2027 Online BA in Psychology - General Psychology vs. a BA in Family Studies: Compare Curriculum, Cost, and Career Fit
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
An online BA in general psychology and a BA in family studies can both lead toward people-focused work, but they prepare students to study different questions. Psychology emphasizes behavior, research methods, and individual development; family studies centers on relationships, family systems, and community support.
For prospective or returning students, the choice affects which courses you take, which experiences you should seek, and how much additional preparation a future career may require. This comparison shows where the degrees overlap, where they diverge, and what to verify before committing to a program.
Key Things You Should Know
- Choose general psychology for broader behavioral-science and research preparation; choose family studies when family services, parenting education, or community programs are the clearer goal.
- Neither BA independently qualifies a graduate to practice counseling or therapy. Compare the prerequisites of any graduate or licensed profession you intend to pursue.
- A bachelor's degree commonly requires about 120 semester credits, but your remaining time and cost depend on accepted credits, degree requirements, tuition, and any placement obligations.
What is the difference between a general psychology BA and a family studies BA?
A general psychology BA studies behavior and mental processes across areas such as development, cognition, social behavior, and psychological research. A family studies BA examines how relationships, caregiving, culture, policy, and community resources affect families across the lifespan. Schools may call the latter family science or human development and family studies; the degree name alone does not establish its exact curriculum.
Both majors can address child development and social challenges. The distinction is the usual unit of analysis: psychology more often asks how behavior is explained and measured, while family studies more often asks how people function within relationships and service systems. Compare actual degree plans rather than assuming every online program follows that pattern. If you are still exploring the psychology side, online psychology degree program comparisons can help you identify programs whose requirements merit a closer look.
Which degree has the stronger curriculum for your career goals?
Neither curriculum is stronger in every setting. The better choice is the one that supplies the skills and prerequisites your next step requires. The comparison below separates disciplinary strengths from outcomes that depend on electives and experience.
| Goal | Likely better starting fit | What to verify |
| Research assistance or a research-oriented psychology graduate program | General psychology BA | Statistics, research methods, faculty projects, and graduate prerequisites |
| Family resource programs or parenting education | Family studies BA | Family-focused courses, approved applied experience, and employer requirements |
| Broad community-service work | Either BA | Relevant internships, documentation skills, and local hiring criteria |
| Future licensed mental-health practice | Either may be undergraduate preparation | Requirements of the intended graduate program and state licensing board |
If you want flexibility between research and several psychology subfields, favor the program with solid methods training and usable electives. If you already work in a family-serving organization, a family studies placement or applied project may build more directly on your experience. Interest in legal settings does not, by itself, settle the undergraduate choice; higher-paying career paths after forensic psychology graduate study involve different duties and qualifications that should be evaluated separately.
What careers can you pursue with either bachelor's degree?
Either degree may support applications for nonclinical roles such as family-resource assistant, community outreach coordinator, case-coordination assistant, program assistant, or research assistant. In these jobs, graduates might organize referrals, explain services, maintain records, support educational activities, or help collect and summarize program data. Employers may also require experience, a background check, language skills, or a role-specific credential.
Family studies is the more direct academic match for family education and relationship-centered services. General psychology can be useful when a job emphasizes behavioral research or work across different populations. Neither major substitutes for supervised practice or authorization to diagnose or treat someone. If substance-use services are your target, compare the two degrees with distance learning bachelor's degrees in addiction psychology, then check your state's rules for the specific support or counseling job.
General psychology programs commonly include introductory psychology, statistics, research methods, developmental psychology, and selections from social, cognitive, biological, or abnormal psychology. Family studies programs commonly emphasize family relationships, lifespan development, parenting, family policy, cultural contexts, and community or human-service systems. Either program may offer electives, a capstone, research work, or an internship, but none should be assumed to be available online or required without checking the catalog.
For a future psychology graduate application, inspect the depth of methods training - not merely whether a course has "research" in its title. For family-service work, look for opportunities to practice accessible communication, ethical documentation, and evaluation of programs serving families. Courses about counseling or mental disorders remain academic coursework, not permission to provide treatment. When comparing that subject matter with professional training, cost and length of shorter counseling master's programs illustrate why the later degree must be evaluated on its own requirements.
An online bachelor's degree is ordinarily covered by the institution's accreditation, rather than receiving a separate accreditation simply because it is online. Verify the institution and its accreditor through the U.S. Department of Education's accreditation database or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and confirm that the degree appears in the school's current catalog. Accreditation supports institutional legitimacy; it does not certify that a particular BA fulfills a graduate program's prerequisites or a state license's requirements.
Do not look for American Psychological Association accreditation as a test of an ordinary psychology BA: APA accreditation covers specified professional psychology training, not general undergraduate psychology majors. Professional counseling accreditation concerns a different kind of program. If counseling is your eventual goal, accredited clinical counseling program timeline comparisons are a separate check from confirming your bachelor's institution's status.
No - not by themselves. A psychology or family studies BA can provide undergraduate preparation for an application to a qualifying graduate program. Licensure as a professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, clinical social worker, or psychologist follows different education, supervised-experience, examination, and state-specific rules. An undergraduate internship in outreach or referrals is not a license-supervised therapy practicum.
