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Best Colleges for Psychology

50 Psychology programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Psychology, Georgetown University (District of Columbia) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $99,007. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$99,007	$17,500	106	93.9
2	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$73,646	$13,500	153	92.8
3	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$78,049	$13,000	80	92.3
4	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,461	$14,000	183	91.8
5	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$75,742	$17,000	122	91.7
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$71,584	$11,187	100	91.7
7	Williams College Williamstown, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,891	$13,416	64	90.4
8	Lafayette College Easton, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$73,435	$16,000	66	90
9	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$67,249	$18,500	310	89.7
10	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$67,648	$12,505	77	89.5
11	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$70,033	$18,000	116	89.1
12	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$62,106	$11,000	193	88.8
13	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$69,793	$18,570	97	88.3
14	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$64,619	$11,500	77	88.3
15	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$101,785	$20,500	41	88.3
16	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$61,050	$14,388	648	88.1
17	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,563	$17,625	405	87.8
18	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$71,410	$17,256	—	87.4
19	Elon University Elon, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$69,856	$19,500	111	87.3
20	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$75,059	$19,250	39	87
21	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$59,741	$13,000	357	86.8
22	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$59,149	$11,386	673	86.8
23	Villanova University Villanova, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$73,684	$21,500	105	86.2
24	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$62,794	$19,268	251	86.2
25	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,939	$21,160	63	85.9
26	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$74,178	$22,500	123	85.5
27	Utah State University Logan, UT	Master's Degree	$69,115	$20,934	97	85.3
28	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	Doctoral Degree	$131,290	—	—	85
29	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$62,032	$20,063	305	84.7
30	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,948	$18,902	431	84.5
31	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$57,210	$9,623	691	84.3
32	Duke University Durham, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$73,359	$15,415	0	84.3
33	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,446	$18,845	581	84.1
34	Davidson College Davidson, NC	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$64,714	$18,500	—	84.1
35	Chapman University Orange, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,617	$20,500	138	84
36	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV	Doctoral Degree	$98,544	—	—	83.9
37	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,466	$18,916	156	83.8
38	CUNY Bernard M Baruch College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$58,476	$13,051	125	83.8
39	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Master's Degree	$60,494	$18,128	111	83.8
40	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$58,137	$16,750	591	83.7
41	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$64,814	$21,393	115	83.7
42	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$58,396	$17,750	550	83.7
43	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$65,356	$21,375	96	83.7
44	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$100,014	—	36	83.6
45	Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,963	$21,500	150	83.3
46	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,958	$19,500	158	83.2
47	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,226	$17,924	158	83.2
48	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Doctoral Degree	$103,154	—	28	82.9
49	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	Bachelor's Degree	$58,449	$19,012	523	82.9
50	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$72,136	$23,250	103	82.9

🔍 Filter Psychology by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Psychology

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Psychology — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$64,619	68%	88.3
2	Elon University Elon, NC Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$69,856	66%	87.3
3	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$75,059	71%	87
4	College of Staten Island CUNY Staten Island, NY Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$59,741	92%	86.8
5	Chapman University Orange, CA Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$63,617	65%	84
6	Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$63,963	88%	83.3
7	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$57,335	93%	81.9
8	Antioch University Yellow Springs, OH Strong Psychology outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$79,347	—	81.7
9	St. Mary's College of Maryland St. Mary's City, MD Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$61,214	69%	81.3
10	Pace University New York, NY Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$75,549	76%	81.2
11	CUNY Medgar Evers College Brooklyn, NY Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$56,458	86%	81.1
12	St. Joseph's University-New York Brooklyn, NY Strong Psychology outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$59,679	72%	80.2

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Psychology field (CIP 42.01) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Psychology programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Psychology program?+

By our outcome score, Georgetown University (District of Columbia) ranks #1 for Psychology, with median graduate earnings of $99,007.

How are these Psychology programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Psychology programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.