Pomona College offers a Bachelor of Arts in Psychological Science, an undergraduate major and minor emphasizing empirical research and a required senior thesis. Pomona is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) and is a founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium in Claremont, CA.
Pomona College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, founded in 1887 and now the founding member of the Claremont Colleges consortium. Admission is highly selective, with an acceptance rate near 7%, and Pomona enrolls roughly 1,700 undergraduates across 48 majors.
Pomona College Accreditation Details
Pomona College is institutionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), a status it has held since 1949. Pomona most recently reaffirmed its accreditation through WSCUC’s Thematic Pathway for Reaffirmation process in 2021. Pomona does not hold separate programmatic accreditation for individual majors, including psychology. This institutional accreditation applies to the college as a whole.
Pomona College Application Requirements
Pomona accepts the Common Application, the Coalition Application on Scoir, or the QuestBridge application, with no preference for which platform an applicant uses. The college has a permanent test-optional policy, so SAT and ACT scores aren’t required, though applicants may self-report or submit official scores if they choose. First-year applicants can apply Early Decision I, Early Decision II, or Regular Decision, with the Regular Decision deadline falling on January 8 and notifications by April 1. The application fee is $80, with fee waivers available for eligible students.
Pomona’s review process is holistic. There’s no minimum GPA or test score cutoff. Admissions officers weigh course rigor, grades, essays, extracurricular depth, and letters of recommendation, including one from a school counselor and at least one academic teacher. Pomona recommends a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that includes extensive coursework in English, mathematics, laboratory science, social science, and world languages, similar to what’s expected across most psychology programs in California.
Tuition and Financial Aid
For the 2026-27 academic year, Pomona’s standard comprehensive charge for tuition, fees, housing, and food totals $95,670 for students living on campus, made up of $71,660 in tuition, $420 in fees, and $23,590 for housing and food. Note: verify this figure against Pomona’s current cost-of-attendance page before publishing, as it updates annually.
Pomona is need-blind in admissions for U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and undocumented, DACAmented, refugee, and asylee students, and the college meets 100% of every admitted student’s demonstrated financial need. More than half of Pomona students receive need-based aid, and the college does not include loans in its financial aid packages. Students apply for aid through the FAFSA and CSS Profile.
Psychology Programs at Pomona College
Bachelor of Arts in Psychological Science
Pomona’s Department of Psychological Science offers a major and minor built around firsthand research experience rather than passive coursework. Students take a required sequence that includes Introduction to Psychological Science and Research Design and Methodology in Psychological Science with Lab, then move into upper-level electives spanning cognitive, developmental, social, clinical, and neuroscience perspectives. Majors complete a senior exercise, typically an empirical thesis or an equivalent research project, depending on faculty supervision, and many work in the department’s active research labs, including the Deep Structure Culture Lab and the Child Relationships, Attachment and Emotion (CARE) lab. Pomona has long ranked among the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges in the proportion of graduates who go on to earn PhDs in psychology.
Because Pomona is an undergraduate-only liberal arts college, it does not offer graduate degrees in psychology. Students interested in a doctoral path typically complete the BA in Psychological Science at Pomona, then explore California’s psychology PhD programs or apply to doctoral programs elsewhere.
Select your state below to find accredited psychology programs, application links, and licensing requirements for your jurisdiction.