2025 Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California

a master's degree in psychology is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #7 out of 37 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.

College Factual reviewed 51 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of psychology. Combined, these schools handed out 7,489 master's degrees in psychology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Psychology School for Your Master's Degree

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:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

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.

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 psychology students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a master'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 easy is it for psychology to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized psychology related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Psychology in California

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.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Psychology

1

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

34 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in psychology. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of California - Los Angeles

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

152 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a master's degree in psychology. Located in the large 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

3

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

University of California - Davis is a great decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in psychology. 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

4

Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

125 Annual Graduates

Santa Clara University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in psychology. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara.More information about a master’s in psychology from Santa Clara University

5

Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

943 Annual Graduates

Pepperdine is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Malibu.More information about a master’s in psychology from Pepperdine University

6

University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

191 Annual Graduates

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

7

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

43 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from San Diego State University

8

National University
San Diego, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

1,164 Annual Graduates

National University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Diego.More information about a master’s in psychology from National University

9

California Baptist University
Riverside, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

325 Annual Graduates

Cal Baptist is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Riverside.More information about a master’s in psychology from California Baptist University

10

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

87 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from California State University - Long Beach

Honorable Mentions

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 in California award.

Rank	College	Location
11	California State University - Monterey Bay	Seaside, CA
12	Azusa Pacific University	Azusa, CA
13	University of California - San Diego	La Jolla, CA
14	Chapman University	Orange, CA
15	California State University - Fullerton	Fullerton, CA
16	Loyola Marymount University	Los Angeles, CA
17	Brandman University	Irvine, CA

Best Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	31	333
Oregon	29	194
Hawaii	27	114
Nevada	27	32
Alaska	21	12

View All Rankings >

Psychology Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	5,685
General Psychology	1,327
Other Psychology	272
Child Development & Psychology	205

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.