The 10 Best Psychology Schools in the US

Picking a psychology program is rarely simple, which is part of why we put together this rundown of strong schools around the country. The thing to keep in mind is that the right place for your degree has to match your actual circumstances. A school that tops a national list might still be a poor fit for you personally. What matters comes down to your priorities: how you learn best, where you want to live, what you can afford, and plenty of smaller considerations in between.

Several things are worth weighing before you commit. A few of them, research facilities being the obvious example, lend themselves to ranking because they can be measured and compared. But psychology splits into so many areas of specialization that the faculty's own interests, and the kind of work actually happening on campus, should carry a lot of weight in your decision. The research culture at a given department can shape your experience far more than any overall reputation.

Psychology keeps drifting toward being an empirical science, grounded in evidence and experiment. With that in mind, we've tilted these rankings toward departments that bring serious neuroscience work to the table.