2025 Best Psychology Master's Degree Schools in Virginia

Psychology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #7 most popular master's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in Virginia 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 2,031 master's degrees in psychology during the 2022-2023 academic year.

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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality 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 host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 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.

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 Virginia ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for psychology students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Virginia Schools for a Master's in Psychology

1

Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

15 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in psychology needs to take a look at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Blacksburg.More information about a master’s in psychology from Virginia Tech

2

James Madison University
Harrisonburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

22 Annual Graduates

James Madison University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in psychology. Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from James Madison University

3

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

193 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat George Mason University if you want to pursue a master's degree in psychology. Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from George Mason University

4

University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

75 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of Virginia - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a master's degree in psychology. University of Virginia is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a master’s in psychology from University of Virginia - Main Campus

5

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

VCU is a very large public university located in the city of Richmond.More information about a master’s in psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University

6

Radford University
Radford, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Radford, Radford is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Radford University

7

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

1,397 Annual Graduates

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

8

Marymount University
Arlington, VA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

86 Annual Graduates

Marymount is a small private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Arlington.More information about a master’s in psychology from Marymount University

9

Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

65 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Virginia Beach, Regent is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in psychology from Regent University

Best Psychology Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	34	57
Florida	34	1,667
Georgia	32	365
Tennessee	32	316
North Carolina	31	202
Kentucky	31	722
West Virginia	30	148
Alabama	30	277
Louisiana	30	181
South Carolina	30	126
Arkansas	30	24

View All Rankings >

Psychology Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	1,771
General Psychology	260

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.