About HDEV

About Department of Human Development (HDEV)

A bachelor’s degree in Human Development prepares students to enter directly into the workforce and contribute significantly by applying human development in community-based settings. CSULB’s Human Development major also provides excellent preparation for graduate programs in applied human development, anthropology, counseling, criminal justice, developmental psychology, family studies, gerontology, law, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, public health, school psychology, social work, and theology. See HDEV Career Pathways for other career ideas. 

The Department of Human Development is interdisciplinary, applied, engaged, and international.  

Interdisciplinary 

A hallmark of HDEV is its interdisciplinary focus. Students have the advantage of developing a critical understanding of the human experience through multiple lenses. HDEV students learn to think in critical and complex ways about individual and social phenomena, an effort in keeping with a traditional liberal arts education but one that prepares graduates to live and work in a diverse and dynamic global society. 

Applied and Engaged 

Our graduates are set apart through the experience they gain by successfully completing the internship capstone course, HDEV 470: Practicum and Seminar. Our internship program is among the best at CSULB. Typically during the final semester, students select an internship site in line with their professional goals. This guided internship provides a concrete and practical bridge between school and the workplace and is a valuable resume-builder in a competitive job market. A significant number of our students are offered paid positions at their former internship site each semester.  

In response to the department’s commitment to foster and maintain partnerships with community agencies and organizations in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area, HDEV was designated a Service-Learning Engaged Department, pledging to work with the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) to include community-based work in our teaching and research. 

International Focus 

Another unique feature of HDEV is its international focus in both curricular content and classroom experience. In addition, our commitment to internationalization goes well beyond the conventional classroom. HDEV faculty are actively involved in cross-national collaborations to benefit our students by engaging them in a multicultural world.