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Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

38 Colleges
$19,628 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$62,738 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Psychology Doctor'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 Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 38 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for psychology students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Psychology Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Touro University Worldwide

Los Alamitos, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Touro University Worldwide the best value school in California for psychology students working on their doctor’s degree. TUW is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Los Alamitos.

TUW graduate students pay an average of $9,000 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

TUW also claimed a spot on our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Psychology at Touro University Worldwide

#2

Biola University

La Mirada, CA

Out of the 38 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Biola University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of La Mirada, Biola is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Biola graduate students pay an average of $12,006 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#3

Fielding Graduate University

Santa Barbara, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Fielding Graduate University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Fielding is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Barbara.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Fielding are $18,718 a year.

Fielding also made our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #5.

Read More…

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

Out of the 38 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SDSU graduate students pay an average of $9,570 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Psychology at San Diego State University Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - San Diego is a great value for psychology students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $13,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

University of California - Berkeley ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read More…

#7

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

National University graduate students pay an average of $15,480 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Psychology at National University

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree psychology programs. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA also claimed a spot on our Best Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Psychology Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus graduate students pay an average of $23,918 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles Report

#10

Northcentral University

San Diego, CA

Northcentral University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for psychology students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Northcentral University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Diego.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northcentral University are $18,207 per year.

Full Psychology at Northcentral University Report

Best Value Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Psychology Schools 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

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

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.

  • 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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