2025 Best General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Ranked #34 in popularity, general psychology is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 25 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,377 master's degrees in general psychology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great General Psychology School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of general psychology for getting your master'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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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 general psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of general psychology students who choose to seek a master'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 much debt general psychology students go into to obtain their master'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 general psychology related body.

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

More Ways to Rank General Psychology Schools

The 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 General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study General Psychology in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in general psychology.

10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Master's in Psychology

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

34 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in general psychology. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of California - Los Angeles

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

12 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in general psychology needs to look into University of Southern California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of Southern California

3

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

16 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in general psychology needs to take a look at University of California - Davis. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of California - Davis

4

Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA

269 Annual Graduates

$47,132 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in general psychology has to look into Pepperdine University. Located in the large suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the psychology program earn an average of $47,132 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from Pepperdine University

5

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

37 Annual Graduates

CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach.More information about a master’s in general psychology from California State University - Long Beach

6

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

23 Annual Graduates

$62,663 Median Starting Salary

SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Diego.

General Psychology master's degree recipients from San Diego State University earn a boost of about $9,801 over the typical earnings of general psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from San Diego State University

7

California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA

36 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from California State University - Fullerton

8

Azusa Pacific University
Azusa, CA

35 Annual Graduates

$47,262 Median Starting Salary

Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Azusa.

Students who graduate with their master's from the psychology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $47,262.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from Azusa Pacific University

9

California State University - Fresno
Fresno, CA

20 Annual Graduates

$70,238 Median Starting Salary

Fresno State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Fresno.

General Psychology master's degree recipients from California State University - Fresno receive an earnings boost of around $17,376 above the typical earnings of general psychology majors.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from California State University - Fresno

10

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

96 Annual Graduates

$45,558 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

After graduating, psychology master's recipients typically earn around $45,558 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles

Best General Psychology Colleges by State

Explore the best general psychology colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	253	1,293
Washington	183	42
Oregon	158	24
Nevada	105	5
Hawaii	85	10

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Psychology

General Psychology is one of 24 different types of Psychology programs to choose from.

Psychology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	1,377

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	6,383
Child Development & Psychology	290
Other Psychology	272

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to BruceBlaus. More about our data sources and methodologies.