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Best universities for psychology degrees 2023

Find the best colleges for psychology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2023 data

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October 25 2022
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Top 10 universities for psychology

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

Psychology rank 2023 Psychology rank 2022 University Country/region
 1   2  Stanford University United States
 2   1  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   3  Princeton University United States
 4   6  UCL United Kingdom
 5   4  Harvard University United States
 6   5  University of California, Berkeley United States
 7   8  Yale University United States
 8   12  King’s College London United Kingdom
 9   9  University of Pennsylvania United States
 10   10  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 600 best universities for psychology degrees. The ranking features 47 countries.

Stanford University is back in the number one position after conceding the spot to newcomer the University of Cambridge last year. The University of Cambridge is now in second place position.

Nearly a quarter of the universities in the overall ranking (153 universities) are in the US. The next most-represented country is the UK, with 79 universities present. Australia, Germany and Canada are also well represented, with 35, 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 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. 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.

4. UCL

The UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is the largest department of its kind in the UK, with more than 120 academic staff members and approximately 1,500 students.

The undergraduate programme at UCL is accredited by the British Psychological Society, and graduates are eligible to become members.

As well as undergraduate courses, the department offers 20 master’s degrees in topics including business psychology, neuroscience, decision science and human-computer interaction.

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. 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.

What can you do with a psychology degree?

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.

