Psychology (BA) and Counseling (MSEd), Dual-degree Program

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

Qualified undergraduate psychology majors may elect to enroll in a dual-degree program, combining their BA in psychology with an MSEd in counseling. This dual-degree program can be completed in five years, including some January and summer sessions, and requires successful completion of a total of 148 semester hours, including at least 106 s.h. at the undergraduate level (105 s.h. must be in the liberal arts; 21 s.h. must be liberal arts electives taken outside the Department of Psychology ) and 42 s.h. at the graduate level. Students who are admitted to the MSEd in counseling portion of the dual-degree program may replace up to 18 s.h. of undergraduate course work for their bachelor’s degree with an equal number of s.h. of graduate-level course work taken for the MSEd in counseling program.

Direct admission to the dual-degree program (BA and MSEd)

Students entering Hofstra as incoming freshmen may apply for direct admission to the dual-degree program. For those who choose to submit a standardized test score, a 1240 or better on the critical reading and mathematics sections of the SAT (or an ACT score of 25) is recommended. Applicants must have an overall high school GPA of 3.5 (or be in the top 15 percent of their high school graduating class) in order to be considered for admission. Students admitted directly to the dual-degree program as incoming first-year students will be admitted automatically to MSEd in Counseling program, provided that they attain the minimum requirements noted below.

Achieve an overall GPA of 3.2 and a GPA of 3.5 in Psychology courses at the time of application to the MSEd program, or upon completion of 90 semester hours of course work toward their BA degree
Three (3) letters of reference
Personal essay outlining professional goals and objectives
Interview with the graduate program director
Fulfillment of all the undergraduate degree requirements with the exception of the semester hour and major requirements
Successful completion of a minimum of 30 semester hours of undergraduate course work in-residence at Hofstra.

Admission to the dual-degree program for current Hofstra students

Students who fall below the minimum requirements as stated above for first-year direct admission may be dropped from the direct admission dual-degree program, and lose their guaranteed slot, but may reapply to the dual-degree program as juniors, or may apply to the MSEd in counseling program or through the regular graduate admissions process, upon completion of the baccalaureate degree. Undergraduate students must apply and be accepted into the MSEd in Counseling program before being allowed to take graduate courses as part of their undergraduate program. Students should apply to the graduate program, indicating the desired option, through the Graduate Admission Office by March 1 of the year they expect to attend in September. Applicants must have an overall GPA of 3.2 and a GPA of 3.5 in Psychology courses in order to be considered for admission. To maintain eligibility for graduate school matriculation at the end of the junior year, students admitted to this program must complete:

A minimum of 97 s.h. of undergraduate courses (at least 96 s.h. in liberal arts courses with an overall GPA of 3.2; a minimum of 12 s.h. must be in liberal arts electives outside the Department of Psychology )
All University requirements, including WSC 001 and 002
All requirements for the BA , including distribution and language requirements
All requirements for the Psychology major as specified below, with a Psychology GPA of 3.5.

BA in Psychology Degree Requirements

Students admitted to this dual degree program will receive a BA in psychology upon completion of the following requirements:

All BA requirements described in the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of the online Bulletin. In particular: Successful completion of a total of 124 semester hours, including 106 semester hours of undergraduate course work (105 s.h. must be in liberal arts courses; 21 s.h. must be in liberal arts electives outside the Department of Psychology ) and 18 semester hours of MSEd in counseling graduate course work.
The specific major requirements described in the BA major in Psychology section of this Bulletin.

MSEd in Counseling Degree Requirements

Students admitted to the graduate portion of the dual degree program will receive a MSEd in counseling upon successful completion of the following requirements:

Completion of 36 s.h. of counseling course work.
Completion of 6 s.h. of Internship
Comprehensive exam