About the School

Division of Health and Behavioral Sciences Faculty

College of Applied and Natural Sciences Website

Each of the graduate psychology programs at SPU is unique, with options including Marriage and Family Therapy, Research Psychology (one-year), doctoral Clinical Psychology, doctoral and masters-level Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and a post-master's Certificate in Medical Family Therapy.

These graduate programs share a common core commitment to rigorous learning standards informed by faith, and your chosen graduate program will help prepare you to serve with character and competence.

Our Mission

The faculty, staff, and students of the Behavioral Science Graduate Programs at Seattle Pacific University strive to become a community of learners:

1. Guided by faith
   1. Exploring the implications of vital expressions of Christian faith for the human condition and fostering emotional and relational healing and health.
2. Rooted in academic discipline
   1. Fostering rigorous and creative learning environments, as well as contributing primary scholarship to the scientific study of psychological and social processes.
3. Committed to service
   1. Grounding our learning community in the theory, research and application of our disciplines in order to produce skilled graduates who can serve with character and competence in a broken world.
   2. Nurturing creative partnerships with our local community and beyond in order to serve in, and learn from, socially and culturally diverse settings.

Doctoral

Master's

Certificates

Dual Degrees

4+1 Program in Neuroscience (BS) and Research Psychology (MS)

The accelerated 4+1 Pathway allows high-achieving students to earn both a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and a Master of Science in Research Psychology in just five years. The combination of hands-on laboratory experience and advanced training in methodology and statistics equips students for data-driven careers in biomedical or psychological research and application. Neuroscience majors admitted to the MS in Research Psychology will complete up to 14 credits of graduate-level coursework during their senior year, with courses counting for both their bachelor's and master’s degrees. Students interested in completing this 4+1 Pathway should apply to SPU as a Neuroscience major. At the end of their sophomore or junior year, students meeting the minimum GPA requirement may apply to the MS in Research Psychology program.