Top universities for psychology degrees 2023

Click on each institution to view its World University Ranking 2023 profile

Psychology rank 2023  Psychology rank 2022  University Country/region
 1   2  Stanford University United States
 2   1  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 3   3  Princeton University United States
 4   6  UCL United Kingdom
 5   4  Harvard University United States
 6   5  University of California, Berkeley United States
 7   8  Yale University United States
 8   12  King’s College London United Kingdom
 9   9  University of Pennsylvania United States
 10   10  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 11   11  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 12   7  The University of Chicago United States
 13   17  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 14   =13  University of British Columbia Canada
 15   =13  New York University United States
 16   16  Columbia University United States
 17   27  LMU Munich Germany
 18   15  Northwestern University United States
 19   19  University of Toronto Canada
 20   =25  KU Leuven Belgium
 21   20  Cornell University United States
 22   24  University of Melbourne Australia
 =23   =22  Carnegie Mellon University United States
 =23   21  Duke University United States
 =23   28  Johns Hopkins University United States
 26   35  Utrecht University Netherlands
 27   45  Peking University China
 28   46  The University of Queensland Australia
 =29   18  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 =29   38  University of Minnesota United States
 31   41  McGill University Canada
 32   34  University of California, Davis United States
 33   32  University of California, San Diego United States
 34   =25  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 =35   44  Karolinska Institute Sweden
 =35   =36  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
 37   30  University of Texas at Austin United States
 38   31  University of Washington United States
 39   =22  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 40   43  London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
 41   =49  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 42   61  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
 43   =59  University of Zurich Switzerland
 44   42  Vanderbilt University United States
 45   29  UNSW Sydney Australia
 =46   =67  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 =46   =65  University of Vienna Austria
 =48   51  Boston University United States
 =48   58  National University of Singapore Singapore
 =48   47  Tilburg University Netherlands
 51   57  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 52   33  University of California, Irvine United States
 53   =39  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 54   151–175  Monash University Australia
 55   =39  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 56   62  University of Groningen Netherlands
 57   =78  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 58   69  Washington University in St Louis United States
 59   =59  Indiana University United States
 60   =53  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 =61   =73  University of Auckland New Zealand
 =61   =67  Brown University United States
 63   =36  University of Sydney Australia
 =64   101–125  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 =64   48  University of Rochester United States
 66   81  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 67   =82  Maastricht University Netherlands
 68   =65  University of Mannheim Germany
 =69   64  Ghent University Belgium
 =69   =49  University of Kent United Kingdom
 71   =53  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =72   126–150  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 =72   =70  The University of Tokyo Japan
 =74   72  Dartmouth College United States
 =74   63  University of Tübingen Germany
 76   =82  Free University of Berlin Germany
 =77   =95  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 =77   98  Leiden University Netherlands
 79   77  Australian National University Australia
 80   88  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 81   52  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 82   57  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 83   =70  University of St Andrews United Kingdom
 84   =95  The University of Western Australia Australia
 85   101–125  Ruhr University Bochum Germany
 86   =73  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 87   99  Kyoto University Japan
 88   126–150  University of Padua Italy
 89   92  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 90   101–125  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
 91   NR  Heidelberg University Germany
 92   =95  University of York United Kingdom
 93   101–125  University of Bath United Kingdom
 94   91  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 =95   84  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 =95   76  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 97   101–125  University of Basel Switzerland
 98   126–150  University of Konstanz Germany
 99   =78  Aarhus University Denmark
 100   101–125  TU Dresden Germany
 101–125   89  Beijing Normal University China
 101–125   126–150  Birkbeck, University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Curtin University Australia
 101–125   80  Emory University United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
 101–125   126–150  University of Freiburg Germany
 101–125   201–250  University of Lausanne Switzerland
 101–125   NR  Leuphana University of Lüneburg Germany
 101–125   251–300  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 101–125   151–175  University of Macau Macao
 101–125   151–175  Macquarie University Australia
 101–125   55  Michigan State University United States
 101–125   201–250  University of Neuchâtel Switzerland
 101–125   151–175  University of Notre Dame United States
 101–125   =93  University of Otago New Zealand
 101–125   =93  University of Potsdam Germany
 101–125   NR  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 101–125   201–250  Simon Fraser University Canada
 101–125   101–125  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 101–125   75  University of Southern California United States
 101–125   126–150  Stony Brook University United States
 101–125   87  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
 101–125   =85  University of Waterloo Canada
 101–125   176–200  University of the West of England United Kingdom
 126–150   201–250  University of Adelaide Australia
 126–150   126–150  Australian Catholic University Australia
 126–150   151–175  University of Bern Switzerland
 126–150   126–150  University of Calgary Canada
 126–150   301–400  Central Queensland University Australia
 126–150   126–150  University of Cologne Germany
 126–150   101–125  University of Copenhagen Denmark
 126–150   201–250  Flinders University Australia
 126–150   90  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
 126–150   151–175  Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  Lancaster University United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Maynooth University Ireland
 126–150   126–150  University of Münster Germany
 126–150   126–150  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  Nottingham Trent University United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  University of Regina Canada
 126–150   201–250  Royal Holloway, University of London United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  Rutgers University – New Brunswick United States
 126–150   101–125  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
 126–150   101–125  University of Sussex United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Ulm University Germany
 126–150   126–150  University of Victoria Canada
 126–150   100  Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand
 126–150   151–175  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 126–150   151–175  York University Canada
 151–175   126–150  University of Arizona United States
 151–175   101–125  University of Barcelona Spain
 151–175   201–250  Boston College United States
 151–175   126–150  University of California, Santa Cruz United States
 151–175   101–125  University of Connecticut United States
 151–175   101–125  Durham University United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  University of Florida United States
 151–175   176–200  University of Geneva Switzerland
 151–175   151–175  University of Georgia United States
 151–175   126–150  University of Graz Austria
 151–175   251–300  University of Jyväskylä Finland
 151–175   151–175  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 151–175   251–300  University of Leicester United Kingdom
 151–175   101–125  Linköping University Sweden
 151–175   126–150  University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
 151–175   176–200  University of Massachusetts United States
 151–175   151–175  University of Miami United States
 151–175   151–175  Mizzou - University of Missouri United States
 151–175   101–125  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
 151–175   151–175  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 151–175   251–300  University of Newcastle Australia
 151–175   251–300  University of North Carolina at Greensboro United States
 151–175   201–250  University of Surrey United Kingdom
 151–175   101–125  University of Twente Netherlands
 151–175   151–175  Western University Canada
 176–200   151–175  Aston University United Kingdom
 176–200   251–300  Chung-Ang University South Korea
 176–200   201–250  Dalhousie University Canada
 176–200   201–250  University of Denver United States
 176–200   201–250  Eötvös Loránd University Hungary
 176–200   251–300  University of Essex United Kingdom
 176–200   126–150  Florida State University United States
 176–200   176–200  Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany
 176–200   201–250  Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
 176–200   126–150  University of Innsbruck Austria
 176–200   151–175  University of Iowa United States
 176–200   NR  Jönköping University Sweden
 176–200   176–200  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
 176–200   NR  Korea University South Korea
 176–200   201–250  Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium
 176–200   151–175  McMaster University Canada
 176–200   176–200  Northeastern University United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Oslo Norway
 176–200   126–150  University of Reading United Kingdom
 176–200   =85  Tel Aviv University Israel
 176–200   151–175  University of Turku Finland
 176–200   251–300  University College Cork Ireland
 176–200   301–400  Washington State University United States
 176–200   151–175  University of Würzburg Germany

View the full table of the best universities for psychology degrees

Editors note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian and Belarusian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

 

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