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2025 Best Cognitive Science Schools

27 Colleges in the United States
2,848 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in cognitive science, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #238 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 27 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Cognitive Science Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 2,848 degrees in cognitive science to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Cognitive Science School

Best Cognitive Science Schools The cognitive science program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Cognitive Science rankings. We derive our Best Overall Cognitive Science School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Cognitive Science Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Cognitive Science
Master's Degrees in Cognitive Science
Doctor's Degrees in Cognitive Science

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Cognitive Science Schools list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Cognitive Science in the United States

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the cognitive science degree levels they offer.

10 Top Schools in Cognitive Science

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In MA
55 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in cognitive science. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were approximately 55 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
72 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is a great option for students interested in a degree in cognitive science. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 72 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Stanford University

3
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In PA
75 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

University of Pennsylvania is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in cognitive science. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 75 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from University of Pennsylvania

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
230 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in cognitive science. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 230 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from University of California - Berkeley

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In PA

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were about 17 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Carnegie Mellon University

6
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CT
42 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.

There were approximately 42 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Yale University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
768 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 768 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from University of California - San Diego

8
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TN
46 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.

There were about 46 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Vanderbilt University

9
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA
40 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were roughly 40 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at Tufts in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from Tufts University

10
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MI
120 Cognitive Science Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were approximately 120 cognitive science students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in cognitive science from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Cognitive Science by Region

View the Best Cognitive Science Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 2 majors within the Cognitive Science area of study, Cognitive Science has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Contemplative Studies/Inquiry 4

View All Cognitive Science Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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