2025 Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Tennessee

If you pursue a doctor's degree in general psychology, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #20 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Tennessee ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 45 doctor's degrees in general 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 general psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of general 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 general 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 general psychology related body.

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

More Ways to Rank General Psychology Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Tennessee list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study General Psychology in Tennessee

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

Top Tennessee Schools for a Doctorate in Psychology

1

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

16 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Vanderbilt University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in general psychology. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Vanderbilt University

2

Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN

14 Annual Graduates

$61,060 Median Starting Salary

Tennessee State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in general psychology. Tennessee State University is a moderately-sized public university located in the large city of Nashville.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the psychology program earn about $61,060 for their early career.

More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Tennessee State University

Best General Psychology Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best General Psychology Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	138	112
Virginia	127	55
Georgia	126	34
North Carolina	115	48
Mississippi	113	28
Louisiana	103	22
Alabama	98	31
Arkansas	58	5
West Virginia	49	10

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Rankings in Majors Related to Psychology

One of 24 majors within the Psychology area of study, General Psychology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Psychology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	45

Majors Similar to Psychology

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	43
Child Development & Psychology	21

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.