2024 Best Cognitive Science Doctor's Degree Schools in California

If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in cognitive science, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #243 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for cognitive science students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 8 doctor's degrees in cognitive science during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

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 cognitive science students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of cognitive science students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized cognitive science related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for cognitive science students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The cognitive science school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Cognitive Science Doctor's Degree Schools in California.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Cognitive Science in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in cognitive science.

Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Cognitive Science

1

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

7 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of California - San Diego if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in cognitive science. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in cognitive science from University of California - San Diego

2

University of California - Merced
Merced, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

University of California - Merced is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in cognitive science. UC Merced is a moderately-sized public university located in the rural area of Merced.More information about a doctorate in cognitive science from University of California - Merced

Best Cognitive Science Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded

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Cognitive Science Related Rankings by Major

Cognitive Science is one of 2 different types of Cognitive Science programs to choose from.

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 Allan Ajifo. More about our data sources and methodologies.