2027 Online BA in Psychology - General Psychology for Psychology of Habits and Goals: Which Courses Should You Look For?
Audited and Verified:
Our Editorial and Data Verification Process
Research.com uses government datasets, official education statistics and primary institutional information to support its career and degree guides. Our review process checks factual accuracy, occupational definitions, source dates and the requirements associated with the credentials discussed.
How This Article Was Fact-Checked
Our editorial team verifies salary estimates, employment projections, education requirements and program information against original data providers and official organizations. Salary figures are checked against the relevant occupational definitions and reporting periods. Information about licensure, accreditation and required in-person training is reviewed separately.
Fact-checked and verified on:
Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist
If you want to understand why people repeat behaviors, abandon resolutions, or sustain long-term goals, the name of a psychology major tells you less than its course catalog. An online BA in general psychology can provide a strong foundation, but relevant electives, research training, and opportunities to apply what you learn vary by school.
This guide identifies the courses worth prioritizing and shows how to evaluate an online program against your schedule, budget, and intended career or graduate-study path.
Key Things You Should Know
- Prioritize learning and behavior, cognitive psychology, motivation, and research methods; together, they explain how habits form and how to evaluate claims about changing them.
- Check actual course descriptions and availability. A general psychology BA may offer habit-related electives without offering a formal habits or behavioral-science concentration.
- Choose a program for the work you want to do: a BA supports nonclinical roles and further study, but it does not qualify you to diagnose conditions or provide therapy.
What is an online BA in general psychology focused on habits and goals?
It is usually a broad psychology bachelor's degree whose required courses and selected electives help you study repeated behavior, self-regulation, motivation, and goal pursuit. "Focused on habits and goals" describes a way to plan your coursework; it does not necessarily name an official concentration. Ask whether that wording appears on the transcript or diploma before treating it as a formal credential.
For a student interested in designing workplace training, supporting community programs, or preparing for behavioral research, the BA's breadth can be useful. If you need only to improve a specific skill in an existing job, a targeted methods course or supervised project may be more direct than another degree. Compare that trade-off alongside budget-conscious psychology program comparisons, using each school's current catalog and charges for the decision.
Is an online psychology bachelor's degree accredited and reputable?
Start with the institution's accreditation status and confirm it with the accreditor and the U.S. Department of Education's accreditation database. Then evaluate the psychology curriculum separately: institutional accreditation does not establish that a school offers the electives, research support, or graduate-school preparation you want. The American Psychological Association does not accredit general psychology bachelor's programs.
Reputation is more useful when translated into evidence. Request the current degree requirements, recent course schedules, faculty supervision options, and rules for completing projects remotely. The same checks matter when comparing a general BA with a specialty-branded option, including forensic psychology degree formats and academic requirements. A compelling program name is not evidence of a particular course sequence or professional qualification.
Which psychology courses explain habits, motivation, and goal setting?
Look for a sequence that moves from explaining behavior to testing explanations. Titles vary, so inspect descriptions, prerequisites, and how often each course is taught. The table identifies what each subject adds to a habits-and-goals curriculum:
| Course or subject | Contribution to studying habits and goals | What to check in the catalog |
| Learning and behavior | Reinforcement, cues, and how repeated actions are acquired or changed | Whether it covers both foundational learning theory and contemporary applications |
| Cognitive psychology | Attention, memory, decision-making, and the limits of deliberate control | Whether it addresses cognition in everyday behavior |
| Motivation, emotion, or self-regulation | Goal choice, persistence, competing priorities, and responses to setbacks | Whether the course is offered regularly rather than merely listed |
| Social or developmental psychology | How other people, culture, and life stage shape behavior | Which population or context receives the most attention |
| Statistics and research methods | How to measure change and judge whether an intervention appears effective | Sequencing, project requirements, and access to feedback |
Take statistics and methods early enough to use them in later coursework. For example, a student evaluating a goal-setting workshop should be able to distinguish a reported improvement from evidence that the workshop caused it. If your interest is specifically substance-use behavior and recovery systems, compare the depth of those topics through addiction psychology undergraduate degree selection; a general learning course will not cover every service or credential issue in that field.
The central difference is access to the learning activities you need, not whether the degree is inherently more rigorous. Online lectures may suit a working student, while campus study may make laboratory participation and informal faculty contact easier. Neither format guarantees those advantages: online programs can have live meetings, and campus courses can have limited research openings.
Ask how students complete methods projects, obtain faculty feedback, join research teams, and arrange any required internship or capstone. Confirm time zones, group-work expectations, campus visits, and who approves an off-site experience before enrolling. A comparison of online psychology programs and academic pathways can help you shortlist formats, but the current schedule determines whether a particular course sequence fits your life.
Requirements depend on whether you enter as a first-year or transfer student. Schools commonly request evidence of prior education and may have separate procedures for transfer evaluation and admission to the major. Do not assume that admission to the university means every earlier psychology, statistics, or methods course will satisfy a major requirement.
If you have prior college work, request a written degree audit showing accepted credits, where they apply, remaining prerequisites, and any residency requirement. Resolve uncertain equivalencies before planning upper-level electives. For a closer look at that distinction, peruse online guides to psychology degree completion with transfer coursework. The receiving institution makes the final credit and requirement decisions.
