2024 Best Colleges for Cognitive Science

SUMMARY

Going to school for Cognitive Science is a valuable choice and usually a required first step for undergrads trying to enter a career as a learning science researcher, an user interaction designer, or a cognitive speech pathologist. In fact, nationally, cognitive science is an uncommon major ranking as the 147th most popular area of study. Last academic year, there were 2,120 cognitive science graduates. In-state tuition for cognitive science at private colleges is, on average, 4 times more spendy than their public peers.

With only 54 institutions offering cognitive science you may have a smaller selection of institutions you can choose from. If you're hoping to immerse yourself with other cognitive science undergrads, look at universities in California which have more undergrads admitted to cognitive science than any other state. Zooming out, the top region to pursue cognitive science is in the Far West region with University of California-Berkeley, University of California-San Diego, and University of California-Santa Cruz best representing the region. Interestingly, our pick of the best conference to major in cognitive science is the Pacific-12 Conference with University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles, and Stanford University representing the conference. That said, our choice for the best university for cognitive science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You may also want to check out our list of best colleges.

The best school might not actually be the 'best' school for every student. There are many more factors to consider when selecting institution. Things such as campus amenities, transportation services, and food would definitely modify one's inclinations on which college to attend. Here at authority.org, we've weighed the pros and cons for you. If, for example, you want to know which cognitive science university boasts the top campus, the winner is Stanford University. If, for example, you are very interested in which school is home to the best campus, we have a whole page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through government databases, student reviews, professor reviews, and more to compare each major in an unbiased and informative way. You can explore our well researched list for the colleges with the best student life&nbsphere and our selection for the college with the best student life for cognitive science is University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Curious why? Keep reading to learn more about Authority's top choices. Some of our conclusions will probably surprise you.

If cost is a primary deciding factor in your decisions, you might be cautious about Vassar College. Vassar College&nbspappears to be the most expensive school for cognitive science, at least for out of state attendance. We have a page for the most expensive&nbspuniversities that could put the expense of Vassar College&nbspinto perspective. For more context, you may be interested to know that cognitive science is the 40th most expensive degree in the United States, with an average expense of $50,800. To zoom out a little, the most expensive state for cognitive science in the nation is Rhode Island demonstrated by a cost of $57,112 at the main school in the state Brown University. To zoom out even further, the most costly region for cognitive science is unfortunately unavailable due to missing data.

Our cheapest region for cognitive science is the Southeast region which is represented by University of Georgia with a cost of $28,830 and Vanderbilt University with a cost of $50,800. In better news, the most affordable university for cognitive science is The University of Texas at Dallas. Our full list of the most affordable schools can be explored here.

In-state students can expect to pay around $13,400 for a degree in cognitive science. That cost balloons by a lot to an average of $39,200 for the out-of-state public-school student. As such, you might be interested in our selection for the college constituting the best value for cognitive science: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On this page you will find our comprehensive list about the colleges we see as being the best value&nbspoverall. That being said, this discussion is based on the assumption that you are an out-of-state student. The value proposition changes when it comes to in-state tuition, but as we do not know what state(s) you might qualify for in-state tuition, we are approaching this discussion through out-of-state tuition costs.

Earnings for cognitive science majors range widely, but within two-years of completing the major graduates will regularly make around $68,700. While there is much variation in pay; top earners can make up to $117,300. Straight out of university, the minimum earning jobs within the cognitive science field earn $40,900, which could be worse. The top earning graduates from cognitive science studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology&nbspand if you are looking for schools with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The all-around diversity of cognitive science sits very highly, falling in the 99th percentile of majors nationally. The school with the most composite diversity for cognitive science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology&nbspand here you can find our general list for the universities with the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of Cognitive Science only sits in the 71st percentile of all majors. Racial diversity is actually above financial diversity, ranking in the 99th percentile. Asian students compose 33% of those studying cognitive science. Additionally, 60% of undergraduates pursuing a cognitive science major are women.

The median score for cognitive science professors is 4.1 stars, a rating that is 2% greater than the median score for every major; this is a good score. If you are curious about the most popular cognitive science professor nationally, look no further than Mary Boyle at University of California-San Diego. It may come as a shock, but the best rated instructors of cognitive science according to students are at University of California-San Diego. As we including data other than basic rankings it becomes clear that the school possessing the overall best professors for cognitive science is Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One will find an explanation of our evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, as well as many of the best examples of instructors in the U.S.

Finally, the most difficult college to get into for cognitive science is Stanford University. While we are unsure why you would be interested, we have a general list for the hardest colleges to get into. That being said, we do hope you understand that considering the education process through a lens only derived from superlatives could be said to be the root of many of higher education's fundamental problems. We at Authority hope you read our more focused pages on different topics and peruse a couple of our helpful background pages on beneficial details to think about as you progress with your school search.