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2023 Best Psychology Schools

633 Colleges
$35,611 Avg Salary
$25,989 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Psychology School for You

In 2020-2021, 42,013 psychology students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #8 most popular in the country.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Psychology Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 633 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Psychology Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Psychology Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools in Psychology

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in the United States for psychology students. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Psychology at Stanford University

#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for psychology students. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

Read More…

#3

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Notre Dame is a great place for psychology students. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.

Full Psychology at University of Notre Dame Report

#4

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

The excellent programs at Princeton University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best psychology schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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#5

Yale University

New Haven, CT

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Yale University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Psychology Schools list. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of New Haven.

Full Psychology at Yale University Report

#6

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for psychology students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

#7

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Harvard University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for psychology students. It came in at #7 on the list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.

Read full report on Psychology at Harvard University

#8

Brandman University

Irvine, CA

Brandman University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Schools ranking. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

Read full report on Psychology at Brandman University

#9

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. Located in the large city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Full Psychology at Georgetown University Report

#10

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Psychology Schools list. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.

Full Psychology at Cornell University Report

Washington University in St Louis landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Psychology at Washington University in St Louis

#12

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

With a ranking of #12, Villanova University did quite well on this year’s best schools for psychology students. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.

Full Psychology at Villanova University Report

#13

Fielding Graduate University

Santa Barbara, CA

With a ranking of #13, Fielding Graduate University did quite well on this year’s best schools for psychology students. Fielding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Barbara.

Read full report on Psychology at Fielding Graduate University

#14

The Graduate Center, CUNY

New York, NY

The Graduate Center, CUNY landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York.

Full Psychology at The Graduate Center, CUNY Report

#15

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for psychology students. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Psychology at University of Chicago

#16

Palo Alto University

Palo Alto, CA

Palo Alto University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Schools ranking. Pacific Graduate School of Psychology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Palo Alto.

Read More…

#17

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Psychology at Brown University Report

#18

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on Psychology at University of Pennsylvania

#19

Pillar College

Newark, NJ

Pillar College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Newark, Pillar is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Psychology at Pillar College

Southern Methodist University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for psychology students. It came in at #20 on the list. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Dallas.

Read full report on Psychology at Southern Methodist University

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Chicago ranked #21 on this year’s Best Psychology Schools list. Located in the large city of Chicago, The Chicago School Chicago Campus is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read More…

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. Embry-Riddle Worldwide is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Daytona Beach.

Read full report on Psychology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles ranked #23 on this year’s Best Psychology Schools list. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Full Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles Report

#24

Saint Joseph's University

Philadelphia, PA

Saint Joseph’s University landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. St. Joe's is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Full Psychology at Saint Joseph’s University Report

#25

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best psychology programs. Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read More…

Rest of the Top 50 Best Psychology Schools

#26

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA
#27

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA
#28

Rice University

Houston, TX
#32

University of Georgia

Athens, GA
#33

Trinity University

San Antonio, TX
#37

Touro University Worldwide

Los Alamitos, CA
#39

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX
#40

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
#41

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#44

Aurora University

Aurora, IL
#45

Endicott College

Beverly, MA
#46

Tufts University

Medford, MA
#47

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN
#48

Rider University

Lawrenceville, NJ

Additional Award Winners

This list represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Psychology Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 633 different United States psychology schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Seattle University Seattle, WA
52 Minnesota State University - Moorhead Moorhead, MN
53 Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO
54 Brandeis University Waltham, MA
55 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
56 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
57 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
58 William James College Newton, MA
59 Marian University Fond Du Lac, WI
60 University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
61 The Wright Institute Berkeley, CA
62 The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Irvine Irvine, CA
63 American University Washington, DC
64 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
65 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL
66 Arizona State University - Skysong Scottsdale, AZ
67 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
68 Teachers College at Columbia University New York, NY
69 Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY
70 Spalding University Louisville, KY
71 University of St Thomas Minnesota Saint Paul, MN
72 Emory University Atlanta, GA
73 Loras College Dubuque, IA
74 Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC
75 North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND
76 University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN
77 Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA
78 Fort Hays State University Hays, KS
79 University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO
80 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
81 University of Rochester Rochester, NY
82 Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA
83 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
84 California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA
85 Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN
86 Montclair State University Montclair, NJ
87 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
88 Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA
89 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
90 Hofstra University Hempstead, NY
91 University of Wisconsin - River Falls River Falls, WI
92 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA
93 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
94 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Psychology Schools award.

Rank College Location
95 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
96 University of Houston Houston, TX
97 California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA
98 University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA
99 Mount Saint Mary’s University Los Angeles, CA
100 The University of Texas of the Permian Basin Odessa, TX
101 John Carroll University University Heights, OH
102 Biola University La Mirada, CA
103 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
104 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
104 George Washington University Washington, DC
106 Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN
107 Golden Gate University - San Francisco San Francisco, CA
108 Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN
109 Pacific University Forest Grove, OR
110 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
111 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX
112 Rowan University Glassboro, NJ
113 Holy Names University Oakland, CA
114 Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO
115 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
116 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
117 Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL
118 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
119 Miami University - Oxford Oxford, OH
120 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
121 Simmons University Boston, MA
122 Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI
123 Adler University Chicago, IL
124 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI
125 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
126 University of Nevada - Reno Reno, NV

Psychology by Region

View the Best Psychology Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Psychology Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 29,224
General Psychology 8,051
Child Development & Psychology 2,576
Other Psychology 2,162

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 199,724
Social Sciences 22,292
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Nevit Dilmen.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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