Start with the license and state where you intend to practice, then check the licensing board's educational rules and each graduate program's disclosures. A student focused specifically on family therapy should examine qualifying marriage and family therapy pathways rather than assume a family studies BA provides that training. An accredited counseling program affordability comparisons can put the additional commitment in perspective, but speed does not replace verification of licensure eligibility.
A full-time student entering without college credit often plans around a four-year bachelor's curriculum of roughly 120 semester credits. The major's name rarely determines the timeline on its own. Transfer students need a degree audit showing not only which credits are accepted, but which satisfy general education, major, prerequisite, and in-residence requirements. A course offered infrequently can delay completion even when few credits remain.
For working students or caregivers, check weekly deadlines, live meetings, group projects, and whether fieldwork requires daytime hours or travel. An accelerated calendar may shorten the time between terms while increasing weekly workload. Psychology degrees with condensed course schedules are worth considering only after you confirm the pace is sustainable and required courses are available when you need them.
There is no reliable universal price advantage for either major: charges are set by the institution and may differ by residency, enrollment status, and course. Compare the cost to finish your own degree, not advertised tuition alone. Request a written estimate that includes the credits still required, tuition, mandatory online and course fees, books or software, and possible placement travel or unpaid hours.
Ask financial-aid staff how your enrollment pace affects eligibility and whether previously attempted credits affect satisfactory academic progress. If substance-use support is among your alternatives, guidance on financial aid for substance abuse counseling bachelor's degrees can help frame questions about grants and scholarships; awards and eligibility still require individual confirmation. A cheaper posted per-credit rate may cost more overall if fewer prior courses apply to graduation.
First-year applicants typically submit evidence of high school completion or an accepted equivalent. Transfer applicants generally provide transcripts from prior colleges; schools may also set academic-standing or major-entry conditions. Requirements, deadlines, and whether an associate degree satisfies any block of requirements vary by institution. Neither major universally requires prior psychology coursework for undergraduate admission.
Returning students should request both an admissions decision and a major-specific degree audit before relying on a completion estimate. Provide transcripts and, where a course's fit is unclear, its syllabus; ask who approves statistics, research-methods, or family-development equivalencies. Guidance on planning a psychology degree with previous college study can help you prepare those questions, but the receiving school decides how credits apply.
Which degree offers better salary potential and job outlook?
Neither BA has an inherent salary advantage. Pay and hiring prospects attach to occupations, employers, locations, experience, and credentials - not to these degree titles in isolation. For example, community-support and research-assistant jobs involve different duties and hiring markets; a national wage for one occupation cannot be presented as the expected pay of graduates from either major.
Compare actual job postings in your area, noting the required degree, experience, duties, and pay range. For broader labor-market context, use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for the specific occupation you intend to pursue, including its stated entry requirements and projection period. If your desired role calls for graduate study, include that additional time and expense in the comparison; cost-conscious options for a psychology master's may be relevant for nonclinical goals, but a general psychology master's is not automatically a therapy qualification.
Other Things You Should Know About Psychology
Possibly, if the school offers both majors online and permits the combination. Ask for a combined degree audit: overlapping courses may not reduce every requirement, and extra upper-level credits could extend enrollment.
Usually you can request a change, but the school must determine how completed courses apply to the new major. Check the revised audit and course schedule before switching.
No. The Certified Family Life Educator credential has its own coursework and application standards. Check the National Council on Family Relations' requirements and whether the particular program offers an approved pathway.
Some programs accept applicants from other majors, but may require particular psychology, statistics, or research courses. Compare your transcript with each target program's published prerequisites rather than relying on the bachelor's degree title.
- Fast Facts: Tuition costs of colleges and universities (76) | ed.gov https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp
- Frequently Asked Questions for Mental Health Counselors | nysed.gov https://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/mental-health-counselors/faqs-education-requirements
- Therapy & Counseling Careers Guide | Career Services https://careerservices.cns.utexas.edu/explore-careers/career-guides-industry/therapy-careers-guide
- Preparing to Use Your Bachelor's Degree in Psychology | apa.org https://www.apa.org/education-career/guide/bachelors
- Online Bachelor's in Psychology | University of Kansas https://online.ku.edu/undergraduate-programs/online-bachelors-psychology
- Counseling & Therapy (Graduate Education Required) | ucdavis.edu https://yellowcluster.ucdavis.edu/psychology-career-pathways/helping-professions/counseling-and-therapy-careers
- Bachelor's in Psychology - Online BA Degree Program | UMass Global https://www.umassglobal.edu/academic-programs/ba-in-psychology
- Online Bachelor's Degrees and Programs - National University https://www.nu.edu/online-degrees/bachelors/
- What's the Difference Between a B.A. & B.S. in Psychology? | The Chicago School https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/insight/career-development/difference-between-ba-and-bs-in-psychology/
- Human Development and Family Studies B.S. - CSU Online https://online.colostate.edu/degrees/human-development-family-studies/
