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Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Surrey , British Columbia ,Canada

Bachelor of Applied Arts in Psychology

The Bachelor of Applied Arts degree program is geared towards helping students gain the skills and experience necessary to be job-skills ready. The Bachelor of Applied Arts also emphasizes research skills, and gives students a bit of the grad school experience and skills, without going to graduate school. The program is more rigorous and challenging than the more flexible Bachelor of Arts but includes courses hand-picked by faculty and employers to target hard and soft job skills. The Bachelor of Applied Arts is ideally suited for students interested in workplace expertise, tests and measurements, and UX design.

Lower-level students establish a foundation of knowledge in psychology, before concentrating on applications of psychology to modern community and workplace settings for their upper-level work. Required courses provide students with general, transferable workplace skills (e.g., Interpersonal Relations), as well as specific knowledge and skills used in a variety of public and private sector jobs such as program evaluation and technical writing. Electives provide further training in additional areas selected by the student.

Students also participate in a workplace practicum coordinated by KPU and co-supervised by faculty and employers in relevant fields of employment. This practicum placement will assist students in gaining work experience and in meeting potential future employers.

Those interested in further study and graduate school or who prefer more extensive research experience may augment their knowledge and skills by taking the research-focused Honours program in Psychology. The Honours program affords students an opportunity to develop and report on a research project under the direct supervision of a faculty member within the Psychology Department.

Intakes

  • Sep
  • Jan
  • May

Application Processing Time in Days: 7

Application Process

Offer Letter
20 Days
Letter of Acceptance
3 Days

Minimum English Language Requirements

English Level Description IELTS (1.0 -9.0) TOEFL IBT (0-120) TOEFL CBT (0-300) PTE (10-90)
Expert 9 120 297-300 86-90
Very Good 8.5 115-119 280-293 83-86
Very Good 8 110-114 270-280 79-83
Good 7.5 102-109 253-267 73-79
Good 7 94-101 240-253 65-73
Competent 6.5 79-93 213-233 58-65
Competent 6 60-78 170-210 50-58
Modest 5.5 46-59 133-210 43-50
Modest 5 35-45 107-133 36-43
Limited 4 32-34 97-103 30-36
Extremely Limited < 4 < 31 < 93 < 30

Job Opportunity Potential

The Bachelor of Applied Arts in Psychology was developed in consultation with employers throughout the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. These employers indicated that graduates of the BAA (Psychology) program are qualified for positions such as program evaluators, research analysts, project consultants, user experience designers, human resources advisors, and health planning consultants. Past graduates have found employment in such areas as health research, human resources, market research, psychological testing and crisis services, product usability research, autism intervention, education, and corrections. Graduates of the BAA (Psychology) with Honours have gone on to graduate studies in Clinical Psychology, Counselling Psychology, Gerontology, Education, School Psychology, Experimental Psychology, and Public Policy, to name only a few areas. Students in the program should consult with an Arts Degree Advisor to select courses best suited to their career objectives.

PSW Opportunity

If your program was less than 8 months

  •  You aren’t eligible for a PGWP.

If your program was more than 8 months but less than 2 years

  •  We may give you a PGWP that’s valid for up to the same length as your study program.

For example, if you completed a 9-month program, we may give you a work permit for up to 9 months.

If your program was 2 years or more

  •  We may give you a PGWP that’s valid for 3 years.

If you completed more than 1 program

  •  You may be able to get a PGWP that combines the length of each program.

Each of the programs you completed -

  • must be PGWP-eligible and at least 8 months in length

Admission Requirement / Eligibility Criteria

To be admitted as a student in an undergraduate program, you must show that:

  • You meet KPU’s Undergraduate English Proficiency Requirement
  • You have graduated from high school (secondary school) or completed 24 or more undergraduate-level credits with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0*

*Don’t meet this requirement? If you will be 19 years of age or older on the first day of classes, it’s possible to be admitted as a mature student at the discretion of the Registrar. Get in touch with KPU International for more info.

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