Online Behavioral Psychology Degree Guide

Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, could be a good fit for you if you’re drawn to the connection between the human mind, the environment, and people’s actions.

An online degree in behavioral psychology can lead to diverse career paths in many different sectors.

You can expect to spend four years in your behavioral psychology program, focusing on the interactions between human thoughts and actions.

Behavioral psychology programs are interdisciplinary, involving psychology, sociology, communication, anthropology, and political science.

The classes you’ll take include ethics in applied behavior analysis, social statistics, qualitative methods, and cultural diversity. Your statistics and research coursework will teach you how to collect and analyze data.

These programs are designed for those who want to help people understand and improve their behavior. Once you earn your behavioral psychology degree, you can pursue entry-level roles in social services, human resources, and even market research, to name a few career paths.

The goal of behavioral psychology degree programs is to prepare students to help clients make positive behavioral changes and promote general wellness.

In your interdisciplinary courses, you’ll study psychology, sociology, communication, and other fields to understand human interaction. Some courses you’ll likely take include:

Behavioral psychology degree programs typically take four years to complete. You’ll likely need to earn around 120 credits in general education and core courses as well as electives.

You can speed up this process by transferring credits and earning credit for life experience. For example, Purdue Global lets students who transfer credits and apply work and military experience earn their behavioral psychology degrees in two years.

If you’re a busy adult who is seeking flexibility, you can pursue an online behavioral psychology program.

Based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average net cost of a bachelor’s program was $15,200 at public colleges and universities and $29,700 at private schools during the 2021-2022 academic year. This is the most recent available data.

To give you some real-world examples, the University of Arizona Global Campus charges $460 per credit plus various fees. At DePaul University, you would pay $520 per credit hour.

A bachelor’s degree in behavioral psychology can give you a solid understanding of human behavior and lead to a diverse range of career options.

Workers with a bachelor’s in behavioral psychology often earn above-average salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), social workers earned a median of $58,380 in 2023. Human resources managers earned a median of $136,350 the same year.

See the chart below for more potential career paths and their salaries.

After you earn your bachelor’s in behavioral psychology, you can pursue entry-level roles in social services, human resources, and market research. Your career options include mental health case manager, human resources assistant, and market research analyst.

You can also pursue a graduate degree, such as a master’s or doctoral degree. To become a psychologist, you’ll need an advanced degree in psychology plus supervised experience. You’ll also need to pass licensing exams.

Some roles, such as school psychologist and industrial/organizational psychologist, are accessible with a master’s degree. However, a doctoral degree will let you access high-level leadership and academic roles.