by our College Data Analytics Team
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Psychology is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 8th of all the majors we analyze. In 2020-2021, 195,678 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2019-2020, psychology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $35,611 and had an average of $25,989 in loans still to pay off.
Across California, there were 40,588 psychology graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,013 and $22,554 respectively.
This year’s “Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California” ranking looked at 217 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in psychology. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in psychology.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California”.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend National University. The school came in at #1 for the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California. National University is located in La Jolla, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,231 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #2 for the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California. This large school is located in Irvine, California, and it awarded 1,206 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. University of California - Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,116 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Northridge. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. Located in Northridge, California, this large public school handed out 912 diplomas to qualified ’s psychology students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Psychology at California State University - Northridge
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. This large school is located in Davis, California, and it awarded 902 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Psychology at University of California - Davis
With a ranking of #6, California State University - Fullerton did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. California State University - Fullerton is a large school located in Fullerton, California that handed out 812 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Full California State University - Fullerton Psychology Report
With a ranking of #7, Pepperdine University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. Pepperdine University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Malibu, California. It awarded 793 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
San Diego State University ranked #9 on this year’s Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. SDSU is a public institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 657 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #10, University of California - Riverside did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. This large school is located in Riverside, California, and it awarded 624 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%.
California State University - San Bernardino came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. This fairly large school is located in San Bernardino, California, and it awarded 623 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full California State University - San Bernardino Psychology Report
California State University - Sacramento landed the #12 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. Located in Sacramento, California, this large public school awarded 616 degrees to qualified ’s psychology students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #13, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. University of California - Santa Barbara is located in Santa Barbara, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 602 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
University of California - San Diego did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking, coming in at #14. This large school is located in La Jolla, California, and it awarded 589 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
California State University - Long Beach came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. California State University - Long Beach is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 576 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Full California State University - Long Beach Psychology Report
California State University - Fresno ranked #16 on this year’s Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. Fresno State is located in Fresno, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 528 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Psychology at California State University - Fresno
University of California - Santa Cruz did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking, coming in at #17. Santa Cruz, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s psychology degrees to 520 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
With a ranking of #18, San Jose State University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. This large school is located in San Jose, California, and it awarded 515 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
California State University - Dominguez Hills came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. This fairly large school is located in Carson, California, and it awarded 511 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Psychology at California State University - Dominguez Hills
With a ranking of #20, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus is a small school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 603 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Psychology at The Chicago School Los Angeles Campus
San Francisco State University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. This large school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 474 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Psychology at San Francisco State University
Sierra College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. Sierra College is located in Rocklin, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 435 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
With a ranking of #23, California State University - East Bay did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California list. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school situated in Hayward, California. It awarded 430 ’s psychology degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full California State University - East Bay Psychology Report
California State University - Stanislaus landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. Stan State is located in Turlock, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 414 ’s psychology degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Mt. San Antonio College landed the #25 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Psychology Major in California ranking. Located in Walnut, California, this large public school awarded 385 diplomas to qualified ’s psychology students in 2020-2021.
Not only did these schools make the top 33 list, but they also landed in the top 15% of this year’s ranking:
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
