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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 2023 rankings named Duke University the best school in the United States for child development and psychology students. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Duke University

#2

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

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#3

Bates College

Lewiston, ME

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Bates College is a great place for child development and psychology students. Bates is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lewiston.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Bates College

#4

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Notre Dame. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Full Child Development & Psychology at University of Notre Dame Report

#5

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dartmouth College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Child Development & Psychology at Dartmouth College Report

#6

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY

Colgate University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the town of Hamilton, Colgate is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#7

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

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

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#8

Yale University

New Haven, CT

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

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Yale University

#9

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

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

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#10

Gettysburg College

Gettysburg, PA

Gettysburg College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Gettysburg is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Gettysburg.

Full Child Development & Psychology at Gettysburg College Report

#11

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

Haverford College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best child development and psychology programs. Located in the suburb of Haverford, Haverford is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Haverford College

#12

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best child development and psychology programs. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Cornell University

#13

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY

Hamilton College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #13 on the list. Hamilton is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Clinton.

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

Full Child Development & Psychology at Hamilton College Report

With a ranking of #14, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. 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.

Full Child Development & Psychology at Washington University in St Louis Report

#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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With a ranking of #16, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. 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.

Full Child Development & Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles Report

#17

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

With a ranking of #17, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Northwestern University

#18

The Graduate Center, CUNY

New York, NY

The Graduate Center, CUNY came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools ranking. Located in the city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public school with a moderately-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 large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

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

Read More…

#20

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #20 on the list. Brown is a 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.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Brown University

#21

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

With a ranking of #21, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for child development and psychology students. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at University of Pennsylvania

#22

Trinity University

San Antonio, TX

Trinity University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for child development and psychology students. It came in at #22 on the list. Trinity U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Antonio.

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#23

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Boston College ranked #23 on this year’s Best Child Development & Psychology Schools list. Boston College is a large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Chestnut Hill.

Read full report on Child Development & Psychology at Boston College

University of Southern California landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best child development and psychology programs. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read More…

#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 city of New York.

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

Read More…

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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