Human Development & Family Science

Our human development and family science program will give you the professional preparation you need in the working world, along with the knowledge to evaluate and understand children, families, their diverse relationships, and human development in a range of settings.

If you are creative, flexible, resourceful, able to work well with others, have a positive attitude, and want to spend your life helping others, human development and family science is the program for you.

The human development and family science program focuses on various stages of human growth and development over the lifespan, families in society, diverse relationships within families, human sexuality, family resource management, parenting and family law and public policy. You’ll be trained to integrate your knowledge of child/adolescent development, adult life stages and human relations into a service-oriented career.

As a human development and family science major, you will learn:

• problem solving,
• organizational skills,
• research skills,
• communication skills,
• professional writing skills,
• curriculum planning skills, and
• grant writing skills

Internships & Experiential Learning

The required internship is a cornerstone of your human development and family science education. Internships help you gain the practical and on-the-ground experience you need to jump-start your career.

Every semester over 100 internship sites—mostly non-profit organizations and governmental agencies—are invited to recruit human development and family science interns. The internship sites often hire our graduates, if positions are available, and sometimes positions are created for the graduates.

We also make sure our students have other experiential learning experience before graduation. Our students work with the Early Childhood Laboratory, which has served the children of faculty, staff, and community for 40 years. In the lab, our human development and family science students learn about the needs of their young charges and develop and carry out curricula for the children who attend.

Career Opportunities

Our graduates find careers in a range of companies, agencies, and organizations, like assisted living facilities, nursing homes, child care centers, rape crisis centers, battered women’s shelters, and hospices.

Our program is also designed so you can become a certified family life educator faster through the National Council on Family Relations’ abbreviated application process. Learn more about the courses you need for the NCFR application.

If you’d like to know more about becoming a family life educator, visit the NCFR website or contact us — 75% of our faculty hold certified family life educator credentials.

This program prepares its students for licensure or certification within the state of Louisiana. Please visit the list of licensure programs for important information if you plan to move out of state.

See more career opportunities for human development and family science graduates >

Apply for Admission

Ready to be a part of our program and department? Visit the admissions website for the admissions requirements and online application.