By Jack Kelle
Psychology is one the most popular bachelor’s degrees in the nation. It ranks among the top 3 majors at the undergraduate level and offers students increasingly diverse career paths as various industries develop over time. As more students pursue their degree in psychology, there is a growing need to illuminate the best programs for earning their degree, so that they get a head start in their careers.
We’ve narrowed it down to the 50 best programs in the United States. The deciding factors in this list were: overall ranking of the university itself, competitiveness, quality of the faculty and psychology department, research and internship opportunities available to psychology majors, and success rates of psychology majors in the program. While this list was created to highlight the best undergraduate programs, the best undergraduate programs usually stem from psychology departments that also offer graduate level study of equal or better quality.
To learn more about this list, please visit our page: How We Choose the Psychology Degree Programs We Consider to Be the Best
Stanford University
Stanford University is a private institution internationally recognized for its innovation, research projects, and extremely competitive undergraduate and graduate programs. By shifting the focus of college life from social climbing to academics, Stanford sets itself apart with extremely low Greek life participation (10% of student body) and greater rates of participation in scholastic groups. Stanford offers a top-rated psychology program and is internationally renowned as a hub of psychological research, and offers psychology majors a wealth of unique opportunities. By facilitating close-knit relationships between faculty, undergraduates, and graduate research teams, Stanford is able to offer incredible learning experiences to their students, and a jump start to any career in psychology. Psychology majors are granted the opportunity to collaborate with well-known psychologists and work on cutting edge experiments and research. While the admissions department is extremely selective, admitted students who pursue psychology degrees are exposed to opportunities that are nonexistent elsewhere. And, for this reason Stanford University is our first pick for best undergraduate psychology program. The main department areas of the program are: Affective science, neuroscience, and cognitive, social, and developmental psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Stanford, California
- Year Founded: 1891
- Undergraduate Population: 6,988
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 6.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $44,184
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Yale University
Even as a massive research university, Yale has the feel of a small college and is often cited as one of the most respected institutions in the Ivy League. Surrounded by prestigious graduate schools and powerful research facilities, Yale offers its students a great atmosphere to pursue scientific studies. Specifically, the psychology department is linked to countless research projects, facilities, and other universities, thus creating immense possibility for internships and research opportunities. In the past five years, 100% of students who pursued doctoral degrees passed their license exam. The overall quality and prestige of the university coupled with its incredible research opportunities and success rates makes this one of the best programs in the world. The primary research areas of Yale are clinical psychology, neuroscience, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: New Haven, Connecticut
- Year Founded: 1810
- Undergraduate Population: 5,409
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 7.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $44,000
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges
Harvard is one of the oldest private universities in the country, and houses a library with the oldest and largest private collection in the world. Harvard also has the largest endowment of any school in the world, and is consistently rated as the 1st or 2nd best university in the country by various rankings. The psychology department has an extremely rich and prestigious history, and has included famous figureheads such as B.F. Skinner, Gordon Allport, William James, Jerome Bruner, George Miller, and Henry Murray. Currently, the faculty categorizes the department’s research concentrations as follows: cognition, brain, and behavior, developmental, and social psychology, and clinical science. While Harvard is one of, if not the most, competitive schools in the country, those who make it in are sure to be in one the greatest psychology programs in the world.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Year Founded: 1638
- Undergraduate Population: 6,700
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $38,891
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Pennsylvania
Adhering to a long tradition of educational excellence, the University of Pennsylvania consistently makes the top 10 of many private college rankings. The University of Pennsylvania is famous for its well roundedness; with many NCAA sports teams, 25% of students involved in Greek life, and dedication to multicultural groups, the university offers a little bit of everything while maintaining excellent undergraduate programs. And, the “all-star” faculty of the psychology program make the University an international force in psychology science and a prime candidate for undergraduate study of psychology. The faculty divide their research interests into two broad categories: brain, cognitive, and decision science, and clinical, positive, and social psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Year Founded: 1755
- Undergraduate Population: 10,319
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 12.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $39,088
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a high ranking public institution that claims to have the best college town in America. While this claim is disputable, the University of Michigan does offer phenomenal education at a noticeably lower tuition that of many comparable universities. Also, while the admissions department is very selective, the acceptance rates are much higher than similar universities and may offer a much needed break to a student who had a rough patch in high school. The university also offers more than 900 student organizations. The psychology department has an above average number of faculty members, coming in at 103 members, and has been nationally recognized for decades as one of the most innovative and productive programs in the country. The size of the faculty also grants students the opportunity to pursue almost any research interest.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Year Founded: 1817
