Here’s how we choose the best psychology degree programs we feature: accreditation first, then faculty strength, research reputation, and student outcomes, not a single ranking formula. Accreditation from agencies recognized by CHEA and USDE is our baseline filter. From there we weigh faculty credentials, funding, retention and completion data, and program-specific factors like practicum access, concentrations, or online delivery quality.
The best psychology programs deserve more than a numeric score. This page covers how we choose the best psychology degree programs for our lists, built around the same standards that matter to a prospective student: accreditation, faculty, research strength, and how well a program supports students to graduation and beyond.
Our editors research every program using school websites, third-party rating sites, scientific journals, accreditation agency documentation, and news coverage. We’re looking past the basics of time, cost, and curriculum for the details that separate strong programs from the rest, whether that’s a unique field placement or a faculty member with a national research profile. Some of our lists, like our clinical psychology rankings, carry additional, specialized criteria explained on their own pages. Those stand in addition to what’s outlined here.
General Criteria for Degrees in Psychology
Psychology degrees at any level and in any format share a lot of fundamental elements. That’s why we apply similar core criteria to every program we evaluate, whether it’s an undergraduate program or a doctorate.
Accreditation Is the Starting Filter
Standard regional accreditation is our initial filter. Without it, a program doesn’t get a second look. We start with schools recognized by third-party accrediting agencies endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which ensures we’re working from a pool of institutions held to comparable standards.
Accreditors evaluate schools over a period of years to confirm alignment with their standards and internal processes for continuous improvement. The U.S. Department of Education no longer formally distinguishes between regional and national institutional accreditors, so we simply confirm that a school holds institutional accreditation from an agency recognized by USDE and CHEA. Every school we cover meets that bar.
We also look for specialty accreditation from the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Accreditation. The APA accredits doctoral programs, doctoral internships, and postdoctoral residencies, not standalone master’s programs. Since not every school offers a PhD or PsyD or qualifies for this accreditation, we treat it as a plus rather than a requirement. It’s also worth noting that psychology licensing requirements vary by state, so accreditation is one piece of a larger licensure picture we keep in mind when evaluating doctoral programs.
For counseling programs, we look to the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) as the standard. CACREP has held CHEA recognition for years, giving us confidence in the counseling programs we consider for our lists. The Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC) is another specialty accreditor focused on master’s programs in counseling and psychology. MPCAC earned CHEA recognition in 2021, and we now weigh it alongside CACREP when it’s the accreditor a program holds.
Faculty Strength and Accessibility
How well you learn has a lot to do with who teaches you. We look for programs that hire faculty with both academic and practical experience, favor strong publishing records and active research, and keep a student-to-faculty ratio low enough for real individualized attention.
Research and Scholastic Reputation
Psychology departments shaped by influential researchers, in the tradition of figures like B.F. Skinner, Esther Thelen, and Kenneth Spence tend to develop real strengths in specific research and treatment approaches. We evaluate those strengths directly and also consult third-party ratings sources such as The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.
Department Stability and Opportunity
APA accreditation at the doctoral level is one signal of a department’s institutional stability. Beyond that yardstick, we look at whether a department follows through on its promises through grant funding, interdisciplinary programs, and fellowship or community service opportunities that broaden a student’s education.
General Criteria for Bachelor’s Degrees in Psychology
Psychology is one of the most common bachelor’s degrees in the country, according to the American Psychological Association, and nearly every college offers a program to meet that demand. We sort through that volume to find the programs worth a prospective student’s time.
A Strong General Education Foundation
A bachelor’s degree in psychology covers more than the subject matter of the field itself. A solid liberal arts foundation supports every other part of a student’s studies and helps build the kind of broad understanding of human behavior that matters in this field, especially for anyone planning to pursue licensure later.
Study Tracks and Degree Options
More psychology programs now let students choose a specialization earlier, even though concentrations matter more at the graduate level. We look at the tracks available and whether a school offers both a liberal-arts-focused BA and a more science-based BS, so students can pick the option that fits their graduate study plans and career goals.
Student Outcomes and Retention Rates
A program isn’t worth a student’s time if they don’t finish it. We reference the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for year-over-year retention rates, comparing how many students stay enrolled after their first year. High early attrition is a warning sign. We also weigh overall completion rates to see how well a department gets students to a degree. This check is specific to our undergraduate program lists, since IPEDS offers less program-level detail at the graduate level.
General Criteria for Master’s Degrees in Psychology
Standards shift at the master’s level. We look for smaller class sizes, more individualized attention, varied fieldwork opportunities, a broad range of concentrations, and real research engagement.
Concentrations That Match Career Goals
Psychology touches nearly every aspect of human behavior, which is why there are dozens of master’s-level concentrations. We evaluate not just how many concentrations a program offers, but whether it has the resources and faculty to teach them well.
Research That Drives the Field Forward
Psychology evolves constantly, and a graduate program that isn’t contributing to that evolution risks falling behind. We look for schools with active research efforts that involve graduate students directly, backed by funding that reflects a track record of producing meaningful findings.
Practicum and Field Experience
Practicum requirements matter most for applied concentrations, clinical, counseling, and school psychology among them, where face-to-face client contact is part of the training. For those tracks, we look for the right amount of practicum hours and the right variety of placements to match a student’s concentration. General and research-focused master’s programs don’t carry the same practicum expectations, so we weigh this criterion by concentration rather than applying it universally.
Online Degree Programs in Psychology
Our criteria shift again for online programs. The fundamentals of a strong psychology education don’t change, but the delivery does, and online students often have different goals: more flexibility and more control over when and how they take in course content.
Technology and Instructor Support
A capable learning management system (LMS) is a must for any online program. We look for schools that use technology to improve on the in-person experience, not just replicate it, with real options for communicating with instructors and classmates, and staff trained to support students using those systems.
Flexibility for Working Students
Online programs can shift coursework away from a student’s working hours. We look for schools that make the most of that advantage, including part-time options and course content students can access on their own schedule.
Key Takeaways
- Accreditation comes first — A program needs regional accreditation recognized by USDE and CHEA before it gets evaluated on anything else.
- APA and CACREP accreditation are a plus, not a requirement — Not every strong program qualifies for specialty accreditation, so we weigh it alongside other factors rather than requiring it outright.
- Faculty and research strength matter as much as rankings — Publishing records, research funding, and student-to-faculty ratios tell us more than a single score can.
- Retention and completion data shape our undergraduate lists — We use NCES IPEDS data to confirm students are actually finishing the programs we recommend.
- Criteria shift by degree level and format — Bachelor’s, master’s, and online programs are each evaluated against standards specific to that level and delivery method.
Browse the schools we’ve evaluated using the criteria above to find accredited psychology programs at your degree level.