2024 Best General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California

Ranked #34 in popularity, general psychology is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 34 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,293 master's degrees in general psychology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of general psychology for getting your master's degree school matters. 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 make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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 master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on general psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of general psychology students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt general psychology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized general psychology related body.

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

More Ways to Rank General Psychology Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Psychology Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

 

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study General Psychology in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in general psychology.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Psychology

1

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

71 Annual Graduates

$47,253 Median Starting Salary

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles is a wonderful choice for students interested in a master's degree in general psychology. Located in the city of Los Angeles, The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the psychology program state that they receive average early career income of $47,253.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

11 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in general psychology has to take a look at University of Southern California. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of Southern California

3

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

36 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in general psychology. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of California - Los Angeles

4

Palo Alto University
Palo Alto, CA

16 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Palo Alto University if you want to pursue a master's degree in general psychology. Pacific Graduate School of Psychology is a small private not-for-profit university located in the rural area of Palo Alto.More information about a master’s in general psychology from Palo Alto University

5

Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA

185 Annual Graduates

$28,622 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the psychology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $28,622.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from Pepperdine University

6

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

28 Annual Graduates

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the city of Long Beach.More information about a master’s in general psychology from California State University - Long Beach

7

Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, CA

37 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Loma Linda, Loma Linda University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from Loma Linda University

8

San Diego State University
San Diego, CA

37 Annual Graduates

$53,079 Median Starting Salary

SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego.

Those general psychology students who get their master's degree from San Diego State University receive $6,665 more than the average psychology student.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from San Diego State University

9

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in general psychology from University of California - Davis

10

Northcentral University
San Diego, CA

88 Annual Graduates

$43,592 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of San Diego, Northcentral University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the psychology program earn about $43,592 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in general psychology from Northcentral University

Best General Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best General Psychology Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	42
Oregon	158	24
Nevada	105	5
Hawaii	85	10

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Psychology

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

Psychology Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Psychology	1,293

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	4,700
Other Psychology	142
Child Development & Psychology	112

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 BruceBlaus. More about our data sources and methodologies.