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2024 Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools

85 Colleges in the United States
726 Doctor's Degrees
$65,693 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in child development & psychology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #38 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 85 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 726 doctor's degrees in child development & psychology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Child Development & Psychology School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools The child development doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for child development & psychology students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Child Development & Psychology Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.


 

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Child Development & Psychology in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

13 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Child Development

1
15 Annual Graduates

Washington University in St Louis is a great decision for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Washington University in St Louis

2
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
12 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Pennsylvania if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Pennsylvania

3
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
11 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in child development & psychology needs to take a look at Harvard University. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Harvard University

4
9 Annual Graduates

University of Notre Dame is a great decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Notre Dame

5
Princeton crest
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
7 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Princeton University

6
5 Annual Graduates

Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Columbia University in the City of New York

7
9 Annual Graduates

UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Chicago

8
26 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

9
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
2 Annual Graduates

Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Brown University

9
5 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Cornell University

10
23 Annual Graduates

UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

11
9 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Southern California

12
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Vanderbilt University

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
13 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
14 New York University New York, NY
15 George Washington University Washington, DC
16 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
17 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
18 University of Rochester Rochester, NY
19 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
20 University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
21 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA

Child Development & Psychology by Region

View the Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree 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 24 majors within the Psychology area of study, Child Development & Psychology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Child Development Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Other Research & Experimental Psychology 352
Experimental Psychology 211
Developmental & Child Psychology 64
Social Psychology 42
Cognitive Psychology & Psycholinguistics 20
Behavioral Neuroscience 16
Psychometrics & Quantitative Psychology 16
Personality Psychology 5

Related Major Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 4,156
General Psychology 1,554
Other Psychology 146

Notes and References

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