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Best universities for psychology degrees 2024

Find the best colleges for psychology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data

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October 26 2023
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Top 10 universities for psychology 2024

Scroll down for the full list of best universities for psychology degrees.

Psychology Rank 2024  Psychology Rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   1  Stanford University United States
 2   3  Princeton University United States
 3   2  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 4   5  Harvard University United States
 5   6  University of California, Berkeley United States
 6   4  UCL United Kingdom
 7   7  Yale University United States
 8   9  University of Pennsylvania United States
 9   12  The University of Chicago United States
 10   19  University of Toronto Canada

Psychology is the study of the mind and human behaviour. Psychology students will learn about emotions, what motivates us and how we interact with each other.

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Many psychology graduates go on to become professional psychologists; however, a degree in psychology can also lead to careers in childcare, social work or in the legal profession. Scroll down for a full guide to what you can do with a psychology degree.

This year, Times Higher Education has released a ranking of the 621 best universities for psychology degrees.

Nearly a quarter of the universities in the overall ranking (150 universities) are in the US. The next most-represented country is the UK, with 83 universities present. Australia, Germany and Canada are also well represented, with 36, 32 and 29 universities, respectively.

The ranking uses the same methodology as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, but with a higher weighting for citations and a lower weighting for teaching. The full methodology can be found here.

Best universities for psychology degrees in Canada
Best universities for psychology degrees in the US
Best universities for psychology degrees in Australia
Best universities for psychology degrees in the UK

The top 5 universities for psychology degrees

5. University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley’s psychology department undertakes research in areas including development, cognition, social-personality and cognitive neuroscience among others. 

The undergraduate psychology department holds regular peer adviser workshops for students to learn more about applying for postgraduate education and undertaking research projects. 

The UC Berkeley Psychology Clinic offers training to talented PhD students every year while providing psychological and clinical support to residents of the Bay Area. 

The department of psychology recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. 

4. Harvard University

Psychology is one of the most popular courses of study at undergraduate level at Harvard University.

Undergraduate students can choose one of three study tracks: the general track, which offers the greatest flexibility; the cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology track; and the cognitive science track.

The graduate programme covers four major research themes: cognition, brain and behaviour; developmental psychology; social psychology; and clinical science.

3. University of Cambridge

The psychological and behavioural sciences tripos at the University of Cambridge covers teaching in cognitive, social, developmental and biological psychology within the broader context of the behavioural sciences.

Undergraduates are able to conduct laboratory work from their second year onwards to supplement their coursework and seminar learning.

As students progress through the course, there are opportunities to specialise further.

Potential study areas include statistics, neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, neuroimaging, developmental psychology, psychopathology, cognitive psychology, language, gender, family relationships and influences, personality and group social behaviour.

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2. Princeton University

The psychology department at Princeton University has produced six Distinguished Contributions awards from the American Psychological Association, one Nobel prizewinner and three William James Fellow Awards from the Association for Psychological Science.

Graduate study is focused on systems neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, perception and cognition, personality and social psychology, and physiological psychology.

The department is closely affiliated with the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, which conducts research on neuroscience and psychological function.

1. Stanford University

The department of psychology at Stanford University was one of the first to be established at the institution.

Research is carried out in areas including addictive behaviours, psychopathology and risk, and stereotyping.

Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are available, with the latter emphasising research training. The department is split into five research groups known as department areas, namely science, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology.

The department has close ties with many other departments at Stanford, such as biology, law, medicine and business. There are also aims to increase participation in various interdisciplinary programmes on campus.

What can you do with a psychology degree?

Top universities for psychology degrees 2024

Click on each institution to view its World University Ranking 2024 profile.

