2023 Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California
Finding the Best Psychology Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, psychology students earned 40,562 degrees and certificates from a California school, making the subject the 5th in the state.
There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 74 schools in California to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California
The following schools top our list of the Best Psychology Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 15% Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Brandman University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best psychology schools in California. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Irvine.
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Out of the 74 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Palo Alto University landed the # 3 spot on the list. 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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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Fielding Graduate University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Fielding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Santa Barbara.
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Out of the 74 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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University of Southern California 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 #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
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Touro University Worldwide ranked #8 on this year’s Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. TUW is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Los Alamitos.
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University of San Francisco came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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California State University - Long Beach came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.
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Loma Linda 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 #11 on the list. Loma Linda University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Loma Linda.
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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 in California award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Fuller Theological Seminary | Pasadena, CA |
| 13 | California State University - Fresno | Fresno, CA |
| 14 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
Best Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 2,848 |
| Oregon | 2,071 |
| Hawaii | 511 |
| Nevada | 996 |
| Alaska | 133 |
More Psychology Rankings in California
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 Related Majors
| 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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