Human Services major is for students interested in a career as a helping professional, broadly trained to provide direct service, advocacy and coordination of services. Students acquire a more specialized professional education because the degree program incorporates concentration areas, which emphasize specific areas of service.
Explore program focus areas
Choose one of seven focus areas to a Bachelor of Human Services degree.
Focus Area 1: Corrections
Courses in corrections are appropriate for students interested in community and institutional corrections. Students concerned about the correctional system as a social or community problem can explore these concerns through studies of juvenile delinquency, criminology and the criminal justice system. Students who wish to become corrections professionals in the public and private sectors should develop knowledge and skills in the humanities, communications, political science, counseling and intervention, human services, law, management, human resource management, and psychology as well as in corrections studies. There is a great diversity in the degree of knowledge necessary for the many different careers associated with corrections.
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Download a Corrections Checklist
Focus Area 2: Disability Studies
The disability studies concentration provides a comprehensive background of issues relevant to persons with disabilities throughout the life span. In addition, the Disability Studies curriculum is constructed to address policy issues affecting persons with disabilities. The BHS-DS concentration embraces the philosophy of the Disability Rights Movement that focuses on self-determination, civil rights, and culture.
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Download a Disability Studies Checklist
Download a Disability Studies Fact Sheet
Focus Area 3: Family Studies
The human services family studies focus is designed to expose and engage students in a variety of topics related to family function, family structure and family dynamics. Family studies is a multidisciplinary area. It is informed by sociological, historical, anthropological, psychological and other emerging perspectives. Students learn that families are shaped by and adapt to a range of economic, political, cultural and psychological factors.
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Download a Family Studies Checklist
Focus Area 4: Human Services Administration
Human services administration focuses on preparation for various administrative positions in a range of public and private nonprofit human service organizations. This area provides knowledge and skills for people who are, or intend to be, involved in planning, organizing, monitoring, evaluating, or coordinating social service programs or agencies.
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Download a Human Services Administration Checklist
Focus Area 5: Gerontology
Metropolitan State has responded to the need for education in the field of gerontology (53 credits) by developing courses, independent studies and internships covering the social, psychological and physical aspects of aging.
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Download a Gerontology Checklist
Focus Area 5: Training and Adult Development
Training and adult development focuses on preparing individuals to assess employees' training needs, plan and coordinate training activities, and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs and activities within public and private organizations. The training and adult development major increases one's ability to work in any type of organization. The major is especially useful for a variety of fields, including corrections, human resources, law enforcement, general human services, nursing, psychology, social work and communications.
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Download a Training & Adult Development Checklist
Focus Area 6: Violence Prevention and Intervention
The human services violence prevention and intervention (VPI) concentration (49 credits) is a multidisciplinary curriculum focusing on violence prevention and intervention. It is comprised of 32 required credits and 12 credits in one of three tracks: Family Violence, Intervention and Prevention, or, Law and Corrections.
The VPI concentration increases students' competence in a variety of fields, including corrections, general human services, law enforcement, nursing, psychology and social work to work together across disciplines to promote effective intervention in violence and abuse at the individual, family and community levels.
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Download a Violence Prevention & Intervention Checklist
Get more information about the Human Services (BHS) program
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