Psychology Rank 2024  Psychology Rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   1  Stanford University United States
 2   3  Princeton University United States
 3   2  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 4   5  Harvard University United States
 5   6  University of California, Berkeley United States
 6   4  UCL United Kingdom
 7   7  Yale University United States
 8   9  University of Pennsylvania United States
 9   12  The University of Chicago United States
 10   19  University of Toronto Canada
 11   10  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 12   11  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 13   16  Columbia University United States
 14   15  New York University United States
 15   8  King’s College London United Kingdom
 16   13  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 17   14  University of British Columbia Canada
 18   20  KU Leuven Belgium
 19   22  University of Melbourne Australia
 =20   =23  Duke University United States
 =20   =23  Johns Hopkins University United States
 22   27  Peking University China
 23   17  LMU Munich Germany
 24   18  Northwestern University United States
 =25   =29  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 =25   =29  University of Minnesota United States
 27   =23  Carnegie Mellon University United States
 28   31  McGill University Canada
 29   21  Cornell University United States
 =30   =35  Karolinska Institute Sweden
 =30   28  The University of Queensland Australia
 32   41  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 33   37  University of Texas at Austin United States
 34   32  University of California, Davis United States
 35   34  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 36   56  University of Groningen Netherlands
 37   43  University of Zurich Switzerland
 38   52  University of California, Irvine United States
 =39   33  University of California, San Diego United States
 =39   42  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
 41   44  Vanderbilt University United States
 42   38  University of Washington United States
 43   39  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 44   51  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 45   =35  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
 =46   40  London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
 =46   53  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 48   =61  Brown University United States
 49   55  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 50   54  Monash University Australia
 51   =69  Ghent University Belgium
 52   58  Washington University in St Louis United States
 53   67  Maastricht University Netherlands
 =54   59  Indiana University United States
 =54   =46  University of Vienna Austria
 56   63  University of Sydney Australia
 57   =48  Boston University United States
 58   60  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 59   45  UNSW Sydney Australia
 60   66  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 61   =72  The University of Tokyo Japan
 62   71  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 63   =77  Leiden University Netherlands
 =64   =46  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 =64   =48  National University of Singapore Singapore
 66   =48  Tilburg University Netherlands
 67   101–125  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
 68   101–125  Beijing Normal University China
 69   82  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 70   80  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 71   =72  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 72   68  University of Mannheim Germany
 73   91  Universität Heidelberg Germany
 =74   57  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 =74   76  Free University of Berlin Germany
 =74   94  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 77   88  University of Padua Italy
 78   =64  University of Rochester United States
 79   =95  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 80   =74  University of Tübingen Germany
 81   101–125  Michigan State University United States
 82   =64  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 83   87  Kyoto University Japan
 84   99  Aarhus University Denmark
 85   151–175  University of Florida United States
 86   92  University of York United Kingdom
 87   =74  Dartmouth College United States
 88   101–125  Macquarie University Australia
 89   =69  University of Kent United Kingdom
 90   90  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
 91   101–125  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
 =92   83  University of St Andrews United Kingdom
 =92   126–150  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 94   100  TU Dresden Germany
 =95   89  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 =95   176–200  University of Iowa United States
 =95   101–125  University of Lausanne Switzerland
 =95   126–150  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 99   98  University of Konstanz Germany
100 101-125 Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom
 100   101–125  University of Southern California United States
 101–125   126–150  University of Adelaide Australia
 101–125   81  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 101–125   =61  University of Auckland New Zealand
 101–125   79  Australian National University Australia
 101–125   93  University of Bath United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Cologne Germany
 101–125   151–175  University of Connecticut United States
 101–125   101–125  Curtin University Australia
 101–125   101–125  Emory University United States
 101–125   =77  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Flinders University Australia
 101–125   151–175  University of Geneva Switzerland
 101–125   151–175  University of Massachusetts United States
 101–125   86  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 101–125   101–125  University of Notre Dame United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Otago New Zealand
 101–125   85  Ruhr University Bochum Germany
 101–125   126–150  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
 101–125   101–125  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Simon Fraser University Canada
 101–125   101–125  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Sussex United Kingdom
 101–125   =95  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of Waterloo Canada
 101–125   84  The University of Western Australia Australia
 101–125   151–175  Western University Canada
 126–150   151–175  University of Arizona United States
 126–150   151–175  University of Barcelona Spain
 126–150   97  University of Basel Switzerland
 126–150   126–150  University of Bern Switzerland
 126–150   126–150  University of Calgary Canada
 126–150   201–250  City, University of London United Kingdom
 126–150   151–175  Durham University United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Florida State University United States
 126–150   101–125  University of Freiburg Germany
 126–150   151–175  University of Georgia United States
 126–150   126–150  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
 126–150   201–250  University of Hamburg Germany
 126–150   201–250  University of Helsinki Finland
 126–150   126–150  Lancaster University United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of Macau Macao
 126–150   176–200  McMaster University Canada
 126–150   126–150  University of Münster Germany
 126–150   176–200  Northeastern University, US United States
 126–150   176–200  University of Oslo Norway
 126–150   251–300  University of Ottawa Canada
 126–150   101–125  University of Potsdam Germany
 126–150   101–125  Stony Brook University United States
 126–150   126–150  York University Canada
 151–175   126–150  University of Copenhagen Denmark
 151–175   176–200  Dalhousie University Canada
 151–175   176–200  University of Denver United States
 151–175   101–125  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
 151–175   176–200  Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany
 151–175   201–250  George Washington University United States
 151–175   176–200  Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
 151–175   126–150  Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom
 151–175   201–250  University of Göttingen Germany
 151–175   201–250  Griffith University Australia
 151–175   151–175  University of Jyväskylä Finland
 151–175   176–200  Korea University South Korea
 151–175   201–250  La Trobe University Australia
 151–175   151–175  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 151–175   176–200  Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium
 151–175   151–175  Linköping University Sweden
 151–175   151–175  Mizzou - University of Missouri United States
 151–175   201–250  University of Montreal Canada
 151–175   151–175  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 151–175   201–250  Queen’s University Canada
 151–175   126–150  Royal Holloway, University of London United Kingdom
 151–175   126–150  Rutgers University – New Brunswick United States
 151–175   176–200  Tel Aviv University Israel
 151–175   126–150  Ulm University Germany
 151–175   176–200  Washington State University United States
 151–175   176–200  University of Würzburg Germany
 176–200   201–250  University of Alberta Canada
 176–200   126–150  Australian Catholic University Australia
 176–200   151–175  Boston College United States
 176–200   251–300  University of California, Riverside United States
 176–200   151–175  University of California, Santa Cruz United States
 176–200   251–300  Drexel University United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Essex United Kingdom
 176–200   251–300  Université Laval Canada
 176–200   251–300  University of Limerick Ireland
 176–200   201–250  Loughborough University United Kingdom
 176–200   151–175  University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
 176–200   126–150  Maynooth University Ireland
 176–200   151–175  University of Miami United States
 176–200   251–300  University of Nebraska-Lincoln United States
 176–200   101–125  University of Neuchâtel Switzerland
 176–200   301–400  Université du Québec Canada
 176–200   176–200  University of Reading United Kingdom
 176–200   201–250  University of São Paulo Brazil
 176–200   151–175  University of Surrey United Kingdom
 176–200   201–250  Texas A&M University United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Turku Finland
 176–200   201–250  Uppsala University Sweden
 176–200   126–150  Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand
 176–200   251–300  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University United States

 

Editor's note: This table was updated in December 2023 to retroactively include Birkbeck, University of London based on their provided data submission. More information on the university's inclusion can be found here

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