Best universities for psychology degrees 2022

Find the best colleges for psychology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2022 data

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September 16 2021
Best universities in psychology

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Top 10 universities for psychology 

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

Psychology Rank 2022 Psychology Rank 2021 University Country
1 NR University of Cambridge United Kingdom
2 1 Stanford University United States
3 2 Princeton University United States
4 6 Harvard University United States
5 4 University of California, Berkeley United States
6 3 UCL United Kingdom
7 5 The University of Chicago United States
8 7 Yale University United States
9 8 University of Pennsylvania United States
10 9 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States

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 568 best universities for psychology degrees. The ranking features 47 countries. 

The UK’s University of Cambridge makes its debut in the psychology ranking in 2022 and claims the top spot, after meeting the eligibility criteria for the first time. Stanford University previously led the table from its inception in 2018.

More than a quarter of the universities in the overall ranking (157 universities) are in the US. The next most represented country is the UK, with 78 universities present. Australia, Germany and Canada are also well represented, with 35, 31 and 27 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 Australia
Best universities for psychology degrees in the UK
Best universities for psychology degrees in the US

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. 
-The department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across a number of areas, while providing the opportunity to focus on the areas students find most interesting. 

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. 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.

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2. 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 graduate 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?

1. 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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Top universities for psychology degrees 2022

