Find Your Passion & Purpose
Learn about human development, the issues people face and how to help them live fulfilling lives.
Human Development & Family Relations Major
Learn to help individuals and families solve problems related to child development, family relations, aging, nutritional planning and family financial management. You will work closely with highly qualified and caring faculty. Graduate ready to start a meaningful career right away or continue your education in fields like counseling, social work, education or psychology.
What Will I Learn?
Our program prepares you for careers in human service field. Learn about human development, issues people face and how to help them live fulfilling lives.
You may choose to study the general lifespan or specialize in early childhood:
- General Lifespan — Understand the growth and change that occurs throughout the life course from prenatal development through adulthood. A wide range of human services careers involve understanding development across these stages to tailor support, services, and programs to meet the unique needs of different age groups and populations. You will learn to work with individuals, families, and communities to address social, emotional and other important challenges.
- Early Childhood Education Administration — This concentration is unique within the SUNY system and prepares students to become early childhood center directors, Head Start teachers or professionals working in other youth-related agencies.
What is Unique About Our Program?
- Flexible by Design — Shape your degree around your interests with options that fit your career goals. Study in Plattsburgh or at our campus in Queensbury.
- Real-world Experiences Built In — Gain hands-on experiences through field trips to see human services professionals in action and through volunteer work.
- Immersive Fieldwork — Learn to hone your skills and build confidence in a 30-hour practicum and professional internships.
- Eligible for a National Credential — Students in our general lifespan concentration qualify for the Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) designation to show employers you have specialized training in family and human development.
- Earn Credit for What You Already Know — Use Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) in early childhood education administration to turn your experience into college credit, saving time and money.
The best part of the HDFR program is the professional experience you get outside of the classroom. I specialized in child care management but completed my internship in probation; I now use everything I learned in my career.
Brianna, HDFR Graduate
What Are My Career Opportunities?
A human development and family relations degree is highly relevant to a broad range of career opportunities. You will be eligible for a professional job even without a graduate degree and many of our graduates enter the job market immediately after graduation. There is a growing need for social and human services professionals and the market is expected to grow over the next decade.
Graduates holding degrees in human development and family relations from SUNY Plattsburgh are currently working in such diverse fields as:
- Family advocacy
- Child life specialist
- Crisis center counseling
- Youth detention center case work
- Child care centers
- Nursing home activity direction
- Planned Parenthood education
- Mental health services
Pursuing a Graduate Degree
Approximately 25–30 percent of human development and family relations majors pursue advanced degrees in counseling, social work, psychology, law, public administration, or other related fields.
Recent graduates have gone on to master’s programs at SUNY Albany, Hunter College, The College of Saint Rose, University of Buffalo and SUNY Plattsburgh, to name a few.
Recent HDFR Graduate
Sarah Wright, Class of ‘20
- Program and Operations Coordinator, Literacy Volunteers of Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties