Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations

Format: Online
Application Deadlines
  • Spring 2025 Priority Deadline: November 4, 2024
  • Spring 2025 Regular Deadline: December 2, 2024

Beginning in Summer 2021, the BA in Human Relations degree program will be offered as a fully online asynchronous program (with very few exceptions in Fall 2021 for upper-level in-person classes for students who began this program in-person). Starting in Spring 2022, all courses in the HRL program will be offered fully online asynchronously. Any questions pertaining to the program should be directed to Lianna Scull, Assistant Director, Sociology and Human Relations programs.

Human Relations is a field of study for those who enjoy working with people, and have good ideas about how to make the workplace more effective and satisfying. The BA in Human Relations degree prepares students to understand and skillfully respond to various challenges of human behavior, interaction, and relationships in our evolving and increasingly global, diverse, and technologically oriented world of work. Additionally, students gain the leadership, managerial, and supervisory skills to advance within their organizations.

Drawing on the fields of psychology, sociology, business, communications, and the humanities, students examine the organizational forms, practices, and policies that can foster or hinder the development of productive relationships and organizational success.  Students develop the necessary knowledge and skills to make these relations and their workplaces more effective.

Students in the program:

  • Evaluate workplace problems, and construct and communicate well-researched and relevant solutions. 
  • Utilize key human relations, sociological, and psychological concepts to foster collaboration, motivation, and employee engagement. 
  • Investigate how various forms of social inequality and difference impact human relations in the workplace, and contribute to efforts to improve organizational policy and culture. 
  • Develop relevant strategies for conflict prevention, negotiation, and resolution in workplace settings.

For Information About This Program

Please contact Lianna Scull at lianna.scull@cuny.edu.

Career Prospects

Students of the program are prepared to enter or further their careers in a wide spectrum of government, corporate, and non-profit organizations in areas such as health care, human and social services, education, public administration, business, coaching, and human resources. The degree also offers students a solid foundation to pursue graduate studies in organizational behavior and development, industrial/organizational psychology, human resources, social work, healthcare management, business and public administration, and applied sociology.

Articulation Agreements

Articulation agreements are formal agreements between CUNY School of Professional Studies, (CUNY SPS) and two-year colleges and universities, allowing students to transfer the maximum number of credits with ease to our BA in Human Relations program from institutions with which we have an established transfer process in place.

Scholarship Opportunities

Admissions Criteria

Applicants must possess at least 24 transferrable credits from an accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants need to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing, and math.

Application Deadlines

  • Spring 2025 Priority Deadline: November 4, 2024
  • Spring 2025 Regular Deadline: December 2, 2024
Apply Now

Student/Alumni Profiles

Nini Larkin

BA in Human Relations 2022

"I hope to participate in CUNY SPS events as a proud alumna. I already see how quickly our School is evolving and can't wait to see its impact in the next five years!"

Parshotam Lal

BA in Human Relations 2021

"Coming to CUNY SPS and finding my passion in the Human Relations program really helped me understand who I am and where I want my education to be applied."

Krystyna Audain

BA in Human Relations

"I chose the BA Human Relations degree at CUNY SPS because I believe it is a degree that STANDS OUT. The course structure will challenge, motivate, and inspire you to not just be a better professional, but also a better person."

Samaya Yashayeva

BA in Human Relations

"My inspiration for completing the bachelor’s degree in human relations is to show my four children and me that anything is possible."

Recent News About Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations

CUNY SPS student working on classwork

Circle of Success Expands Programming to Support SEEK Students

August 22, 2024

SEEK students participated in a three-part series of workshops presented by alums in the Circle of Success program during the Spring semester. 

CUNY SPS Student Holding Laptop Smiles with School Sign Behind Her

Why I Chose CUNY SPS

July 29, 2024

Several CUNY SPS students describe why they chose the School and the ways that their education is changing their lives.

Graduates smiling at 2024 Commencement Ceremony

CUNY SPS Honors Class of 2024 With Nod to Family’s Role In Educational Success

May 30, 2024

Over 1300 graduates celebrated their big day amid speeches highlighting the power of family to model success and provide support.

CUNY SPS Sociology and Human Relations Professor Melanie Lorek

Post-Socialist Architecture and Memories in Berlin and Beyond

April 04, 2024

Journal of Urban History

Melanie Lorek, assistant professor of Sociology and Human Relations, published a review essay, "Post-Socialist Architecture and Memories in Berlin and Beyond," in the Journal of Urban History.