2025 Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Washington

a doctor's degree in psychology is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #6 out of 36 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.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Washington ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 74 doctor's degrees in psychology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Psychology School for Your Doctor's Degree

The psychology doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor'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 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 psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• 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 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 psychology related body.

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

More Ways to Rank 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 Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in Washington list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Psychology in Washington

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

Top Washington Schools for a Doctorate in Psychology

1

University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

17 Annual Graduates

University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in psychology. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2

Washington State University
Pullman, WA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

Washington State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in psychology. Located in the town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from Washington State University

3

Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, WA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

23 Annual Graduates

Seattle Pacific University is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in psychology. SPU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Seattle.More information about a doctorate in psychology from Seattle Pacific University

4

Northwest University
Kirkland, WA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

18 Annual Graduates

Northwest University is a good option for students pursuing a doctor's degree in psychology. Located in the large suburb of Kirkland, Northwest University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from Northwest University

Best Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	30	1,176
Oregon	27	112
Nevada	25	41
Hawaii	23	26
Alaska	10	11

View All Rankings >

Psychology Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	42
General Psychology	22
Child Development & Psychology	10

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 Nevit Dilmen. More about our data sources and methodologies.