Why We Built This Site, and How It Has Evolved
Welcome to Best Psychology Degrees, your resource for gathering up-to-date information about psychology degree programs across as many areas of concentration as possible. Our mission is to help prospective psychology students and professionals find accredited degree programs that match their goals across the United States.
Psychology is one of the broadest fields a student can enter. The same bachelor’s degree can lead to research, human resources, social services, or graduate training for licensed practice, and the doctoral path splits again into clinical, counseling, school, forensic, industrial-organizational, and many other specialties. Choosing well depends on details that are easy to miss, starting with accreditation: the American Psychological Association accredits doctoral programs, internships, and postdoctoral residencies in health service psychology, not bachelor’s degrees, and state licensing boards decide what qualifies a psychologist to practice.
We launched Best Psychology Degrees in 2013 to make those details easier to find. With an easy-to-use format searchable by state of residence, we’ve compiled listings of psychology degree programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association (APA-CoA). You’ll also find program rankings, featured articles, professional development resources, and answers to common questions about pursuing a psychology degree. In 2015, we awarded our first psychology scholarship, and our rankings and guides continue to be updated as programs, accreditation, and licensing rules change.
A Few Facts on Psychology Degrees
- Psychologists work in schools, universities, hospitals, private practices, social service agencies, research firms, patient counseling centers, mental health centers, government agencies, and rehabilitation facilities.
- Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists with graduate degrees tend to earn strong starting salaries. Current figures are available directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Demand for psychologists is closely tied to the ongoing need for professionals who help people manage mental health conditions, family and relationship challenges, aging, and addiction. Industrial-organizational psychology has been a particularly fast-growing specialty as businesses invest in workplace productivity and morale.
Where It Started: Our Founding Editor
Best Psychology Degrees was founded with Jack Kelle as its first editor. He came to the site as a psychology graduate student himself.
Founding Editor, Best Psychology Degrees
Jack earned a double major in philosophy and psychology at Sewanee: The University of the South. While editing Best Psychology Degrees, he was pursuing a master’s degree in research psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, studying under Dr. Ralph Hood, a leading figure in the psychology of religion. His interests centered on consciousness, stress management, and human efficiency, and his byline still appears on our flagship ranking of the 50 best psychology colleges. Today he works with RAVEReviews in Tennessee.
Investing in the Next Generation: Our Psychology Scholarship
In 2015, we awarded our first Best Psychology Degrees Scholarship, a $1,500 award for undergraduate or graduate study. The applications we received, and the faculty recommendations that came with them, gave us a direct look at the students this site is built for.
Hillary Gemma Stern
First Recipient, Best Psychology Degrees Scholarship (2015)
Gemma started college in computer science and switched to psychology after her first introductory lecture. By the time she applied, she had earned Dean’s List honors every semester, worked as a research assistant in the Gilbert Social Psychology Lab at Harvard University, and interned at Gilda’s Club, shadowing oncology social workers who support people living with cancer. Her plan was to pursue a PhD.
Her mentor at the time, David Levari, wrote in his recommendation: “If I could have 50 more researchers like [Gemma], I would snap them up in a heartbeat.” Dr. Levari is now the Lawrence A. Rand and Tiina Smith Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences and Entrepreneurship at Brown University.
How We Choose the Programs We Feature
Rankings are only as useful as the criteria behind them, so we publish ours. The full approach is on our methodology page, and every ranking explains what kind of list it is.
Accreditation comes first
Institutional accreditation from an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or CHEA is our first filter. For doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology, we also look for APA accreditation.
Outcomes, not just inputs
For undergraduate lists, we look at federal IPEDS data, including completion rates, to see how well a department actually gets students to a degree.
People make the final call
Numbers alone miss what sets programs apart, like a unique field experience or a standout research faculty, so programs are evaluated by people, not by formula alone.
We say what kind of list it is
Some lists are scored, some are curated, and some are sorted by a single factor like cost. Each one says which, so you know how much weight to put on the order.
What You’ll Find Here
This site covers psychology education at every level, from your first degree to licensure:
Writers Who Have Contributed
Over the years, these writers helped build Best Psychology Degrees, turning accreditation records, licensing rules, and program details into guides students could use to plan their next step. Today our content is produced and updated by our editorial staff, following our editorial standards.
Rebecca Turley
Writer and editor
Rebecca is a full-time writer and editor with a BA in Journalism and Communications. Her career highlights include ghostwriting several published books, editing for a national book publishing company, and writing for many high-profile websites and blogs aimed at the education, healthcare, and social sciences fields.
Susan Maphis
Freelance writer and editor
Susan is a longtime freelance writer and editor who writes for education and career guidance websites. Her work spans newspaper reporting, press releases, academic and technical articles, and healthcare, mental health, and career content. She has a background in psychology and studied at West Chester University.
Scott Wilson
Author and IT consultant
Scott is an author and IT consultant based in the Pacific Northwest. He holds a BA in English from the University of Washington and has spent more than 20 years in information technology, experience that gives him a sharp eye for clear, precise explanations of technical subjects.
Our Editorial Standards
Best Psychology Degrees is written and maintained by our editorial staff. Our articles are checked against the relevant primary sources, such as the APA Commission on Accreditation and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, before they’re published. Program accreditation is checked against the APA’s own accreditation records, and licensing requirements against each state’s psychology board, rather than secondary summaries.
Licensing rules change often and differ by state, so where a requirement is in flux, we say so and point you to the board itself. We revisit our rankings and guides as programs, accreditation, and licensing rules change.
Everything we publish follows our editorial standards: where our facts come from, how we use AI, and how each article is fact-checked by a person before it’s published.
To get in contact with us for updates or anything else, please email us at: [email protected]
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