- Undergraduate Population: 27,979
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 36.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $20,217
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public university that offers several high-ranking colleges. Specifically, the psychology department holds a formidable record of awards and research excellence, currently holds over 50 grants, totaling 71$ million. These grants fund research projects that offer students a remarkable opportunity to collaborate on projects in any of these research concentrations: biological psychopathology, clinical science, cognitive and brain science, counseling psychology, industrial organizational psychology, personality and behavior genetics, psychometric methods, and social psychology. These impressive opportunities and the reassuring acceptance rate make this a top option for pursuing a psychology degree.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Year Founded: 1851
- Undergraduate Population: 43,802
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 49.5%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $19,868
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public institution famous for its student life, with over 1,200 student organizations, and maintains one of the strongest psychology departments in the country. The department’s faculty generates constant contributions to the field of psychology, and undergraduate students have the chance to collaborate with them on ground breaking projects in the following areas: behavioral neuroscience, change, plasticity, and development, clinical science, cognition, brain, and behavior, and social-personality psychology. Students seeking a clinical expertise are given awesome experiences in the university’s psychology clinic, where training and research of clinical science is conducted.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Berkeley, California
- Year Founded: 1868
- Undergraduate Population: 25,774
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 18%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $34,098
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Columbia University
Columbia University is a smaller private university with one of the oldest and most reputable psychology programs in the country. So much so that the university was referred as the Columbia School of Psychology in the early nineteen hundreds. Undergraduate psychology majors are offered a broad spectrum of course topics, and often become involved with faculty research where they gain first-hand knowledge of the experimental method. The faculty at Columbia are top-notch, boasting both awards in research and teaching excellence, and encourage interdisciplinary research collaboration with other departments including: biology, business management and marketing, psychiatry, and fMRI research center.
Additional School Information:
- Location: New York, New York
- Year Founded: 1784
- Undergraduate Population: 6,068
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 7.4%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $59,682
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
John Hopkins University
John Hopkins University opened the first psychological laboratory in America in 1883, and ever since has been one of the top ranked psychology programs in the world, and offers students the chance to witness and participate in groundbreaking research. The smaller size of the department means greater and deeper interaction and collaboration between the faculty and undergraduate students. While the small size of the university offers definite benefits, it also suffers none of the drawbacks that smaller institutions usually face. Being connected to one of the world’s leading medical institutions means that the research facilities and opportunities are comparable to universities that are 10 times greater in size.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Baltimore, Maryland
- Year Founded: 1876
- Undergraduate Population: 6,153
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 17.7%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $45,470
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a well-known private university that often hits the top 5 in national college rankings. The psychology department at the university offers students unique avenues of preparation for either early careers or higher education. The hallmark of the University of Chicago’s psychology department is customization; students in the psychology program are encouraged early on to consult the director of research to help students develop their personal research interests. Instead of defined research concentrations, the department employs student-directed concentrations, where core material and subjects are covered but students maintain the freedom to determine their personal focus.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Chicago, Illinois
- Year Founded: 1890
- Undergraduate Population: 5,590
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 13.2%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $43,581
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign is a public institution with a tradition of excellence. Although it has ranked in the top 50 of many “Best College” rankings, its psychology department is distinctively its strongest component. The research activity of the department is reportedly very high, and offers students an excellent chance to get first-hand experience. One of the most impressive characteristics of the psychology program is its commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, where students work with other sciences to develop new and unique research projects.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Champaign, Illinois
- Year Founded: 1867
- Undergraduate Population: 32,281
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 63.3%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $29,10
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego is a public university with an excelling psychology department. The department offers students two tracks of study in psychology, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) to suit individual aspirations. The B.A. is more less structured and allows the student to focus on personal interests and the theoretical side of topics, while the B.S. requires a more structured course load focused on lab-work and experimental analysis. The department emphasizes theoretical and experimental analysis of human and animal behavior, and the study of the mind.