Click on each institution to view its World University Ranking 2022 profile

Psychology Rank 2022 Psychology Rank 2021 University Country
1 NR University of Cambridge United Kingdom
2 1 Stanford University United States
3 2 Princeton University United States
4 6 Harvard University United States
5 4 University of California, Berkeley United States
6 3 UCL United Kingdom
7 5 The University of Chicago United States
8 7 Yale University United States
9 8 University of Pennsylvania United States
10 9 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
11 10 University of California, Los Angeles United States
12 11 King’s College London United Kingdom
=13 =13 University of British Columbia Canada
=13 15 New York University United States
15 =13 Northwestern University United States
16 =21 Columbia University United States
17 12 University of Amsterdam Netherlands
18 16 University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
19 =21 University of Toronto Canada
20 24 Cornell University United States
21 20 Duke University United States
=22 =17 Carnegie Mellon University United States
=22 27 University of Wisconsin -Madison United States
24 23 University of Melbourne Australia
=25 25 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
=25 =17 KU Leuven Belgium
27 44 LMU Munich Germany
28 45 Johns Hopkins University United States
29 34 UNSW Sydney Australia
30 30 University of Texas at Austin United States
31 26 University of Washington United States
32 36 University of California, San Diego United States
33 47 University of California, Irvine United States
34 46 University of California, Davis United States
35 39 Utrecht University Netherlands
=36 31 University of Sydney Australia
=36 28 University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
38 29 University of Minnesota United States
=39 49 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
=39 37 Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
41 35 McGill University Canada
42 =41 Vanderbilt University United States
43 =17 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
44 32 Karolinska Institute Sweden
45 80 Peking University China
46 =52 The University of Queensland Australia
47 50 Tilburg University Netherlands
48 63 University of Rochester United States
=49 59 University of Kent United Kingdom
=49 =41 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
51 54 Boston University United States
52 61 Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
=53 56 University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
=53 =41 Penn State (Main campus) United States
55 33 Michigan State University United States
56 =68 Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
57 =52 University of Manchester United Kingdom
58 57 National University of Singapore Singapore
=59 NR Indiana University United States
=59 64 University of Zurich Switzerland
61 48 Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
62 40 University of Groningen Netherlands
63 =65 University of Tübingen Germany
64 51 Ghent University Belgium
=65 60 University of Mannheim Germany
=65 74 University of Vienna Austria
=67 55 Brown University United States
=67 38 Cardiff University United Kingdom
69 58 Washington University in St Louis United States
=70 101–125 University of St Andrews United Kingdom
=70 =81 The University of Tokyo Japan
72 101–125 Dartmouth College United States
=73 101–125 University of Auckland New Zealand
=73 101–125 Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
75 76 University of Southern California United States
76 =86 University of Warwick United Kingdom
77 67 Australian National University Australia
=78 70 Aarhus University Denmark
=78 62 University of California, Santa Barbara United States
80 =92 Emory University United States
81 =68 University of Maryland, College Park United States
=82 79 Free University of Berlin Germany
=82 73 Maastricht University Netherlands
84 101–125 Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
=85 =96 Tel Aviv University Israel
=85 78 University of Waterloo Canada
87 85 Trinity College Dublin Republic of Ireland
88 71 Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
89 126–150 Beijing Normal University China
90 =92 Georgia Institute of Technology United States
91 101–125 University of Glasgow United Kingdom
92 =96 University of Colorado Boulder United States
=93 126–150 University of Otago New Zealand
=93 89 University of Potsdam Germany
=95 101–125 University of Exeter United Kingdom
=95 91 The University of Western Australia Australia
=95 101–125 University of York United Kingdom
98 77 Leiden University Netherlands
99 126–150 Kyoto University Japan
100 101–125 Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand
101–125 126–150 University of Alberta Canada
101–125 =98 University of Barcelona Spain
101–125 151–175 University of Basel Switzerland
101–125 =86 University of Bath United Kingdom
101–125 84 University of Bristol United Kingdom
101–125 151–175 University of Connecticut United States
101–125 NR University of Copenhagen Denmark
101–125 101–125 Durham University United Kingdom
101–125 251–300 East China Normal University China
101–125 151–175 University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
101–125 176–200 HSE University Russian Federation
101–125 =65 Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
101–125 =98 Lancaster University United Kingdom
101–125 201–250 Linköping University Sweden
101–125 151–175 National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
101–125 101–125 Nottingham Trent University United Kingdom
101–125 101–125 University of Oregon United States
101–125 94 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
101–125 151–175 Ruhr University Bochum Germany
101–125 126–150 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey United States
101–125 151–175 Sapienza University of Rome Italy
101–125 83 University of Sheffield United Kingdom
101–125 101–125 University of Southampton United Kingdom
101–125 =81 University of Sussex United Kingdom
101–125 100 TU Dresden Germany
101–125 101–125 University of Twente Netherlands
126–150 101–125 University of Arizona United States
126–150 176–200 Australian Catholic University Australia
126–150 151–175 Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
126–150 95 Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom
126–150 101–125 University of Birmingham United Kingdom
126–150 201–250 University of Calgary Canada
126–150 126–150 University of California, Santa Cruz United States
126–150 101–125 University of Cologne Germany
126–150 151–175 Curtin University Australia
126–150 151–175 Florida State University United States
126–150 126–150 University of Freiburg Germany
126–150 176–200 University of Graz Austria
126–150 126–150 University of Illinois at Chicago United States
126–150 301–400 University of Innsbruck Austria
126–150 90 University of Konstanz Germany
126–150 151–175 University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
126–150 176–200 University of Münster Germany
126–150 201–250 National Taiwan Normal University Taiwan
126–150 101–125 University of Nottingham United Kingdom
126–150 72 University of Padua Italy
126–150 151–175 University of Reading United Kingdom
126–150 251–300 University of Regina Canada
126–150 151–175 Stony Brook University United States
126–150 101–125 University of Victoria Canada
151–175 126–150 Aston University United Kingdom
151–175 126–150 Autonomous University of Madrid Spain
151–175 151–175 University of Bern Switzerland
151–175 126–150 University of Florida United States
151–175 126–150 George Mason University United States
151–175 201–250 University of Georgia United States
151–175 176–200 Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom
151–175 176–200 University of Iowa United States
151–175 176–200 University of Leeds United Kingdom
151–175 201–250 Lomonosov Moscow State University Russian Federation
151–175 101–125 University of Macau Macao
151–175 101–125 Macquarie University Australia
151–175 151–175 McMaster University Canada
151–175 176–200 University of Miami United States
151–175 126–150 Mizzou - University of Missouri United States
151–175 126–150 Monash University Australia
151–175 201–250 The New School United States
151–175 126–150 Newcastle University United Kingdom
151–175 101–125 University of Notre Dame United States
151–175 88 Queen’s University Canada
151–175 176–200 Temple University United States
151–175 201–250 University of Turku Finland
151–175 176–200 Western University Canada
151–175 176–200 University of Würzburg Germany
151–175 201–250 Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
151–175 126–150 York University Canada
176–200 126–150 University of Bologna Italy
176–200 126–150 University of California, Riverside United States
176–200 176–200 University of Cape Town South Africa
176–200 201–250 Carleton University Canada
176–200 151–175 City, University of London United Kingdom
176–200 201–250 Deakin University Australia
176–200 126–150 University of Delaware United States
176–200 176–200 University of East Anglia United Kingdom
176–200 176–200 Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany
176–200 201–250 University of Geneva Switzerland
176–200 101–125 University of Helsinki Finland
176–200 201–250 ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon Portugal
176–200 151–175 Iowa State University United States
176–200 201–250 King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
176–200 176–200 University of Massachusetts United States
176–200 301–400 Maynooth University Republic of Ireland
176–200 301–400 Middlesex University United Kingdom
176–200 176–200 University of Montreal Canada
176–200 126–150 Northeastern University United States
176–200 176–200 University of Oslo Norway
176–200 201–250 Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
176–200 201–250 Tampere University Finland
176–200 201–250 Ulm University Germany
176–200 201–250 University of the West of England United Kingdom
176–200 151–175 Western Sydney University Australia

View the full table of the best universities for psychology degrees

Read more: the most detailed subject guide you will ever see to help you pick your degree   

 

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