2024 Best Accredited Online Colleges for Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY DEGREES

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES

Psychology is an incredibly popular college subject. The typical area of study hands out 6,156 undergraduate degrees per year; 123,980 students last year earned bachelor's degrees in psychology, making it the USA's 5th most popular discipline. 1,402 of those degrees were granted by a single college, Florida International University. 16,790 of those degrees were awarded at colleges in California.

Undergrad degrees in psychology are available at 1,492 schools nationwide; thus, picking the right fit could not be easy. Compared to the average subject, there are 7.8 times as many institutions offering undergrad degrees in psychology, making it the 2nd most widely available American major.

GRADUATE DEGREES

While just greater than seven ninths of degrees in psychology last year were bachelor's degrees; 22% were advanced degrees. Psychology is the 4th most popular graduate degree in the US, with 35,985 degrees awarded. To put that in context, postgrad degrees in psychology are 13 times more popular among master's & doctor's students than the average concentration.

In Total, 159,965 students received a bachelor's or higher in psychology last May.

ONLINE PSYCHOLOGY DEGREES

16,943 of those 159,965 students (10.6%) did all their schooling comprehensively online - 8,458 undergrads and 8,485 postgraduate students. As you likely can see, psychology is an exceedingly popular online college major. It's at the moment the 4th most popular online degree with 17.6 times the nation's average of 481 undergrads per area of study. For postgrads, it's ranked 5th, with 13.8 times the average number of postgrad students per focus (481).

Southern New Hampshire University​ granted more online undergraduate degrees in psychology than any other American institution (999). Last fall, 86,849 undergrad students were enrolled in the college exclusively remotely, 93% of their student body. They offer 35 completely remote concentrations, which is 56% of their subjects.

Moreover, New Hampshire graduates more psychology online students than any other state (1,058 undergraduate degrees conferred last spring). New Hampshire independently graduates 13% of America's remote students.

6.8% of all undergrad degrees in psychology are completed in comprehensively online programs, (23.6% for graduate degrees). 31.48% of Trine University-Regional/Non-Traditional Campuses'​ last undergraduate class majored in psychology online, higher than any other American school. 34 students in their 108 student class earned an online college degree in psychology. They offer 93% of their degrees online, and had 271 enrolled online undergraduate students last fall. That's 97% of the student body.

There are 277 colleges across the nation with an entirely remote four-year degree in psychology, making it the 2nd most widely offered remote degree in the United States of America. In the region of 20% of institutions with the degree even have an online option, and 66% of the institutions offering the degree online are private. Texas has the most online programs of any state, with 17 colleges to choose from.

If you would like to study psychology and have the disposition for paying attention on zoom meetings, we recommend you look into Florida International University, as it has the 5th best psychology program in the nation. It also awards an additional 66 degrees remotely, so their systems are presumably pretty good. Further, 10,922 online undergraduates go to the institution, which is 22% of their student body.

PARTIALLY ONLINE PSYCHOLOGY DEGREES

• Psychology is the 4th most in-demand partially online undergraduate degree in the US
• Psychology is the 7th most widely available partially online undergrad degree in the country
• Last spring, 32,566 people completed a bachelor's or higher in psychology partially online
• Palo Alto University's​ last undergraduate class had the most dense population of partially online psychology majors in America (60.23%)
• Colleges from California conferred the most partially online undergraduate degrees in psychology last May (4,011)
• On average, each area of study has close to 154 partially online four-year degree conferring institutions

IN-PERSON PSYCHOLOGY DEGREES

• Psychology is the 3rd most popular totally in-person bachelor's degree in the US
• Psychology is the 2nd most widely available in-person bachelor's degree in the country
• Last year, 110,061 students were awarded a bachelor's or higher in psychology in-person
• 56.42% of Pillar College's​ last undergraduate class majored in psychology in-person, higher than any other college in the nation
• 22,690 students completed in-person grad degrees in psychology last May
• The typical discipline is offered at nearly 20 schools in-person

PSYCHOLOGY OVERVIEW

A psychology degree from an online accredited college can be a springboard into a flourishing and enviable career in any of these job roles:

• Behavior Analysts
• Behavioral Scientists
• Psychiatrists
• Guidance Counselors
• Social and Clinical Psychologists
• Neuropsychologists
• Child Development Specialist

Job posts on Indeed, Salary.com, Monster, and ZipRecruiter show pay scales over $100,000 for these roles and entry salaries are sometimes almost double the national median pay.

You can earn a psychology degree from one of many reputable online schools without amassing burdensome student loan debts.

Recent global trends and seismic market shifts across multiple industries have created the perfect conditions for a psychology program at an online accredited college:

• Work-life balance is a growing concern
• Demand for improved workplace mental health support
• Financial pressures from inflation and global trade shifts
• The increasing influence of technology on human behavioral dynamics
• Therapy adoption is growing in dealing with personal and professional challenges

These trends corroborate the data from the American Psychological Association, which reported a rise in patient referrals in recent years. Also, the US Department of Health and Human Services says that over 19% of Americans have had a mental illness.

Businesses, venture capitalists, investors, and entrepreneurs are taking on the challenge and have committed billions of dollars to this space. For example, therapy sessions are more accessible through virtual platforms.

This interest in mental well-being indicates that psychologists will remain highly sought after for the foreseeable future, with a median salary of over $80,000.

Keep reading to discover accredited schools that rank among the best online schools for psychology programs.