Additional School Information:
- Location: La Jolla, California
- Year Founded: 1960
- Undergraduate Population: 22,676
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 37.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $36,095
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public institution with a unique psychology department. The department sets itself apart by offering three tracks of undergraduate study in psychology, Psychology (B.A.), Cognitive Science (B.S.), and Psychobiology (B.S.). Giving students these options allows students to establish research concentrations and specializations early on, and increases the chance of participation in faculty or graduate research within such focus. Other areas of specialization in the department include: animal behavior, learning and memory, motivation, perception, cognition, measurement, personality, clinical, social, developmental, and community and health psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- Year Founded: 1919
- Undergraduate Population: 27,941
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 22%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $35,574
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Indiana University, Bloomington
Indiana University is a public institution that houses the oldest continuing laboratory in the country. Opened by William Lowe Bryan in 1888, the department’s laboratory has hosted the famous and brilliant minds of B.F. Skinner, J.R. Kantor, Esther Thelen, and William K. Estes. Following this long tradition of research, the department offers its psychology majors amazing research opportunities and research assistantships (R.A.) to bolster experience with experimental methods. The university offers two majors in psychology. Psychology majors will study the broad spectrum of topics such as behavior, thought, and intelligence. Neuroscience majors are groomed for graduate work in neuroscience, medical school, or other careers in biotechnology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
- Year Founded: 1820
- Undergraduate Population: 32,543
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 74.4%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $32,350
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Colorado, Boulder
The University of Colorado, Boulder is home to a the rapidly growing department of psychology and neuroscience, which offers undergraduates research opportunities on the cutting-edge of areas including: clinical psychology, behavioral genetics, behavioral genetics, behavioral neuroscience, and social and cognitive psychology. The department offers two majors, general psychology and neuroscience, and encourages interdisciplinary study, which is facilitated by several interdepartmental institutes.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Bloomington, Indiana
- Year Founded: 1876
- Undergraduate Population: 25,805
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 83.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $32,008
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Carnegie Melon University
Carnegie Melon University is a private school offering quality resources for students seeking degrees in psychology. The department offers three main tracks of study including: a B.A. or B.S. of Psychology, a B.S. in Cognitive Psychology, and a unified program in psychology and biology that grants a B.S. And, the university is connected to multiple research labs including: the Aphasia Bank, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, CHILDES system, a children’s school, Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center, Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, and a program in interdisciplinary education research. The avenues allow students to collaborate with faculty and graduate research teams, or develop their own independent research projects.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Year Founded: 1900
- Undergraduate Population: 6,279
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 27.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $46,962
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Wisconsin, Madison
The University of Wisconsin, Madison offers an outstanding psychology program. Although the faculty is smaller than peer institutions, they lead all US psychology departments in federal research and development by a factor of 2, and many function as editors for several leading scholarly journals. While the department emphasizes interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaboration, the main areas of concentration are as follows: biology of brain and behavior, clinical, cognitive neuroscience, developmental, perception, social, and personality psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Madison, Wisconsin
- Year Founded: 1848
- Undergraduate Population: 30,863
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 54.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $26,653
