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2024 Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools

99 Colleges in the United States
1,554 Doctor's Degrees
$65,440 Avg Early-Career Salary
General Psychology is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #20 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 99 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for general psychology students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,554 doctor's degrees in general psychology to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great General Psychology School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools The psychology doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality psychology program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host 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 schools for general psychology students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Psychology Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The psychology 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 General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools.


 

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study General Psychology in the United States

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

15 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Psychology

1
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
17 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in general psychology has to check out Duke University. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Duke University

2
8 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is a good decision for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in general psychology. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Northwestern University

3
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
10 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in general psychology. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Vanderbilt University

4
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
4 Annual Graduates

Georgetown University is a good choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in general psychology. Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Georgetown University

5
2 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Carnegie Mellon University

6
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
8 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Rice University

7
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
11 Annual Graduates

Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Emory University

8
9 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from University of Virginia - Main Campus

9

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the psychology program make around $58,115 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in general psychology from University of California - Los Angeles

10
13 Annual Graduates

UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Austin.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from The University of Texas at Austin

10
7 Annual Graduates

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from University of Wisconsin - Madison

11

Claremont Graduate University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Claremont.

General Psychology doctor's degree recipients from Claremont Graduate University get an earnings boost of approximately $15,073 over the average earnings of general psychology graduates.

More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Claremont Graduate University

12
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Boston University

13

Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a very large student population.

Doctorate recipients from the general psychology degree program at George Mason University earn $21,868 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a doctorate in general psychology from George Mason University

14
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.

Doctorate recipients from the general psychology degree program at Michigan State University make $9,799 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a doctorate in general psychology from Michigan State University

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for General Psychology students that almost earned our Best General Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
15 Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA
16 Iowa State University Ames, IA
17 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL
18 University of Georgia Athens, GA
19 University of Denver Denver, CO
20 Northcentral University San Diego, CA
21 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
22 University of Florida Gainesville, FL
23 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
24 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL

General Psychology by Region

View the Best General 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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General Psychology is one of 24 different types of Psychology programs to choose from.

Psychology Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Psychology 1,554

Related Major Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 4,156
Child Development & Psychology 726
Other Psychology 146

Notes and References

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