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2025 Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools

32 Colleges in the United States
937 Doctor's Degrees
$82,203 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in child development & psychology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #38 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 32 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 937 doctor's degrees in child development & psychology during the <nil> academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Child Development & Psychology School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools The child development doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for child development & psychology students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Child Development & Psychology Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Child Development & Psychology in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in child development & psychology.

10 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Child Development

1
15 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - Irvine if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of California - Irvine

2
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
17 Annual Graduates

Duke University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Duke University

3
33 Annual Graduates

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4
14 Annual Graduates

University of Notre Dame is a wonderful choice for students interested in a doctor's degree in child development & psychology. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Notre Dame

5
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
16 Annual Graduates

NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from New York University

6
12 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Southern California

7

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, child development doctorate recipients generally earn about $73,130 in their early careers.

More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

8
10 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Washington University in St Louis

9
13 Annual Graduates

UCSB is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from University of California - Santa Barbara

10

Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those child development & psychology students who get their doctor's degree from Ohio State University - Main Campus receive $9,073 more than the standard child development grad.

More information about a doctorate in child development & psychology from Ohio State University - Main Campus

Child Development & Psychology by Region

View the Best Child Development & Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 24 majors within the Psychology area of study, Child Development & Psychology has other similar majors worth exploring.

Child Development Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Other Research & Experimental Psychology 544
Experimental Psychology 214
Developmental & Child Psychology 84
Social Psychology 28
Cognitive Psychology & Psycholinguistics 24
Behavioral Neuroscience 23
Psychometrics & Quantitative Psychology 13
Personality Psychology 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology 4,502
General Psychology 1,634
Other Psychology 147

Notes and References

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