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) brings an interesting and relatively new perspective to the field of psychology. MIT’s psychology department was founded only 40 years ago and combines the disciplines of biology, neuroscience, and psychology to study topics including: vision, movement systems, learning and memory, neural and cognitive development, language and reasoning. Undergraduates in MIT’s psychology department are exposed to state-of-the-art technology, research labs, and are granted the opportunity to work with faculty members, who are some of the brightest minds in their respective fields.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Year Founded: 1861
- Undergraduate Population: 4,503
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 8.9%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $43,498
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Princeton University
Princeton University is the fourth oldest school in the country, and was ranked #1 best college by U.S News Ranking and Reviews. Psychology majors at Princeton work collaboratively with faculty to master experimental tools such as experimental design, field studies, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), reaction time analysis, and computational modeling. Undergraduates in the program will takes courses with the following concentrations: social, personality, and clinical psychology, developmental and cognitive psychology, and cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Princeton, New Jersey
- Year Founded: 1746
- Undergraduate Population: 5,336
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 7.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $40,170
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Washington
The University of Washington’s psychology department is one of its largest departments, and is currently experiencing growth and improvement. The main goal of the department’s internationally renowned faculty is to teach students to think both critically and creatively about psychological issues. The department is also developing an interdisciplinary research facilitation program to broaden the potential for collaboration between students, faculty, and graduate researchers. Beyond the many research opportunities, the University of Washington devotes a great deal of effort to ensure the availability of quality internship opportunities.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Seattle, Washington
- Year Founded: 1861
- Undergraduate Population: 28,933
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 59.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $29,938
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon offers a strong psychology program with a research concentration. The university is affiliated with amazing research labs including: Electrical Geodesics, Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, Institute of Neuroscience, Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, Lewis Integrative Science Complex, Bend Behavioral Research Center, a Child and Family Center, Decision Research Center, Oregon Research Institute, and Oregon Social Learning Center. The university’s psychology department tailors the program to each student’s specific interests and career goals.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Eugene, Oregon
- Year Founded: 1876
- Undergraduate Population: 20,809
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 74.2%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $29,788
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Cornel University
Cornell University is a private institution that offers a psychology department with a long tradition. Having been a fundamental part of the University since the 1800’s, the psychology department is one of the oldest and most reputable programs available at the school. The department offers two potential concentrations to their psychology majors, a concentration in biopsychology, and a concentration in personality and social psychology. The department emphasizes written and communication skills, as well as critical analysis of psychological research.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Ithaca, New York
- Year Founded: 1865
- Undergraduate Population: 14,261
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 16.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $45,359
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Iowa
Iowa State University offers its undergraduates an excellent psychology program through the seventh oldest psychology department in the country. Famous psychologists such as Kenneth Spence, Albert Bandura, and Leon Festinger.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Iowa City, Iowa
- Year Founded: 1847
- Undergraduate Population: 21,999
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 78.44%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $26,931
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Texas, Austin
The University of Texas, Austin provides a great foundation for its psychology undergraduates. Students are taught to think creatively and critically about human behavior across gender, culture, and age and are trained in experimental design and statistics so that they may effectively evaluate the current psychological research and data. The department also offers the Undergraduate Summer Research Experience (SURE) where students work directly with faculty and graduate research groups. The five most common career paths for recent graduates include: higher education in psychology (64%), business (23%), social work (12%), health-related professions (8%), education (6%), and law (4%).
