Their undergraduate program is seen as preparation for graduate work in family and human development, marriage and family therapy, developmental psychology, and related areas. Some jobs require master's degrees or doctoral-level preparation. Program advisers can help students tailor their choice of electives to their individual career goals. In fact, an adviser can help to put together a program with any number of possibilities. One particular advantage of the human development program is the opportunity for undergraduate students to gain practical experience, and many work with faculty on independent research projects.
Human development strives to educate students who are committed to and engaged in their communities.
Therefore, students are strongly encouraged to complete an internship in an approved community agency. The human development program maintains the University's Social Science Quantitative Suite, which includes a laboratory teaching room and six experimental project rooms as well as storage areas for social science research. In addition, human development maintains the Animal Physiology Laboratory, and houses an extensive collection of psychological and educational tests for classroom, community, and scholarly use. The human development minor adds a broad, interdisciplinary component to a traditional social science major such as psychology, sociology, or anthropology. For students who major in professional programs such as education, social work, or business administration, the minor adds a strong, liberal arts foundation to their programs of study.