Information about Human Development and Family Studies 

The Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) major prepares students for careers in human service professions working with individuals and families.  An HDFS degree also can provide an excellent foundation for either graduate school in the social, behavioral, and health sciences or for advanced professional training in clinical and counseling psychology, social work, law, business, medicine, dentistry, and the allied health professions.  This major is distinctive in its view of the whole person ad the entire human life span from infancy to old age.  Our interdisciplinary approach helps students develop knowledge either for practical applications or as a base for graduate study.

A scientific approach is used in understanding development, change, and the differences among individuals and families over time and in different communities and cultures.  Through this approach, students develop the skills necessary to understand diversity in human development.  Diversity education is emphasized in all areas of the major. 
 

Why choose HDFS? 

The nation’s elderly population is growing, child abuse occurs all too frequently, single parent families are rapidly increasing, and greater numbers of children are in daycare.  Because of these and other trends, the demand for HDFS graduates is strong.  Graduates work in day-care centers, drug and alcohol treatment centers, hospitals, child and domestic abuse centers, runaway shelters, and other service agencies.  The rapidly growing number of older people is expected to spur job growth for activity directors in nursing homes, retirement communities, adult day care programs, and social service agencies.  “Human service worker” is a term used to describe a number of different job titles such as case manager, alcohol or drug abuse counselor, mental health case worker, child abuse worker, gerontology aide, adult daycare worker, and community outreach worker.  Recent HDFS graduates have been employed in settings involved with prevention of child sexual abuse, caring for dying patients and their families at a hospice, and counseling clients at a correctional facility or a substance abuse rehabilitation center.  Graduates may also find employment in business and industry, or agency administration, using their understanding of people, their knowledge of group dynamics, and their skills in training and in program development and evaluation.

What do HDFS Students Learn?

As an HDFS student you will learn about concepts and research that have helped us to understand human development across the life span.  You will learn how people and families develop—biologically, psychologically, and socially.  You will study individuals and families in your own and other cultures, and learn how the family, the workplace, the community, and the larger culture affect and are affected by the individual.  Along with a solid background in the basic knowledge about the development of individuals and families, you will also study problems such as child and spouse abuse, drug addiction, and divorce.  You will learn skills for helping individuals, families, or groups through prevention or intervention techniques.  In addition to examining specific problems such as child abuse and divorce, you will learn how human service agencies and professionals deal with these problems.  You will study moral, ethical, and legal issues you will face as professionals and learn to evaluate alternative approaches to promoting optimal development.  Also, you are encouraged to develop the leadership and managerial skills necessary for success in administration and evaluation of human service programs.

World Campus

Some HDFS courses and the associate degree are offered online through the Penn State World Campus.  Courses taken through the World Campus may satisfy some requirements for a HDFS bachelor’s degree.

Continuing Education

Some HDFS courses are offered off-campus through Continuing Education.  The Associate Degree can be obtained at the St. Marys location, and some courses that may be applicable to the bachelor’s degree are available at St. Marys and possibly Clearfield in the future.  Continuing Education also offers certificate programs in HDFS, Adult Development and Aging Services, Children, Youth and Family Services, and Early Childhood Care and Education.  Information on these programs can be found on the Continuing Education web site  (http://www.ds.psu.edu/ContinuingEd/AcademicPrograms.htm ).