2025 Best Psychology Schools in California
78
Colleges in California
41,633
Psychology Degrees Awarded
$40,723
Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in
psychology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #8 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 78 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for psychology students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 41,633 degrees in psychology annually.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Psychology School
The psychology program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Psychology rankings. For our Best Overall Psychology School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Psychology Rankings by Degree Level
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 Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Read more about College Factual's methodology.
Best Schools for Psychology in California
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the psychology degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
15 Top California Schools in Psychology
University of California - Irvine is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in psychology. UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were roughly 1056 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the psychology program earn around $29,233 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Irvine
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in psychology. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 1101 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. After graduating, psychology degree recipients typically earn about $31,186 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Los Angeles
University of California - Santa Cruz is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in psychology. UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.
There were roughly 447 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, psychology degree recipients generally make about $30,730 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Santa Cruz
University of California - Santa Barbara is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in psychology. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.
There were about 659 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, psychology degree recipients typically make about $34,431 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Santa Barbara
USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 335 psychology students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Those psychology students who get their degree from University of Southern California make $9,605 more than the average psychology student.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of Southern California
Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were approximately 961 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the psychology program make about $32,046 in the first couple years of their career.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Davis
UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were about 781 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the psychology program state that they receive average early career income of $27,473.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - San Diego
UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 371 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, psychology degree recipients typically make around $34,450 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Berkeley
Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 227 psychology students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year. Those psychology students who get their degree from Santa Clara University make $14,632 more than the typical psychology graduate.
More information about a degree in psychology from Santa Clara University
SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego. This university ranks 25th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 743 psychology students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, psychology degree recipients generally earn around $30,546 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in psychology from San Diego State University
Located in the large suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #63 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Pepperdine is a great university overall.
There were approximately 960 psychology students who graduated with this degree at Pepperdine in the most recent data year. Those psychology students who get their degree from Pepperdine University make $8,777 more than the typical psychology graduate.
More information about a degree in psychology from Pepperdine University
CSULB is a very large public university located in the city of Long Beach. This university ranks 36th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 616 psychology students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the psychology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $31,839.
More information about a degree in psychology from California State University - Long Beach
USFCA is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #152 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 326 psychology students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent year we have data available. Psychology degree recipients from University of San Francisco receive an earnings boost of about $11,838 above the typical earnings of psychology majors.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of San Francisco
Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 41st out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 912 psychology students who graduated with this degree at Cal State Fullerton in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the psychology program make around $29,063 for their early career.
More information about a degree in psychology from California State University - Fullerton
Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 602 psychology students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the psychology program state that they receive average early career income of $25,654.
More information about a degree in psychology from University of California - Riverside
