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    Feb 16, 2025  
2024-2025 Binghamton University Academic Guide 
    
2024-2025 Binghamton University Academic Guide

Human Development, BS

Location(s): University Downtown Center


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This undergraduate degree prepares students for careers in which they will work with people in communities and organizations, addressing complex social problems such as poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, victimization, equity, and justice. Students design their own individualized plans of interdisciplinary study within the program’s general framework based on their specific personal, educational, and career goals.

The undergraduate curriculum is organized into three core learning areas: (1) Theories of Human Development, (2) Social Action and Policy, and (3) Working with Individuals and Groups. Theoretical courses examine core concepts that relate to human development across the lifespan, including, but not limited to, child and adolescent development, as well as death, dying, and bereavement. Social Action and Policy courses explore how macro- and micro-level processes influence individuals and communities. Working with Individuals and Groups courses examine the philosophies, strategies, and techniques for working effectively with individuals, organizations, and communities; they also emphasize sociocultural factors that influence practice.

Program Requirements


University General Education Requirements


All Binghamton University undergraduate students are required to fulfill this set of university-wide requirements to ensure that every graduate acquires the essential core of a SUNY university undergraduate education. Please refer to the General Education page for more information.

CCPA Degree Requirements


Students must complete the following requirements, in addition to the major requirements, to earn the degree:

  • Earn a minimum of 124 credit hours, including transfer credits, with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 and a minimum GPA of at least 2.0 in the major program.
  • Students are restricted to a maximum of eight credit hours for any combination of independent study, internships and teaching practicums toward the degree.
  • No more than 10 credit hours of health and wellness (HWS) courses, and up to two credits of outdoor pursuit courses (OUT) having a General Education designation, may be applied toward the 124-credit total for degree. Outdoor pursuit courses that do not meet the General Education requirement will not count toward the degree. For transfer students, 8 credit hours of wellness courses and two credits of physical activity courses may be applied toward the degree.
  • Complete the specified requirements in the major program in which they are candidates for the degree.
  • Not be on probation or under disciplinary action, and pay or make a satisfactory adjustment of all tuition, fees or other bills incident to their attendance at the University.
  • Be recommended by the faculty of the Human Development Department in the College of Community and Public Affairs.
  • Be admitted to the degree by the State University Trustees, by formal action.

The Human Development Department in the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) reserves the right to make changes in the requirements listed above for graduation, except that no increase in total credit hours required for graduation shall retroactively affect any student already matriculated in the Human Development Department in CCPA when the change is made.

Major Requirements


Course Requirements


A total of 10 four-credit human development courses are required for the human development major, including four core courses and two courses from each of the Core Learning Areas, as follows:

A. Core Courses


Prior to beginning the Core Courses sequence, students will select three introductory classes from three different social science disciplines. One must be from psychology, one from sociology, and one from a different social science discipline (i.e., anthropology, economics, geography, history, or political science). Once these introductory courses are completed with a grade of C or better, and once students enter their second year of collegiate study, they are eligible to take HDEV 200. The core courses must be taken in sequence and may not be taken simultaneously.

B. Core Learning Areas


Students must select two additional courses from each of the following three Core Learning Areas.

  • HDEV 301-339: Theories of Human Development
  • HDEV 340-379: Social Action and Policy 
  • HDEV 401-479 (except 475/476): Working with Individuals and Groups

Additional Information about the Program


A minimum of 124 credits are required for graduation:

  • Liberal arts and sciences - 62 credits
  • Upper-division - 300- and 400-level courses (including 36 upper-division credits of human development coursework) - 45 credits

Residency Requirement: 40 credits must be taken in residence at Binghamton University in the Human Development department to satisfy the requirements for graduation.

Grade Policies 

All Human Development major required courses, including core courses, courses from the core learning areas (Theories of Human Development, Social Action, and Policy, and Working with Individuals and Groups), and the three required lower-division social sciences courses (psychology, sociology, and another accepted social science) must be completed with a grade of C or better. These courses cannot be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.

Restrictions

  • No more than 10 credit hours of health and wellness (HWS) courses and up to two credits of outdoor pursuit courses (OUT) having a General Education designation may be applied toward the 124-credit degree total. Outdoor pursuit courses that do not meet the General Education requirement will not count toward the degree. For transfer students, eight credit hours of wellness courses and two credits of physical activity courses may be applied toward the degree.
  • Students are restricted to a maximum of eight credit hours for any combination of independent study, internships, and teaching practicums toward the degree.

Sequencing of Core Learning Area Courses

A minimum of one course in the core learning area HDEV 340-379: Social Action and Policy must be completed before enrollment in HDEV 400 (Social Justice).  A minimum of one course in each of the core learning areas (HDEV 301-339: Theories of Human Development, HDEV 340-379: Social Action and Policy, and HDEV 401-479 (except 475/476): Working with Individuals and Groups) must be completed before enrollment in  HDEV 475 (Practicum in Human Development).

For more information about the Human Development BS program, please refer to the Human Development Department website. To apply to the Human Development BS program, visit the University Admissions website.

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