2025 Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

a doctor's degree in child development & psychology is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #38 out of 306 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of child development & psychology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 35 doctor's degrees in child development & psychology during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on child development & psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of child development & psychology students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for child development & psychology to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized child development & psychology related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for child development & psychology students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The child development school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Child Development & Psychology in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in child development & psychology.

Top Illinois Schools for a Doctorate in Child Development

1

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

10 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Chicago

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

15 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best Child Development & Psychology Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Child Development & Psychology Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	149	29
Ohio	144	27
Indiana	132	32
Wisconsin	108	6

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Rankings in Majors Related to Child Development

Child Development & Psychology is one of 24 different types of Psychology programs to choose from.

Child Development Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Experimental Psychology	15
Other Research & Experimental Psychology	15
Developmental & Child Psychology	3
Social Psychology	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	348
General Psychology	57

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.