Top 10 universities for psychology
Scroll down for the full list of best universities for psychology degrees
Psychology rank 2023 | Psychology rank 2022 | University | Country/region |
1 | 2 | Stanford University | United States |
2 | 1 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
3 | 3 | Princeton University | United States |
4 | 6 | UCL | United Kingdom |
5 | 4 | Harvard University | United States |
6 | 5 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
7 | 8 | Yale University | United States |
8 | 12 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
9 | 9 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
10 | 10 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
Psychology is the study of the mind and human behaviour. Psychology students will learn about emotions, what motivates us and how we interact with each other.
Many psychology graduates go on to become professional psychologists; however, a degree in psychology can also lead to careers in childcare, social work or in the legal profession. Scroll down for a full guide to what you can do with a psychology degree.
This year, Times Higher Education has released a ranking of the 600 best universities for psychology degrees. The ranking features 47 countries.
Stanford University is back in the number one position after conceding the spot to newcomer the University of Cambridge last year. The University of Cambridge is now in second place position.
Nearly a quarter of the universities in the overall ranking (153 universities) are in the US. The next most-represented country is the UK, with 79 universities present. Australia, Germany and Canada are also well represented, with 35, 32 and 29 universities, respectively.
The ranking uses the same methodology as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, but with a higher weighting for citations and a lower weighting for teaching. The full methodology can be found here.
Best universities for psychology degrees in Canada
Best universities for psychology degrees in Australia
Best universities for psychology degrees in the UK
Best universities for psychology degrees in the US
The top 5 universities for psychology degrees
5. Harvard University
Psychology is one of the most popular courses of study at undergraduate level at Harvard University.
Undergraduate students can choose one of three study tracks: the general track, which offers the greatest flexibility; the cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology track; and the cognitive science track.
The graduate programme covers four major research themes: cognition, brain and behaviour; developmental psychology; social psychology; and clinical science.
4. UCL
The UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is the largest department of its kind in the UK, with more than 120 academic staff members and approximately 1,500 students.
The undergraduate programme at UCL is accredited by the British Psychological Society, and graduates are eligible to become members.
As well as undergraduate courses, the department offers 20 master’s degrees in topics including business psychology, neuroscience, decision science and human-computer interaction.
3. Princeton University
The psychology department at Princeton University has produced six Distinguished Contributions awards from the American Psychological Association, one Nobel prizewinner and three William James Fellow Awards from the Association for Psychological Science.
Graduate study is focused on systems neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, perception and cognition, personality and social psychology, and physiological psychology.
The department is closely affiliated with the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, which conducts research on neuroscience and psychological function.
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2. University of Cambridge
The psychological and behavioural sciences tripos at the University of Cambridge covers teaching in cognitive, social, developmental and biological psychology within the broader context of the behavioural sciences.
Undergraduates are able to conduct laboratory work from their second year onwards to supplement their coursework and seminar learning.
As students progress through the course, there are opportunities to specialise further.
Potential study areas include statistics, neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, neuroimaging, developmental psychology, psychopathology, cognitive psychology, language, gender, family relationships and influences, personality and group social behaviour.
What can you do with a psychology degree?
1. Stanford University
The department of psychology at Stanford University was one of the first to be established at the institution.
Research is carried out in areas including addictive behaviours, psychopathology and risk, and stereotyping.
Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are available, with the latter emphasising research training. The department is split into five research groups known as department areas, namely science, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology.
The department has close ties with many other departments at Stanford, such as biology, law, medicine and business. There are also aims to increase participation in various interdisciplinary programmes on campus.
