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Best Child Development & Psychology Schools

2023 Best Child Development & Psychology Schools

207 Colleges
$34,186 Avg Salary
$22,623 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Child Development & Psychology School for You

Child Development & Psychology is the #58 most popular major in the country with 17,542 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 207 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Child Development & Psychology Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for child development majors pursuing a .

Top 25 Top Schools in Child Development & Psychology

#1

Duke University

Durham, NC

Our analysis found Duke University to be the best school for child development and psychology students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Child Development & Psychology at Duke University Report

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#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best child development and psychology schools in the United States. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

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#3

Bates College

Lewiston, ME

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Bates College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Bates is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lewiston.

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#4

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

The excellent programs at University of Notre Dame helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best child development and psychology schools in the United States. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#5

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

The excellent programs at Dartmouth College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best child development and psychology schools in the United States. Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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#6

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY

Colgate University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Located in the distant town of Hamilton, Colgate is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#7

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

With a ranking of #7, Princeton University did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.

Full Child Development & Psychology at Princeton University Report

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#8

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Yale University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

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#9

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

With a ranking of #9, Harvard University did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

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#10

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg, PA

Gettysburg College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best child development and psychology programs. Gettysburg is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Gettysburg.

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#11

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

Haverford College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Located in the suburb of Haverford, Haverford is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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#12

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#13

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY

Hamilton College ranked #13 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Hamilton is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Clinton.

While working on their degree, child development majors at Hamilton accumulate an average of around $17,180 in student debt.

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Washington University in St Louis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #14 on the list. WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

The average amount in student loans that child development majors at WUSTL take out is $19,440.

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#15

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Amherst College came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Amherst is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Amherst.

While working on their degree, child development majors at Amherst accumulate an average of around $13,500 in student debt.

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The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles ranked #16 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#17

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#18

The Graduate Center, CUNY

New York, NY

With a ranking of #18, The Graduate Center, CUNY did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Located in the large city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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#19

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #19, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

While working on their degree, child development majors at UChicago accumulate an average of around $19,372 in student debt.

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#20

Brown University

Providence, RI

With a ranking of #20, Brown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Providence.

The average amount in student loans that child development majors at Brown take out is $15,850.

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#21

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best child development and psychology programs. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#22

Trinity University

San Antonio, TX

Trinity University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Trinity U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Antonio.

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#23

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Boston College is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chestnut Hill.

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University of Southern California came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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#25

Barnard College

New York, NY

Barnard College came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Barnard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

The average amount in student loans that child development majors at Barnard take out is $19,000.

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Rest of the Top Best Child Development & Psychology Schools

#26

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX
#27

Augsburg University

Minneapolis, MN
#29

Luther College

Decorah, IA
#30

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA
#31

Hofstra University

Hempstead, NY

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Child Development & Psychology Schools award.

Rank College Location
32 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
33 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN
34 Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO
35 George Washington University Washington, DC
36 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
37 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT
38 University of Rochester Rochester, NY
39 Brandeis University Waltham, MA
40 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
41 Whitman College Walla Walla, WA

Child Development & Psychology by Region

View the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 3 majors within the area of study, child development and psychology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
General Psychology 141,695
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 33,758
Other Psychology 2,683

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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