Unlock the Secret Degree No One Saw Coming: Yep, You Can Now Get a PhD in Happiness—Is the Universe Finally Playing Favorites?
Added on July 27, 2025 inASTROLOGY CARDS
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Ever wondered if happiness could be studied like a science—and no, I’m not talking about binge-watching your favorite sitcom on a rainy day (though that helps). Picture this: a university in New Jersey is rolling out the world’s very first Ph.D. in Happiness Studies. Yes, you read that right—a doctorate in finding joy, purpose, and well-being, through rigorous research across psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, and even finance. Now, before you ask if Mercury’s in retrograde again or if the stars are just messing with us, consider this curious cosmic coincidence: as tech and social media spiral ever deeper into our lives under this digital-age Gemini, happiness scores in America have actually dipped over the past 25 years. The universe may be nudging us to study what makes us truly tick—and maybe tickled pink, too! So if you’ve ever thought, “Could I get a Ph.D. in being happy?”—Centenary University just said, “Absolutely!” Get ready, happiness just went academic on us, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what astrologers, scientists, and everyday folks alike will discover next. LEARN MORE.
Happiness is something we all want in life. We may have our own definitions of what happiness looks like, but many of us share a general desire for a sense of well-being, joy, and purpose. But what if you were given the opportunity to learn not only how to be happy, but also how to research this critical emotion? A university in NJ is offering a groundbreaking chance to graduate students with a doctorate program in Happiness.
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Centenary University, located in Hackettstown, New Jersey, created a doctorate program to continue the success of its Master of Arts degree in Happiness Studies. The four-year Ph.D. program takes place in a fully virtual format and will launch just in time for the fall 2025 semester.
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Taking an evidence-based and research-focused approach, the program requires 66 credits in a range of disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, finance, literature, religion, and more. Students will become experts in the science of well-being and happiness, and understand its implications for individuals, workplaces, and society as a whole.
“Organizations recognize the high economic and human costs associated with mental health difficulties, and the numerous benefits flourishing employees provide. Employees today are looking for more than a paycheck,” said the director of Centenary’s happiness studies programs, Tal Ben-Shahar. “They want meaning and purpose, quality of life, and a sense of connection within the workplace. Graduates of Centenary’s Master of Arts in Happiness Studies and the Ph.D. program will be the leaders who will bring this into the workplace and our society.”
The master’s program, which launched in 2022, had its first graduating class in 2024. Eighty-seven students from 13 different countries, including the United States, Brazil, India, Israel, China, and South Africa, graduated with a first-of-its-kind degree.
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Robert Battistini, Ph.D., interim academic vice president at Centenary, addressed the global impact of the program, claiming, “In the beginning, there were a lot of skeptics. Yet, at Centenary, we’re seeing a real hunger for deeply informed mindfulness. Dr. Ben-Shahar combines the latest research with ancient wisdom from around the world, making the content highly relevant to people today.”
Centenary University President Dale Caldwell, Ed.D., has big plans to expand the discipline, like adding a Bachelor of Arts and various classes in Happiness Studies. He expects other schools to follow in Centenary’s footsteps, adding, “We have become a role model for other institutions in the United States and other countries, and now our graduates will be the ambassadors who go out to spread this important intellectual, emotional, and psychological movement around the world.”
The University of Chicago’s General Social Survey has gathered data on happiness levels in adults in the U.S. for over 50 years. Researchers examined the results across a multitude of socioeconomic factors, including gender, race, age, and education.
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Though the mean happiness score since the beginning of the survey is 22 (meaning there are 22 more happy Americans than sad ones out of 100 people), that score started declining in 2000. It ranges around 18 to 19 over the last decade, showing lower levels of happiness in recent years.
That’s concerning, and according to the World Happiness Report, it is directly linked to increased tech and social media usage. With AI use growing by the second, the digital landscape is changing rapidly, and tech usage is only going to increase in the years ahead, making Happiness Studies even more integral to life in general. Naysayers can deny the value of studying human happiness, but they can’t deny the fact that, as a society, we are struggling, and leaving things as they are isn’t helping.
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Hopefully, the new Happiness Studies program will provide students with the knowledge and expertise to help increase happiness for people in all aspects of life, from work to home. We all deserve to prioritize joy, and now young people are being taught how to do that.
Kayla Asbach is a writer currently working on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Florida. She covers relationships, psychology, self-help, pop culture, and human interest topics.
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