HDFS Undergraduate Programs
Family Studies Option
Premedicine: Our newest specialization
This multidisciplinary program of study is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of family relationships across the lifespan, including parent-child and parent-adolescent relationships, couple and marital relationships, and interpersonal and family relationships during the middle and later years of adulthood.
The program option prepares interested students for positions and/or careers working with agencies or organizations serving children and families via coursework and supervised practice in agencies in the community (field work).
Or this program can be a springboard to graduate education or professional training.
The core curriculum includes courses focusing on human development, family development, parenting, family stress, human service organizations, helping skills, courtship and marriage, and human sexuality.
Areas of Professional Specialization
In addition to the core courses, students have the unique opportunity to select one of the following six areas of professional specialization to match their career interests or goals for graduate education.
- Premedicine
- Family/Community Human Services
- Aging Studies
- Adolescent/At-Risk Youth
- Intimacy/Sexuality Studies
- Social Policy and Population Studies
By choosing the Family Studies option, students can prepare for professional and managerial roles in human service professions, in nonprofit and public agencies, as well as for graduate school and professional training, including medical school.
Through the course work and field work opportunities, students develop skills relevant to their career objectives, such as communication and active listening skills, program planning and evaluation. They can gain internship experience working in family service agencies, or prepare to apply to graduate school in a related field.
What Can I do With This Degree?
- Community Center Director
- Direct service or administrative positions in social service agencies
- Extension Agent (requires a master's degree)
- Probation/Parole Officer
- Senior Center Coordinator
- Social Service Coordinator
- Youth Service Worker
- Continue on to graduate school in areas emphasized through the specialization area, such as medical school or a master's degree in counseling, social work, occupational therapy, etc.
Family Studies Program Sheet (pdf) - Applies to students admitted to the College of Education and Human Ecology from Summer 2010 to Spring 2011.
Please register if you wish to attend an upcoming information session about the Family Studies option.
The undergraduate program has received approval from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) as containing coursework that addresses the ten family life content areas needed for the Provisional Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) designation. Please see the National Council on Family Relations website for more information about becoming a CFLE.
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