Explore what you can do with a psychology degree, including careers in clinical settings, education, business, and more. Discover how Russell Sage College equips students with versatile skills for a range of rewarding career paths.

A psychology degree offers a versatile and intellectually rigorous foundation for understanding human thought, behavior, and emotion. While many students pursue psychology to enter clinical fields such as mental health counseling or behavioral therapy, the discipline also prepares graduates for impactful roles in education, business, healthcare, and public service. 

Through coursework grounded in research, theory, and applied practice, students gain valuable skills in communication, critical analysis, and behavioral assessment. These competencies open doors to both specialized careers in psychological services and broader opportunities across sectors that rely on human insight. At Russell Sage College, students are supported in exploring both traditional and emerging pathways within psychology, equipping them to make a difference in diverse professional contexts. 

In the broadest sense, psychology is the study of the science of human behavior and mental processes. Those who study psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels explore the multifaceted layers of the human mind, including aspects such as behavior and social interactions. General psychology degrees also cover a number of specific topics within the broad field, including abnormal, cognitive, developmental, social, and clinical psychology.  

Students also study the history of psychology, exploring past experiments, psychological theories, and theorists to help them better understand the development of the field as a whole. Depending on the program, a psychology degree may include clinical practice, which is especially important for students who want to become mental health counselors. 

In addition to the specific topics that students cover in psychology programs, the goal of both undergraduate and graduate psychology studies is to build the types of skills that professionals will need in clinical practice, research, and beyond. These skills and abilities include mastering research methods, communication and writing, critical thinking, and an awareness and understanding of the factors that shape human behavior in various environments. Whether they pursue a credential or not, students who are studying psychology learn to appreciate the value of a mental health counselor in various spaces, including schools and clinical settings.  

A psychology degree provides students with a diverse and transferable set of skills that equips them for success in a variety of clinical and non-clinical fields. Some of the most popular clinical career options include school psychology, mental health counseling, and behavior analysis. These jobs all require a graduate degree, such as a master’s in mental health counseling, which leads to licensure for clinical practice. Graduates with psychology degrees may also use those skills in fields beyond psychological practice. 

Both bachelor-level and master-level psychology programs help students gain skills that are important in the clinical practice of psychology, and these skills are also easily transferable to other areas of work and study. Specifically, psychology majors often find that their skill in understanding and assessing human behavior serves them well in human resources and marketing, where they apply behavioral analysis to different systems, products, and campaigns.  

Similarly, many people with a background in psychology use that knowledge to pursue graduate studies in closely related fields such as medicine, law, public policy, and education. Students who earn their doctoral degrees in psychology may also use their degrees for teaching and research. 

At Russell Sage College, students can study psychology from multiple perspectives. At the undergraduate level, the college offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) in psychology as well as a psychology minor. At the graduate level, students can choose from online or in-person studies in mental health counseling and community psychology, both of which are excellent options for recent graduates as well as those who want to know how to become a therapist after getting a degree. Between the different options and modes of learning that are available, Sage offers students flexibility and convenience as well as the opportunity to earn a top-level psychology degree. 

A: Most states, including New York, require therapists to hold a credential, such as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), in order to practice as a therapist. While knowledge of psychology is an important step in earning the LMCH credential, students must also study specific specialties within the field of psychology, such as community mental health. Additionally, they must earn a graduate degree, complete a specific number of supervised experience hours, and sit for a licensure exam. Sage offers a Master of Mental Health and Community Psychology program that meets the educational qualifications leading to licensure as a Mental Health Counselor in New York state. 

A: Both a BA (Bachelor of Arts) and a BS (Bachelor of Science) in psychology are four-year undergraduate degrees. Although students who earn both degrees take similar courses, the difference between the BA and BS lies in the focus and sequence of the required courses. A BA degree is generally broader and rooted in the types of liberal studies that defined early higher education. In other words, students earning BA degrees take more courses in the humanities and social sciences, often including foreign language requirements. 

A BS degree, on the other hand, tends to be more research-based due to the emphasis on science. Consequently, students in BS programs are more likely to take mathematics courses like statistics as well as lab- and research-based courses. 

A: Yes. The study of human behavior and mental processes is very useful in both medical and legal practices. In addition, skills like critical thinking, analysis, and research are essential to earning a degree in psychology. In fact, psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate majors for both medical and law school students.⁵ An undergraduate degree in psychology also typically fulfills the prerequisite requirements for a doctor of physical therapy program or occupational therapy graduate program.  

A: Yes. Psychology majors do a lot more than study a single subject. Instead, they learn about the complex workings of the human mind, which has many applications beyond mental health. Behavioral analysis is an important aspect of marketing campaign development and human resources, for example. Individuals with a psychology degree can also use that knowledge to study adjacent fields in graduate school, including medicine, law, and business. The skills that students gain through a psychology program, including communication, critical thinking, and research, all have many applications beyond mental health and clinical practice. 

A: Undergraduate psychology degrees are typically four-year (approximately 120-credit) degrees, like any other BS or BA. At the graduate level, master’s programs in psychology generally require about 60 credits and take around three years to complete. Doctoral degrees in psychology, including clinical psychology (PsyD) and PhDs, take an additional two to three years to complete beyond the master’s degree program. These numbers can vary depending on a student’s educational background and the graduate program requirements.  

[1] https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/psychology-major-overview 
[2] https://www.bps.org.uk/blog/transferable-skills-your-psychology-degree  
[3] https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/top-psychology-degree-jobs
[4] https://www.psychology.org/resources/differences-between-ba-and-bs-in-psychology/
[5] https://www.psychology.org/resources/psychology-bachelors-premed/ https://www.psychology.org/resources/psychology-bachelors-prelaw/