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2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

There are about 570,593 students enrolled in Psychology in the USA.

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popularity

Very Popular

Compared to national avg.

Diplomas received last year

184,810

Vs. National Avg.

1069%

popularity Rank

#10

cost

Somewhat Affordable

Compared to national avg.

Median degree cost

$26K

Vs. National Avg.

8%

cost Rank

#221

salary

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Average Salary Two Years Out of School

$40K

Vs. National Avg.

1%

salary Rank

#258

professors

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Professor Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

-1%

professors Rank

#277

students

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Diversity Rating

B-

Vs. National Avg.

2%

students Rank

#209

SUMMARY

Majoring in Psychology is not only a valuable choice, but typically a necessary first step for undergraduates choosing to pursue a career as a therapist, a psychologist, or a school psychologist. Interestingly, psychology is a very popular major choice, being the 5th most popular major. Last academic year alone, there were 123,980 psychology diplomas received. In-state tuition for psychology at private colleges is, on average, 3.6 times more spendy than their public counterparts.

With an impressive 1492 institutions offering this degree odds are that any institutions you are looking at will have a degree program for you. If you're hoping to immerse yourself with other psychology students, consider colleges in California which have more students admitted to psychology than any other state. Zooming out, the best region to major in psychology is in the Southeast region with University of Central Florida, Florida International University, and Liberty University best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the top conference to study psychology is the Big Ten Conference with University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Rutgers University-New Brunswick representing the conference. From our list of the best colleges, our choice for the best school for psychology is Stanford University.

The objectively 'best' school might not actually be the best school for every student. There are lots more perspectives to consider when selecting ​university. Things such as campus amenities, transportation services, and food might definitely alter one's decision of which college to attend. At authority.org, we've evaluated the pros and cons for you. If, for example, you are interested in which psychology university boasts the top college campus, the answer is Harvard University. If you are very interested in which university has the finest campus, then we have a whole page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through student reviews, government databases, professor reviews, and more in order to compare every major in the United States in an unbiased and informative way. Here you can explore our well researched list for the universities with the best student life&nbspand, from that list, our pick for the college with the best student life for psychology is Cornell University. Curious why? Keep scrolling to learn more about Authority's top choices. Many of our conclusions will probably shock you.

If cost is a primary factor in your choice of where you attend college, you might be cautious about Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspis our most expensive university for psychology, at least for out of state students. We do have a list of the most expensive&nbspschools that could put the expense of Columbia University in the City of New York&nbspinto perspective. You could also be interested to know that psychology is the 21st most expensive degree in the United States, with an average bill of $53,700. On a broader scale, the most costly state for psychology in the country is Vermont at Bennington College, Middlebury College, and Middlebury College - the primary schools in the state - of $55,200, $55,790, and $55,790. Even more broadly, the most costly region of the U.S. for psychology is the New England region which is best demonstrated with Amherst College with a cost of $57,640, Tufts University with a cost of $57,324, and Brown University with a cost of $57,112.

Our cheapest region for psychology is the Southwest region which is represented by Dine College with a cost of $1,320, Oklahoma Panhandle State University with a cost of $4,440, and The University of Texas of the Permian Basin with a cost of $5,767. More optimistically, the most affordable school for psychology is Florida International University. Our entire list of the most affordable schools can be found here.

In-state students can anticipate paying in the neighborhood of $9,700 for a degree in psychology. The cost grows substantially to a median of $21,400 for an out-of-state public-school student. Our pick for the college with the best value for psychology: Stanford University. Through this link you will see our comprehensive list for the universities we believe to be the best value&nbspin general. Bear in mind, this discussion is based on out-of-state tuition costs. A discussion of value changes when in-state tuition costs are considered, but we do not know in which states any one student has residency.

Earnings for psychology students range widely, but within two years leaving college graduates will regularly make in the neighborhood of $37,900. While there is a lot of variation in earnings potential; top earners can rake in up to $76,900. Right out of university, the lowest end positions within the psychology field earn $17,900, which is an alright wage. The highest earning grads for psychology graduated from Stanford University&nbspand if you want to find the universities with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The all-around diversity of psychology sits high, being in the 88th percentile of all majors. The college with the most composite diversity for psychology is New York University&nbspand here you can find our general list for the colleges which have the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of the Psychology major only stands in the 37th percentile of all majors. Racial diversity is actually above financial diversity, ranking in the 90th percentile. White collegians compose the largest share, 48%, of those studying psychology. Additionally, 77% of scholars seeking a psychology major are women.

