Human Services

Purdue University in West Lafayette

If you are interested in working with people to help improve their life circumstances, the human services major may be an excellent choice for you. Students in this major are concerned about today's individuals and families and want to help them find solutions to challenging circumstances. Human services graduates are prepared for a variety of helping roles in community-based programs, health-related social services and mental health organizations.

The human services curriculum is designed to provide students with knowledge and theory in human development and family science, skills for working with children, adults and families, and program evaluation skills. The culminating capstone experience in this major is a semester-long internship with a human service agency.

The human services major offers an optional concentration in addiction studies. Students who complete this concentration earn an addiction studies certificate from Ivy Tech Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and are eligible to apply for Indiana’s bachelor’s-level, pre-supervision license in the field of addiction counseling (LACA). This is a rare opportunity be licensed at the bachelor’s level and to contribute to the urgent need for qualified professionals in the field of addiction treatment and recovery.

The home of the human services major is the Department of Human Development and Family Science, located in Hanley Hall and Fowler House. In HDFS, all undergraduate students experience great academics, personal attention and real-world experience.

Human services majors are eligible to pursue either the accelerated five-year Master of Public Health (MPH) or Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) degrees. Human services majors can also pursue a Certificate in Gerontology.