Additional School Information:
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Year Founded: 1883
- Undergraduate Population: 39,955
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 46.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $33,824
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill prepares its undergraduate psychology students for bright careers and higher level psychological education. Chapel Hill’s psychology department is distinctly attractive to research students due to its grant development connections and facilities. This allows students and faculty to pursue demanding and large-scale research projects that would otherwise be too demanding. The department also allows its psychology students to tailor their degrees according to their interests by offering both a B.A. and a B.S. of Psychology with an optional minor in cognitive science.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Year Founded: 1789
- Undergraduate Population: 18,503
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 27.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $30,122
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Brown University
Brown University recently strengthened its psychology program by forming their Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences. This department sets itself apart through integrated and interdisciplinary study of the mind, brain, and behavior. Thus the program is able to offer unique undergraduate concentrations including: cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science, linguistics, and of course general psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Providence, Rhode Island
- Year Founded: 1764
- Undergraduate Population: 6435
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 9.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $45,612
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Northwestern University
Northwestern University maintains a 100 year old and highly prestigious psychology department. Undergraduates are taught the general foundations of psychology, and then are encouraged to pursue deeper research in their interest areas through work-study, independent research, academic-year grants, and summer fellowship opportunities. These research avenues also give students the chance to work with faculty outside of the classroom on various research projects.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Evanston, Illinois
- Year Founded: 1851
- Undergraduate Population: 8,600
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 15.3%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $45,527
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Stony Brook University
The psychology department at Stony Brook University is one of the school’s largest and strongest departments. The department prides itself on the out-of-class opportunities it is able to offer in the form of independent research, community service opportunities, internships, and research assistantships where students work with internationally renowned faculty researchers. The department also allows students to choose whether they wish to pursue a B.A. or B.S. degree of psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Stony Brook, New York
- Year Founded: 1957
- Undergraduate Population: 16,003
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 40.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $19,924
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Duke University
Duke University plays a leading role in the development of neuroscience, as its Department of Psychology and Neuroscience is one of few in the country to offer undergraduates the chance to major in neuroscience, and establish a specialization early on. The department also encouragers interdisciplinary collaboration, and encourages students to bring new perspectives to course material. Also, students are rewarded with stipends and other financial support when their research projects are successful–a rare and impressive incentive.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Durham, North Carolina
- Year Founded: 1858
- Undergraduate Population: 6,655
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 13.4%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $45,476
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Pennsylvania State University offers its undergraduate students both B.A. and B.S. degrees of psychology. The university’s psychology department has garnered a great deal of respect in the education community and from its students by its self-critical tools of measuring performance within the department. The department is constantly improving syllabi, teaching styles, and research opportunities in order to offer its students the greatest chance of success.
Additional School Information:
- Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
- Year Founded: 1855
- Undergraduate Population: 39,192
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 40.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $29,566
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
New York University
The psychology major is one of New York University’s most popular undergraduate majors, and the psychology department ensures that majors are offered valuable education and research experience. A great strength of the program is that students are given the opportunity to establish research specializations by collaborating with faculty member across various concentrations. The large number of connections to nearby universities, research labs, and other medical facilities mean that students are free to pursue almost any research interest.
Additional School Information:
- Location: New York, New York
- Year Founded: 1831
- Undergraduate Population: 22,498
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 35%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $44,848
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine maintains a state-of-the-art psychology program. Psychology as a subject is extremely broad, which causes a great deal of disagreement as to how and what should be taught at the undergraduate level. The University of California, Irvine addresses this problem by offering two psychology departments, the Department of Cognitive Sciences, and the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior. Although this forces undergraduates make decisions about their research interests early on, it allows the course load and syllabi to be deep and more focused, rather than broad and introductory.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Irvine, California
- Year Founded: 1965
- Undergraduate Population: 22,216
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 42.4%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $37,566
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Florida
The psychology major is one of the most developed and popular undergraduate majors at the University of Florida. The psychology department offers students the option the standard degree in psychology or to explore a biological concentration through the neurobiological major. Both majors are exposed to paraprofessional actives, experience building volunteer-work, research, and internship opportunities. The program ensures the learning needed for a career or higher education in the field of psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Gainesville, Florida
