by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege Factual looked at 9 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 651 doctor's degrees in psychology during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Your choice of psychology for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality psychology program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for psychology students working on their doctor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Psychology Doctor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in psychology.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in psychology. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Washington University in St Louis is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in psychology. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in psychology from Washington University in St Louis
University of South Dakota is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in psychology. USD is a medium-sized public university located in the distant town of Vermillion.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of South Dakota
University of Missouri - Columbia is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in psychology. Located in the midsize city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of Missouri - Columbia
Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of Kansas
UND is a large public university located in the city of Grand Forks.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of North Dakota
UST MN is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Saint Paul.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of St Thomas Minnesota
Located in the city of Lincoln, UNL is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Located in the large city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in psychology from Saint Louis University
Explore the best psychology schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .
| State | Colleges | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 27 | 451 |
| Missouri | 27 | 65 |
| Kansas | 26 | 46 |
| Iowa | 26 | 29 |
| Nebraska | 24 | 21 |
| North Dakota | 21 | 24 |
| South Dakota | 15 | 9 |
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology | 322 |
| General Psychology | 220 |
| Child Development & Psychology | 109 |
