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Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

38 Colleges
$19,628 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$62,738 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Psychology Doctor's Degree School for You

Psychology is one of the most popular subjects to study in California. With 7,826 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 5th out of all the majors we track in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 38 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for psychology students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for psychology majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 10 Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Touro University Worldwide

Los Alamitos, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Touro University Worldwide the best value school in California for psychology students working on their doctor’s degree. TUW is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Los Alamitos.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at TUW are $9,000 per year.

TUW excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read More…

#2

Biola University

La Mirada, CA

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Biola University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value psychology schools in California. Located in the large suburb of La Mirada, Biola is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Biola are $12,006 a year.

Read full report on Psychology at Biola University

#3

Fielding Graduate University

Santa Barbara, CA

Out of the 38 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Fielding Graduate University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Fielding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Santa Barbara.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fielding are $18,718 a year.

Fielding did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Psychology at Fielding Graduate University Report

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means San Diego State University is a great value for psychology students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SDSU graduate students pay an average of $9,570 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Psychology at San Diego State University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $13,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Psychology at University of California - San Diego Report

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $14,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also made our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

Read full report on Psychology at University of California - Berkeley

#7

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

National University graduate students pay an average of $15,480 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

University of California - Los Angeles came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 20% of our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

Full Psychology at University of California - Los Angeles Report

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus are $23,918 a year.

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

#10

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Northcentral University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northcentral University are $18,207 a year.

Full Psychology at Northcentral University Report

Best Value Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 406
Oregon 367
Nevada 88
Hawaii 140
Alaska 23

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.

  • 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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