- Year Founded: 1853
- Undergraduate Population: 32,776
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 44.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $28,541
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia offers an annual Undergraduate Psychology Conference to cater to its psychology majors, one of the most popular majors at the university. The conference gives undergraduates the opportunity to explore their research interests, and showcase their projects. The faculty are heavily involved with prominent research, spanning seven major areas, and encourage students to become involved and pick up valuable experience.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
- Year Founded: 1819
- Undergraduate Population: 15,822
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 29.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $39,844
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Miami
The University of Miami encourages research-focused learning in their psychology programs. By offering a funded summer research program, Psychology Research Initiatives Mentorship Experience (PRIME), the department is able to give students a head-start in psychological research. The program also gives students the opportunity to pursue a B.A. or B.S. in Psychology, while also encouraging the interdisciplinary neuroscience major, which leads to a B.S. in Psychobiology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Coral Gables, Florida
- Year Founded: 1925
- Undergraduate Population: 10,590
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 39.7%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $42,852
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Ohio University
Ohio University is nationally and internationally respected for its contributions to the field of psychology. The university’s psychology department emphasizes research in three main areas including: health psychology, intervention design and outcome evaluation, and social judgment and behavioral decision making. The program offers students degrees in Psychology and in Psychology-pre-physical therapy. The program also exposes students to various research opportunities associated with the University’s multiple research labs and clinics.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Athens, Ohio
- Year Founded: 1804
- Undergraduate Population: 22,685
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 77.7%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $19,344
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Georgia
At the University of Georgia, majoring in psychology is one of the most popular routes of study. The psychology program is nationally recognized for offering top-ranked graduate studies, especially in clinical psychology. By association, the undergraduate program offers students excellent research opportunities and the option to get a head-start in clinical practicum. The size of the university and the vast resources at its disposal make UGA a definite contender for students seeking research or clinical specializations at the undergraduate level.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Athens, Georgia
- Year Founded: 1785
- Undergraduate Population: 26,259
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 56.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $28,472
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
The University of Massachusetts, Amherst offers its psychology students great research, internship, and community-involvement opportunities. The program’s faculty consistently bring in research grants, and emphasize out-of-class experiences to its students. Also, the program is unique in its effort to maintain high-standards of multi-cultural and interdisciplinary values, demonstrated by the two departmental groups: The Advancing Diversity in Research and Practice Program, and the Multicultural Association of Psychology Students.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
- Year Founded: 1863
- Undergraduate Population: 21,928
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 62.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $27,974
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey offers a well-rounded undergraduate and graduate psychology education. The psychology department’s large faculty (40+) brings a wide-range of perspectives to the course-work, and offers students the opportunity to clarify research interests and career goals through collaboration with faculty research. The university maintains strong ties to a large variety of laboratories, mental health clinics, schools, and other medical facilities in order to offer its students excellent internship opportunities, which are a crucial part of the program.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Camden, New Jersey
- Year Founded: 1927
- Undergraduate Population: 4,708
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 62.5%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $26,908
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Michigan State University
Michigan State University’s psychology program offers students a highly-personalized education system. Psychology students can choose between a B.A. or a B.S. of Psychology, and through extra study may pursue unique specializations such as cognitive science, health promotion, coaching, women’s studies, bioethics, peace and justice, and various others. With over 70 active researchers in the psychology faculty, students are exposed to diverse research concentrations and perspectives.
Additional School Information:
- Location: East Lansing, Michigan
- Year Founded: 1855
- Undergraduate Population: 37,454
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 70.6%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $33,750
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a respected private university that constantly improves its psychology department in order to offer students the background needed to pursue graduate education, or enter into a respectable field. The University’s psychology department prioritizes research experience through an optional honors program that facilitates an extremely high level of collaboration between students and faculty research teams compared to similar programs.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Nashville, Tennessee
- Year Founded: 1873
- Undergraduate Population: 6,796
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 14.2%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $42,978
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park caters to its large number of students through its highly accomplished faculty in the psychology department. The department divides their research concentrations and projects into three themes: brain, mind, and behavior, mental health, and social, group, and cultural processes. The University boasts above average funding awards, research grants, and graduate program placement of its undergraduate students.