Completion time depends on your accepted credits, enrollment pace, prerequisite sequence, and course availability. To estimate cost, request a remaining-course plan and calculate tuition and required fees from the credits you would actually take. Include books, software, travel for any in-person obligation, and the financial effect of reducing work hours if applicable. An advertised per-credit rate is not a total-degree price.
Ask the financial-aid office how your enrollment pace affects aid eligibility and whether a proposed internship or final project carries additional charges. If you are comparing a general BA with a substance-use-focused undergraduate route, guidance on reducing undergraduate substance abuse counseling tuition through aid can inform your questions; confirm actual eligibility and awards with each school.
A BA can support applications for nonclinical work in research support, program coordination, training, community services, and some human-services settings. In a habits-and-goals context, you might help organize a prevention program, document participation, communicate evidence, or assist a supervised research team. Job titles and minimum qualifications vary by employer; the degree alone is not a hiring guarantee.
Build evidence of the tasks you want to perform. A methods project, carefully documented program evaluation, or supervised internship may demonstrate data handling and communication more clearly than an elective title alone. If recovery services interest you, explore addiction recovery workforce opportunities while checking state and employer rules for any credentialed role. Support and referral duties are distinct from independent counseling or treatment.
There is no single salary or growth rate for "psychology BA graduates." The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports wages and projections by occupation, not by undergraduate major. A research support position, community-service role, and training job therefore need separate comparisons—and each occupation's published median covers workers with varied education and experience, not just new graduates.
Identify a target job title, check its duties and typical entry requirements in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, then compare local postings for pay and required skills. Do not substitute pay associated with an advanced specialty for likely BA-level earnings. That distinction is especially important if you are also exploring forensic psychology master's careers and earning potential: a different degree and occupation can change the comparison substantially.
Studying motivation does not authorize someone to treat a mental health condition. Licensed psychologist roles generally require doctoral-level professional preparation and state licensure. Counseling, clinical social work, and other regulated roles follow their own qualifying degree, supervised experience, examination, and state-specific rules. A general psychology BA can prepare you to apply for further study, but it does not replace a qualifying professional program.
If therapy is your goal, check the licensing board's educational rules before choosing graduate study. A general psychology master's degree is not automatically a counseling license pathway; compare programs explicitly designed for the intended credential, including affordable accredited mental health counseling study options. If research is the goal instead, prioritize methods experience, faculty fit, and the prerequisites of the graduate programs you may apply to.
How should you choose an online psychology program for career goals?
Begin with a specific intended use for the degree: studying behavior through research, applying evidence in a nonclinical organization, or preparing for a particular graduate program. Then compare schools against that use, not against a general claim of flexibility. Your shortlist should survive a review of actual courses, scheduling, support, remaining cost, and the next credential your goal requires.
Before committing, ask an advisor to confirm the learning path in writing. These questions expose gaps that a program overview may conceal:
- Which required courses and regularly offered electives cover learning, cognition, motivation, statistics, and research methods?
- Can online students complete a supervised project relevant to habits or goals, and what approvals or meetings does it require?
- Which credits will satisfy my requirements, what will remain, and what is the estimated cost at my planned pace?
- If I intend to pursue graduate study, how does this coursework match the prerequisites of my target programs?
If your eventual interest shifts toward a specialized graduate field, price that subsequent step separately. For example, one-year forensic psychology graduate tuition comparisons concern a different qualification and should not be folded into the cost or expected outcome of a general BA. Choose the undergraduate program that builds the preparation you can verify now.
Other Things You Should Know About Psychology
An app may help you record behavior, but coursework teaches you to question how behavior is defined, measured, and interpreted. The two can complement each other; an app is not a substitute for research training.
Possibly, if the instructor permits it. Agree on the question and method first, and avoid claiming that a change in your own routine proves an intervention works for other people.
Possibly. Compare the certificate's actual courses with your skill gap and any prerequisites for your target job or graduate program. A shorter credential may be sufficient for targeted learning but may not satisfy a requirement for a psychology degree.
Ask your instructor and employer before using workplace information. Remove identifying details where appropriate, follow data-use and confidentiality rules, and do not assume that access to records gives you permission to analyze or publish them.
- Correlation and causation | Australian Bureau of Statistics https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/understanding-statistics/statistical-terms-and-concepts/correlation-and-causation
- Understanding College Costs | studentaid.gov https://studentaid.gov/resources/prepare-for-college/students/choosing-schools/consider-costs
- Improving the teaching of "correlation does not equal... - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12488420/
- Cost of Attendance (Budget) | 2025-2026 Federal Student Aid Handbook https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2025-2026/vol3/ch2-cost-attendance-budget
- Qualified Ed expenses | Internal Revenue Service https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/qualified-ed-expenses
- Psychology (PSY) | Utah Tech University Catalog https://catalog.utahtech.edu/courses/psy/
- Self-regulation and procrastination in college students: A tale of motivation, strategy, and perseverance | ub.edu https://diposit.ub.edu/items/52710ad6-b63a-49c8-9b82-ab8bb204c3a6
- Transfer Students FAQ - UVA's Psychology Department https://psychology.as.virginia.edu/transfer-students-faq
- Major Requirements | Department of Psychological Sciences | Rice University https://psychology.rice.edu/undergraduate/major-requirements
- Psychology careers guide | apa.org https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide/careers
