to train practitioners of health service psychology. Traditionally the subject title will be one or more of Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, or School Psychology.

There is a push for the APA to accredit master's programs in health service psychology, especially as it's become clear that master's-level licenses with titles like "Psychological Associate" are here to stay in several states. That rationale will not lead them to accredit bachelors in psychology. An APA work group on master's accreditation is starting very small, recently authorizing site visits to two programs out of seven applicants.
APA seeks to accredit psychology master's programs (Stacey Larson, Good Practice [APA magazine], Fall 2019)
Master's accreditation update (A status update from the Master's Work Group, December 2023)

[indigoshuffle]

I'm not sure this is a good thing. Actually, I take that back. Options are a good thing for students. And a psychology degree is definitely not something to go into debt for.

[raekwon]

I'm not sure this is a good thing. Actually, I take that back. Options are a good thing for students. And a psychology degree is definitely not something to go into debt for.

Could you expound on why it wouldn't be a good thing?

[indigoshuffle]

I'm not sure this is a good thing. Actually, I take that back. Options are a good thing for students. And a psychology degree is definitely not something to go into debt for.

Could you expound on why it wouldn't be a good thing?

A few years ago, while attending WGU, I asked my program mentor why it was that WGU didn't have psychology or history degrees. She said, very proudly, "look at the mission statement of the school. We only give degrees that you can get a job with."
That's not exactly what she said but it was darn close. So seeing a psychology degree worried me. Its well known that psychology degrees are bad when it comes to employability. But if you're going to get one, I guess getting one from WGU would be the way to go. I imagine theres also demand, and they want to make $$. I also imagine that some type of masters degree leading to licensure in some type of clinical psychology is coming. Then maybe PhD after that, who knows?

[raekwon]

I'm not sure this is a good thing. Actually, I take that back. Options are a good thing for students. And a psychology degree is definitely not something to go into debt for.

Could you expound on why it wouldn't be a good thing?

A few years ago, while attending WGU, I asked my program mentor why it was that WGU didn't have psychology or history degrees. She said, very proudly, "look at the mission statement of the school. We only give degrees that you can get a job with."
That's not exactly what she said but it was darn close. So seeing a psychology degree worried me. Its well known that psychology degrees are bad when it comes to employability. But if you're going to get one, I guess getting one from WGU would be the way to go. I imagine theres also demand, and they want to make $$. I also imagine that some type of masters degree leading to licensure in some type of clinical psychology is coming. Then maybe PhD after that, who knows?

Gotcha. The statement from your PM makes sense. I'd imagine that there's less in the way of directly related employment with a BS in psych than pretty much any of WGU's other bachelor's degrees. I guess I think of it as useful for folks who are already in the workforce and could benefit from having a degree, or as a stepping stone for someone with a plan for graduate education (related to psych or not).

[sanantone]

I'm surprised to see WGU offer this degree since they've been focused on employability. I expected a BSW before a psychology program. But when you really think about it, business management has one of the highest underemployment rates, but that didn't stop WGU from offering it.

[LevelUP]

I was looking at the program guide, they got some weird courses listed:
https://www.wgu.edu/online-nursing-healt...guide.html

Consumer Behavior: Isn't this supposed to be a marketing course???
Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health: Sounds like a woke course. 
Health, Fitness, and Wellness: Maybe Sophia got a heads-up that the requirement was coming, so they made a course for it.

[bjcheung77]

Those are Health/Psych related classes, as an example, Behavior is part (although small) of Psych and the Consumer Behavior is an approach to review or see how people have habits when buying or react to various advertising before purchasing...

[Jonathan Whatley]

I was looking at the program guide, they got some weird courses listed:
https://www.wgu.edu/online-nursing-healt...guide.html

Consumer Behavior: Isn't this supposed to be a marketing course???

This can help understanding how people make health and life decisions, how to craft health promotion and behavior change messages, etc. It can also help psychology graduates going on to work in fields like marketing which certainly happens.

And yes, it can help WGU if they repurposed material from a marketing degree!

Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health: Sounds like a woke course.

Maybe so! But even Republican federal administrations report health disparities exist such as by race, and health communication challenges exist such as by culture, and they've stated they intend to reduce or address them.

"Western Civilization" sounds like an anti-woke, Jordan Peterson type course in a certain light. In practice it might be. Or it might be very different.

Health, Fitness, and Wellness: Maybe Sophia got a heads-up that the requirement was coming, so they made a course for it.

Something like this is also a popular course all over, like at almost every community college.