Skip to main content
Department of Psychology Psychology
  1. HOME
  2. Undergraduate Program
  3. Majors
  4. Majors (Effective Fall 2026)
  5. Business Psychology B.S.

Business Psychology B.S. (PC35), effective Fall 2026

Did you enroll at the university during or after Fall 2026? Students who were accepted to the university for Fall 2026 or later MUST adhere to the major requirements effective Fall 2026.

If you enrolled at the university before Fall 2026, you may either remain in the majors effective Fall 2018 or choose to switch to one of the new majors effective Fall 2026.

The BS in business psychology develops skills to understand and apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues. Students will study aspects of human behavior in the workplace, such as how consumers choose, how people work, and how they make decisions in groups and business settings. Students may choose to complete a twelve-unit concentration in marketing, STEM, or operations.

Major Requirements

  • All courses taken for the major must be letter graded completed with a C- or better. Exceptions for PSYC 195P, PSYC 199, MGT 199, and AIP 197 which are only offered on a P/NP grading option and major lower-division natural science, formal skills, computer programming, and research methods.
  • A course may only fulfill one major course requirement.
  • Excluded from credit towards the major are graduate seminars (2XX).
  • A maximum of three upper-division courses towards the major may be taken outside of UC San Diego.
  • A grade-point average of at least 2.0 in the upper-division major courses is required for graduation.

Lower-Division (LD) Requirements (40 units)

Lower-division (LD) courses for the major should be completed by the end of the sophomore year. These requirements will guarantee an adequate background for the topics of the upper-division (UD) psychology courses.

3 Natural Science Courses (choose three of the following)

  • BILD 1, 2, 3, 10, 12**, 20, 26 (BILD 22 is NOT accepted)
  • CHEM 4*, 6A, 6B, 6C, 11*, 12, 13
  • COGS 17**
  • PHYS 1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, 2C, 10, 11
  • PSYC 2**

*Only one of CHEM 4 or 11 can be taken for credit.
**Only one of BILD 12, COGS 17, or PSYC 2 may be counted towards this requirement.

2 Formal Skills Courses

  • Choose one Math course: MATH 10A or 20A, MATH 10B or 20B, or MATH 18
  • Choose one course from the list below that has not already been completed:
    • MATH 10A or 20A
    • MATH 10B or 20B
    • MATH 18
    • PHIL 10
    • PHIL 12

1 Computer Programming Course (choose one of the following)

  • CSE 6R, 8A, 8B, 11, 12
  • COGS 18*
  • CSS 1*
  • DSC 10
  • ECE 15*
  • MAE 5, 8*
  • BILD 62^

*Students who plan to pursue research careers in Psychology or related fields will find these courses critical to their success.

^Students who take BILD 62 need to send a VAC message to Psych Advising to apply it to their degree audit.

1 Statistics Course (choose one of the following) - Statistics must be taken for a letter grade.

  • PSYC 60 (preferred)
  • MGT 3
  • BENG 100
  • BIEB 100
  • COGS 14B
  • ECON 120A
  • MATH 11, 181A, 183, 186

1 Research Methods Course (choose one of the following)

  • PSYC 70 (preferred)
  • COGS 14A

2 Business Fundamentals Courses - Business Fundamentals must be taken for a letter grade.

  • MGT 16
  • MGT 18

Research Requirements (8 units, 2 courses)

2 Research Courses (choose one of the following options - a pair of courses)

  • MGT 52 and MGT 151A#^
  • MGT 52 and MGT 151R#^
  • MGT 52 and MGT 153^
  • 2 PSYC 199s**
  • 2 MGT 199s**
  • 1 PSYC 199 and 1 MGT 199**
  • PSYC 194ABC and thesis^

# Students who select MGT 52 and MGT 151A or MGT 52 and MGT 151R to complete their research area will need to send a Virtual Advising Center (VAC) message once they receive a final letter grade in both courses to have this exception applied to their degree audit. 

B.S. Research Paper

^Students who use Research Lab courses from the list above do not have to submit a B.S. Research paper to the Psychology Advising Office.

**Students who satisfy their research requirement using 8 units of PSYC 199s and/or MGT 199s are required to submit a B.S. Research paper to the Psychology Advising Office to fully satisfy their B.S. major requirements. You can learn more about the B.S. Research Paper Guidelines on our website.

B.S. Research Paper section on your Degree Audit: must be manually cleared by a Psychology advisor; therefore, even if you are not required to write a B.S. Research paper: this section will not be marked complete until after one of the advisors reviews and approves your Degree and Diploma Application (DDA).

Upper-Division (UD) Requirements (44 units)

2 Business PSYC Core Courses

  • PSYC 104
  • PSYC 105

2 Additional PSYC Core Courses (choose two of the following)

  • PSYC 100, 101, 102, 106, 108

3 Business MGT Management Courses (choose three of the following)

  • Marketing-related courses: MGT 100, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108R, 109, 129**, 154, 162, 164
  • STEM-related courses: MGT 121A, 121B, 127 or 127R, 128 or 128R, 129**, 154, 162, 164, 167, 172 or 172R, 173
  • Operations-related courses: MGT 117, 129**, 154, 160, 162, 164, 171 or 171R, 174, 175, 176

**MGT 129: ONLY the topics of interpersonal Communication at Work and Developing an Entrepreneurial Workforce will be accepted toward the major.

3 Business PSYC Electives (choose three of the following)

  • PSYC 120, 129, 130, 137, 143, 147, 148*, 151*, 152, 153, 154, 157, 158, 161, 162, 173, 176, 178*, 184, 187

*Students must choose at least one of these courses. 

1 Additional PSYC Elective (choose one from the following)

  • PSYC 100-111, 122-193
  • PSYC 195P (one 4-unit course)

*Students may use one 4-unit AIP 197 toward the Upper-Division (UD) Psychology Elective requirement. Pre-approval from the Psychology Advising Office is required to count the course toward the Psychology Major.

4yr_BusinessPSYC_plan

 Additional Notes for Suggested 4-Year Plan:

  • Visit your College Advisor to add your remaining GE, college, and university requirements 
  • If you have a double major and/or a minor, visit your other major/minor advisor to add your remaining double major/minor requirements
  • ***If you plan on completing an approved MATH course for your LD Formal Skills requirement, please review the MathWays page for more information related to Math placement at UC San Diego. You may need to take the Math Placement Exam (MPE) to confirm whether you will need to complete Preparatory Math courses (MATH 2, MATH 3B, or MATH 3C).