2025 Best Child Development & Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

Child Development & Psychology is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #80 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 15 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Child Development & Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,187 master's degrees in child development & psychology to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of child development & psychology for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality child development program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master'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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on child development & psychology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other child development & psychology students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt child development & psychology students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized child development & psychology related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The child development school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Child Development & Psychology Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Child Development & Psychology in the Middle Atlantic Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in child development & psychology.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Child Development

1

New York University
New York, NY

565 Annual Graduates

$48,960 Median Starting Salary

New York University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, child development master's recipients typically earn an average of $48,960 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from New York University

2

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

94 Annual Graduates

$46,806 Median Starting Salary

University of Pennsylvania is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, child development master's recipients generally earn around $46,806 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from University of Pennsylvania

3

Fordham University
Bronx, NY

35 Annual Graduates

$57,989 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Fordham University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in child development & psychology. Located in the large city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Those child development & psychology students who get their master's degree from Fordham University earn $5,837 more than the average child development grad.

More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Fordham University

4

Cornell University
Ithaca, NY

12 Annual Graduates

Cornell University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in child development & psychology. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Ithaca.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Cornell University

5

George Washington University
Washington, DC

10 Annual Graduates

GWU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from George Washington University

6

Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Bethlehem, Lehigh is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Lehigh University

7

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

14 Annual Graduates

Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Johns Hopkins University

8

Montclair State University
Montclair, NJ

102 Annual Graduates

Montclair State is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Montclair.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Montclair State University

9

University of Delaware
Newark, DE

11 Annual Graduates

UD is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Newark.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from University of Delaware

10

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

22 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in child development & psychology from Drexel University

Best Child Development & Psychology Colleges by State

Explore the best child development & psychology schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	261	516
Pennsylvania	248	130
Maryland	193	9
New Jersey	188	92
District of Columbia	154	11
Delaware	109	2

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Rankings in Majors Related to Child Development

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

Child Development Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Developmental & Child Psychology	680
Other Research & Experimental Psychology	278
Experimental Psychology	73
Cognitive Psychology & Psycholinguistics	43
Behavioral Neuroscience	38
Social Psychology	31
Psychometrics & Quantitative Psychology	25
Comparative Psychology	10
Psychopharmacology	9

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	2,713
General Psychology	954
Other Psychology	179

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.