The median ranking of psychology professors is 4 stars, a score which is exactly the median across all majors; which is a fine. If you are searching for the most popular psychology instructor in the country, take a look at William Pelz from Herkimer County Community College. It may be a shock, but the best ranked psychology instructors according to students are at San Jose State University. If we incorporate data other than basic rankings we find that the college possessing the overall best instructors for psychology is Stanford University. You can find an explanation of our evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, along with some of the finest professors in the U.S.

Finally, the most difficult college to get into for psychology is Stanford University. While we do not necessarily see the value in it, we do have a general page of the hardest colleges to get into. With that said, we do hope you believe that considering higher education through a lens primarily built on superlatives might create problems. We encourage you to explore our more nuanced pages on different colleges and explore a few of our helpful background pages on important details to consider as your college search develops.

Top 25 Best Colleges for Psychology

Search for the best Psychology colleges according to your filter parameters.

A+

Rating

#1 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA | www.harvard.edu/

5%

Acceptance

41,024

Students

#3

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

B

Rating

#2 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Farmingdale State College

Farmingdale, NY | www.farmingdale.edu/

60%

Acceptance

12,841

Students

#929

Ranking

$18K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#3 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Stanford University

Stanford, CA | www.stanford.edu/

5%

Acceptance

20,961

Students

#2

Ranking

$56K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#4 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Yale University

New Haven, CT | https://www.yale.edu/

7%

Acceptance

14,910

Students

#8

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#5 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Rice University

Houston, TX | www.rice.edu/

11%

Acceptance

8,005

Students

#22

Ranking

$51K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#6 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN | www.vanderbilt.edu/

12%

Acceptance

13,918

Students

#17

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#7 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL | www.northwestern.edu/

9%

Acceptance

25,870

Students

#12

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#8 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.uchicago.edu/

7%

Acceptance

20,413

Students

#11

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#9 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA | www.upenn.edu/

9%

Acceptance

30,688

Students

#7

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#10 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Duke University

Durham, NC | www.duke.edu/

8%

Acceptance

17,855

Students

#6

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#11 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO | www.wustl.edu/

16%

Acceptance

17,893

Students

#18

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#12 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH | www.dartmouth.edu/

9%

Acceptance

7,171

Students

#15

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#13 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Brown University

Providence, RI | www.brown.edu/

8%

Acceptance

10,807

Students

#13

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#14 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of California-Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA | www.ucla.edu/

14%

Acceptance

46,947

Students

#50

Ranking

$43K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#15 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI | https://umich.edu/

26%

Acceptance

49,530

Students

#33

Ranking

$52K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#16 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ | www.princeton.edu/

6%

Acceptance

8,532

Students

#5

Ranking

$49K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#17 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

New York University

New York, NY | www.nyu.edu/

21%

Acceptance

58,361

Students

#23

Ranking

$55K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#18 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD | www.jhu.edu/

11%

Acceptance

34,250

Students

#4

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#19 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Virginia-Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA | https://www.virginia.edu/

23%

Acceptance

29,237

Students

#38

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#20 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY | www.columbia.edu/

7%

Acceptance

33,882

Students

#10

Ranking

$62K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#21 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA | www.usc.edu/

16%

Acceptance

52,376

Students

#28

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#22 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN | www.nd.edu/

19%

Acceptance

13,268

Students

#16

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

C+

Rating

#23 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Dominican University

River Forest, IL | www.dom.edu/

76%

Acceptance

3,616

Students

#1123

Ranking

$35K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#24 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA | www.bc.edu/

26%

Acceptance

16,502

Students

#32

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#25 2024 Best Colleges for Psychology

Georgetown University

Washington, DC | www.georgetown.edu/

17%

Acceptance

22,720

Students

#19

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

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