APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major: Version 3.0 captures a set of optimal expectations for performance by undergraduates engaged in the study of psychological science.
Guidelines 3.0 were approved by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2023. This second revision supersedes the previous guidelines (Guidelines 2.0). It will expire in 10 years.
Guidelines 3.0 maintains the five-goal structure that was introduced in Guidelines 2.0, although some of the titles have been revised. Specifically, there are five broad educational goals and corresponding student learning outcomes that outline reasonable program expectations for the undergraduate psychology major across educational contexts. Indicators of progress on student learning outcomes represent two levels of development. “Foundation” indicators roughly represent progress that students may be expected to make midway through the major. As such, the outcomes may be helpful for psychological science programs at the 2-year level or the psychology minor in a 4-year program. “Baccalaureate” indicators represent an appropriate endpoint for the completion of the major. The progression describes expectations for how a student would undertake the journey of a novice in the discipline to the status of a reasonably informed and skilled undergraduate student on the completion of a 4-year program.
This revision includes an emphasis on the scientific foundation of psychology and its broad application, greater attention to workforce preparation, consideration of global perspectives, elaborated expectations regarding ethical behavior across contexts, stronger representation of measurement, research methods, and statistics, and infusion of equity, diversity, and inclusion across goal domains.