2023 Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Psychology Master's Degree School for You
Psychology is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 8th of all the majors we analyze. In 2020-2021, 195,678 degrees and certificates were awarded to students with this major.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 615 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for psychology majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Psychology
Our analysis found Stanford University to be the best school for psychology students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Notre Dame. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Princeton University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best psychology schools in the United States. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Yale University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Yale is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of New Haven.
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Carnegie Mellon University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Harvard University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.
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Cornell University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.
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With a ranking of #9, Georgetown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Brandman University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.
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With a ranking of #11, The Graduate Center, CUNY did quite well on this year’s best schools for psychology students working on their master’s degree. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York.
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Villanova University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.
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Washington University in St Louis landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree psychology programs. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Chicago came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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University of Pennsylvania ranked #15 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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Pillar College landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree psychology programs. Located in the large city of Newark, Pillar is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Southern Methodist University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Dallas.
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The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Chicago ranked #18 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Chicago, The Chicago School Chicago Campus is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Georgia came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Athens, UGA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Boston College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Palo Alto University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree psychology programs. Pacific Graduate School of Psychology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Palo Alto.
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Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Worldwide landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree psychology programs. Embry-Riddle Worldwide is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Daytona Beach.
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Fielding Graduate University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Fielding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Santa Barbara.
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Santa Clara University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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Rice University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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Additional Award Winners
This list shows the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 615 different United States psychology schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools award.
Psychology by Region
View the Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Psychology Rankings
Psychology Related Rankings by Major
Psychology Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Psychology | 141,695 |
| Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | 33,758 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 17,542 |
| Other Psychology | 2,683 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Psychology
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Education | 327,871 |
| Social Sciences | 205,984 |
| Communication & Journalism | 120,571 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 55,820 |
| History | 32,731 |
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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Nevit Dilmen.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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