by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 418 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for psychology students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 38,043 master's degrees in psychology during the <nil> academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The psychology master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality psychology program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for psychology students working on their master's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in psychology. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in psychology. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of California - Los Angeles
It's hard to beat New York University if you want to pursue a master's degree in psychology. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in psychology from New York University
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in psychology needs to look into Northwestern University. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Northwestern University
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in psychology needs to check out University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Pennsylvania
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Boston College
Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in psychology from Emory University
Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Marquette is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Milwaukee.More information about a master’s in psychology from Marquette University
UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Chicago
Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bronx.More information about a master’s in psychology from Fordham University
Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Southern California
UF is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Gainesville.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Florida
Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Vanderbilt University
Located in the city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Northeastern University
UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of California - Davis
Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Syracuse University
Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in psychology from Loyola University Chicago
Located in the city of Melbourne, Florida Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Florida Institute of Technology
SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.More information about a master’s in psychology from Santa Clara University
Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Boston University
Pepperdine is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Malibu.More information about a master’s in psychology from Pepperdine University
Located in the city of Troy, Russel Sage is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Russell Sage College
DU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Denver.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Denver
Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of San Francisco
Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.More information about a master’s in psychology from Virginia Tech
This section shows the rest of the schools awarded a Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 20% of the 418 different United States psychology schools we analyzed.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools award.
View the Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | 26,529 |
| General Psychology | 6,995 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 2,544 |
| Other Psychology | 1,975 |
