2023 Best Value Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
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 Value 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 value experiences for psychology students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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.
Top 15% Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Touro University Worldwide the best value school in California for psychology students working on their master’s degree. TUW is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Los Alamitos.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at TUW are $9,000 a year.
Read full report on Psychology at Touro University Worldwide
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Out of the 74 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 2 spot on the list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California State University - Fresno is a great value for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Fresno State graduate students pay an average of $8,087 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full Psychology at California State University - Fresno Report
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Northridge. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Northridge, CSUN is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUN are $8,477 per year.
Full Psychology at California State University - Northridge Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brandman University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.
Brandman graduate students pay an average of $12,720 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #6, San Jose State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for psychology students working on their master’s degree. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.
San Jose State graduate students pay an average of $9,286 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #7, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best value schools for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Sac State graduate students pay an average of $8,826 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Psychology at California State University - Sacramento
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With a ranking of #8, San Diego State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for psychology students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SDSU are $9,570 a year.
Full Psychology at San Diego State University Report
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $11,629 per year.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
Read full report on Psychology at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
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California State Polytechnic University - Pomona landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree psychology programs. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal Poly Pomona are $8,873 per year.
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California State University - Fullerton ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Psychology Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.
Cal State Fullerton graduate students pay an average of $8,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full Psychology at California State University - Fullerton Report
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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 Value Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | San Francisco State University | San Francisco, CA |
| 13 | Sonoma State University | Rohnert Park, CA |
| 14 | California State University - Chico | Chico, CA |
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 |
More Psychology Rankings in California
Majors Related to Psychology
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.
- 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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