Additional School Information:
- Location: College Park, Maryland
- Year Founded: 1855\6
- Undergraduate Population: 26,487
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 46.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $28,348
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Texas, Houston
The University of Texas, Houston is a well-known university with an extremely dynamic psychology program. The University emphasizes personal interest, and allows psychology students to earn either a B.A. or a B.S. and encourages interdisciplinary and interdepartmental interests, so that students may tailor their education to fit their personal goals.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Year Founded: 1927
- Undergraduate Population: 32,639
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 56.2%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $20,892
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The psychology major is among the most popular at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and the students and faculty of the psychology department are nationally recognized for achievement across various areas. Students pursuing research experience have a wide variety of scientific facilities research teams to make use of, and are encouraged to engage in off-campus research internships.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Knoxville, Tenneseee
- Year Founded: 1794
- Undergraduate Population: 20,916
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 67.3%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $27,874
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
George Washington University
George Washington University is well-known for having a smaller student and faculty population and for offering extensive resources comparable to those of much larger universities. This gives students pursuing psychological research experience an incredible opportunity to establish research concentrations early on. Three main concentrations are offered to psychology majors: cognitive neuroscience, industrial/organizational psychology, and a minor in mind-brain studies.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Washington, DC
- Year Founded: 1821
- Undergraduate Population: 10,464
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 33.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $47,343
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas holds an excellent history of contribution to the field of psychology. And with the psychology major as its most popular major, the University openly boasts about its strong psychology department. The goal of the department is to give students a personalized education so that they are ready for higher education or a career relating to psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Lawrence, Kansas
- Year Founded: 1886
- Undergraduate Population: 19,169
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 92.3%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $24,873
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Iowa State University
Iowa State University offers a great psychology program by taking extra steps to familiarize students with the various fields of psychology, career opportunities, and relevant research concentrations. The program not only prepares students for their future, but also helps them to discover what the future holds.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Ames, Iowa
- Year Founded: 1858
- Undergraduate Population: 25,555
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 82.5%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $20,278
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
University of the South, Sewanee
The University of the South, Sewanee is a small private university with a large and close-knit psychology department. The small student population means that psychology students get constant guidance from the faculty and are encouraged to develop their personal career and academic interests.The faculty prioritizes hands-on experience through collaborative research, avenues for finding the perfect internship, and community service.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Sewanee, Tennessee
- Year Founded: 1857
- Undergraduate Population: 1,478
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 58.8%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $35,756
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Brandeis University
Brandeis University offers its psychology majors excellent opportunities to pursue hands on research experience. Students pursuing clinical psychology practicum are guaranteed at least one day of work in a mental health facility per week. The program also makes undergraduate research grants available, and offers research poster competitions in conjunction with various psychology clubs to incentivize continued development of research skills.
Additional School Information:
- Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
- Year Founded: 1948
- Undergraduate Population: 3,588
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 39.1%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $46,106
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Purdue University, West Lafayette
The size of Purdue University means that it is able to offer a wealth of resources for scientific research, and is affiliated with numerous health facilities. These resources combined with a psychology department that prioritizes individuals’ interests and goals make Purdue an excellent place to pursue an education in psychology.
Additional School Information:
- Location: West Lafayette, Indiana
- Year Founded: 1869
- Undergraduate Population: 30,147
- Acceptance Rate (To the Nearest Tenth): 61.3%
- Annual Tuition (Out of State): $28,794
- Psychology Department’s Website: Homepage
Related List: 50 Most Affordable Selective Small Colleges for a Psychology Degree
About the Author
Jack Kelle is a psychologist by nature, constantly seeking to understand how his own mind and the minds of others work. He earned a double major in philosophy and psychology at Sewanee: The University of the South, and is currently pursuing a masters in research psychology at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where he studies under the modern figurehead of the psychology of religion, Dr. Ralph Hood. He is currently pursuing entrepreneurial goals so that he may conduct research on consciousness, stress management, and human efficiency.
References:
http://www.collegexpress.com/lists/list/colleges-with-strong-programs-in-psychology/223/
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges
http://education-portal.com/best_undergraduate_psychology_programs.html
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/psychology-rankings
http://www.onlinepsychologydegree.info
http://www.usnewsuniversitydirectory.com/graduate-schools/social-sciences-humanities/psychology.aspx