2025 Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

If you pursue a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #8 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 17 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Combined, these schools handed out 1,058 doctor's degrees in clinical, counseling & applied psychology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology School for Your Doctor's Degree

Your choice of clinical, counseling & applied psychology for getting your doctor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to clinical, counseling & applied psychology students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other clinical, counseling & applied psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt clinical, counseling & applied psychology students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized clinical, counseling & applied psychology related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for clinical, counseling & applied psychology students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The clinical psychology 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 Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology in the Far Western US Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

1

Palo Alto University
Palo Alto, CA

91 Annual Graduates

$71,023 Median Starting Salary

Palo Alto University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Located in the rural area of Palo Alto, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Doctorate students who receive their degree from the clinical psychology program earn an average of $71,023 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Palo Alto University

2

Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA

28 Annual Graduates

$84,954 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology has to look into Pepperdine University. Pepperdine is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Malibu.

Doctorate recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology degree program at Pepperdine University earn $8,339 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Pepperdine University

3

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

118 Annual Graduates

$78,934 Median Starting Salary

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology doctor's degree recipients from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles earn a boost of approximately $2,319 above the typical earnings of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles

4

Pacific University
Forest Grove, OR

67 Annual Graduates

$81,574 Median Starting Salary

Pacific University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in clinical, counseling & applied psychology. Pacific is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Forest Grove.

Doctorate recipients from the clinical, counseling & applied psychology major at Pacific University get $4,959 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Pacific University

5

National University
San Diego, CA

17 Annual Graduates

National University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego.More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from National University

6

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

14 Annual Graduates

$84,055 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a very large student population.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their doctor's degree from San Diego State University receive $7,440 more than the standard clinical psychology graduate.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from San Diego State University

7

University of Oregon
Eugene, OR

15 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Eugene, UO is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from University of Oregon

8

George Fox University
Newberg, OR

21 Annual Graduates

$78,671 Median Starting Salary

GFU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the fringe town of Newberg.

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology doctor's degree recipients from George Fox University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,056 over the typical income of clinical, counseling & applied psychology majors.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from George Fox University

9

Biola University
La Mirada, CA

27 Annual Graduates

$83,525 Median Starting Salary

Biola is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of La Mirada.

Those clinical, counseling & applied psychology students who get their doctor's degree from Biola University earn $6,910 more than the average clinical psychology graduate.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from Biola University

10

California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, CA

15 Annual Graduates

$72,291 Median Starting Salary

CLU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Thousand Oaks.

Students who graduate with their doctorate from the clinical psychology program report average early career income of $72,291.

More information about a doctorate in clinical, counseling & applied psychology from California Lutheran University

Best Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Colleges by State

Explore the best clinical, counseling & applied psychology schools for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	180	806
Washington	122	48
Oregon	107	102
Nevada	84	3
Hawaii	53	18
Alaska	19	1

View All Rankings >

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology Related Rankings by Major

Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology is one of 24 different types of Psychology programs to choose from.

Clinical Psychology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical Psychology	779
Applied Behavior Analysis	60
Educational Psychology	50
Performance and Sport Psychology	41
Counseling Psychology	33
Applied Psychology	32
Industrial & Organizational Psychology	20
Forensic Psychology	17
School Psychology	11
Transpersonal/Spiritual Psychology	7

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	210
Child Development & Psychology	192
Other Psychology	104

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.