Top universities for psychology degrees 2023
Click on each institution to view its World University Ranking 2023 profile
Psychology rank 2023 | Psychology rank 2022 | University | Country/region |
1 | 2 | Stanford University | United States |
2 | 1 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
3 | 3 | Princeton University | United States |
4 | 6 | UCL | United Kingdom |
5 | 4 | Harvard University | United States |
6 | 5 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
7 | 8 | Yale University | United States |
8 | 12 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
9 | 9 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
10 | 10 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
11 | 11 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States |
12 | 7 | The University of Chicago | United States |
13 | 17 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
14 | =13 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
15 | =13 | New York University | United States |
16 | 16 | Columbia University | United States |
17 | 27 | LMU Munich | Germany |
18 | 15 | Northwestern University | United States |
19 | 19 | University of Toronto | Canada |
20 | =25 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
21 | 20 | Cornell University | United States |
22 | 24 | University of Melbourne | Australia |
=23 | =22 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
=23 | 21 | Duke University | United States |
=23 | 28 | Johns Hopkins University | United States |
26 | 35 | Utrecht University | Netherlands |
27 | 45 | Peking University | China |
28 | 46 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
=29 | 18 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
=29 | 38 | University of Minnesota | United States |
31 | 41 | McGill University | Canada |
32 | 34 | University of California, Davis | United States |
33 | 32 | University of California, San Diego | United States |
34 | =25 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States |
=35 | 44 | Karolinska Institute | Sweden |
=35 | =36 | University of Virginia (Main campus) | United States |
37 | 30 | University of Texas at Austin | United States |
38 | 31 | University of Washington | United States |
39 | =22 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States |
40 | 43 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom |
41 | =49 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Netherlands |
42 | 61 | Humboldt University of Berlin | Germany |
43 | =59 | University of Zurich | Switzerland |
44 | 42 | Vanderbilt University | United States |
45 | 29 | UNSW Sydney | Australia |
=46 | =67 | Cardiff University | United Kingdom |
=46 | =65 | University of Vienna | Austria |
=48 | 51 | Boston University | United States |
=48 | 58 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
=48 | 47 | Tilburg University | Netherlands |
51 | 57 | Radboud University Nijmegen | Netherlands |
52 | 33 | University of California, Irvine | United States |
53 | =39 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | United States |
54 | 151–175 | Monash University | Australia |
55 | =39 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States |
56 | 62 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
57 | =78 | University of California, Santa Barbara | United States |
58 | 69 | Washington University in St Louis | United States |
59 | =59 | Indiana University | United States |
60 | =53 | Penn State (Main campus) | United States |
=61 | =73 | University of Auckland | New Zealand |
=61 | =67 | Brown University | United States |
63 | =36 | University of Sydney | Australia |
=64 | 101–125 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom |
=64 | 48 | University of Rochester | United States |
66 | 81 | University of Maryland, College Park | United States |
67 | =82 | Maastricht University | Netherlands |
68 | =65 | University of Mannheim | Germany |
=69 | 64 | Ghent University | Belgium |
=69 | =49 | University of Kent | United Kingdom |
71 | =53 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
=72 | 126–150 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom |
=72 | =70 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
=74 | 72 | Dartmouth College | United States |
=74 | 63 | University of Tübingen | Germany |
76 | =82 | Free University of Berlin | Germany |
=77 | =95 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom |
=77 | 98 | Leiden University | Netherlands |
79 | 77 | Australian National University | Australia |
80 | 88 | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
81 | 52 | Arizona State University (Tempe) | United States |
82 | 57 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom |
83 | =70 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom |
84 | =95 | The University of Western Australia | Australia |
85 | 101–125 | Ruhr University Bochum | Germany |
86 | =73 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore |
87 | 99 | Kyoto University | Japan |
88 | 126–150 | University of Padua | Italy |
89 | 92 | University of Colorado Boulder | United States |
90 | 101–125 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus | United States |
91 | NR | Heidelberg University | Germany |
92 | =95 | University of York | United Kingdom |
93 | 101–125 | University of Bath | United Kingdom |
94 | 91 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
=95 | 84 | Université Catholique de Louvain | Belgium |
=95 | 76 | University of Warwick | United Kingdom |
97 | 101–125 | University of Basel | Switzerland |
98 | 126–150 | University of Konstanz | Germany |
99 | =78 | Aarhus University | Denmark |
100 | 101–125 | TU Dresden | Germany |
101–125 | 89 | Beijing Normal University | China |
101–125 | 126–150 | Birkbeck, University of London | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 126–150 | Curtin University | Australia |
101–125 | 80 | Emory University | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Germany |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of Freiburg | Germany |
101–125 | 201–250 | University of Lausanne | Switzerland |
101–125 | NR | Leuphana University of Lüneburg | Germany |
101–125 | 251–300 | University of Liverpool | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 151–175 | University of Macau | Macao |
101–125 | 151–175 | Macquarie University | Australia |
101–125 | 55 | Michigan State University | United States |
101–125 | 201–250 | University of Neuchâtel | Switzerland |
101–125 | 151–175 | University of Notre Dame | United States |
101–125 | =93 | University of Otago | New Zealand |
101–125 | =93 | University of Potsdam | Germany |
101–125 | NR | Purdue University West Lafayette | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 201–250 | Simon Fraser University | Canada |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Southampton | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 75 | University of Southern California | United States |
101–125 | 126–150 | Stony Brook University | United States |
101–125 | 87 | Trinity College Dublin | Ireland |
101–125 | =85 | University of Waterloo | Canada |
101–125 | 176–200 | University of the West of England | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 201–250 | University of Adelaide | Australia |
126–150 | 126–150 | Australian Catholic University | Australia |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Bern | Switzerland |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Calgary | Canada |
126–150 | 301–400 | Central Queensland University | Australia |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Cologne | Germany |
126–150 | 101–125 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark |
126–150 | 201–250 | Flinders University | Australia |
126–150 | 90 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
126–150 | 151–175 | Goldsmiths, University of London | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 101–125 | Lancaster University | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 176–200 | Maynooth University | Ireland |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Münster | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 101–125 | Nottingham Trent University | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Regina | Canada |
126–150 | 201–250 | Royal Holloway, University of London | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 101–125 | Rutgers University – New Brunswick | United States |
126–150 | 101–125 | Sapienza University of Rome | Italy |
126–150 | 101–125 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 176–200 | Ulm University | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Victoria | Canada |
126–150 | 100 | Victoria University of Wellington | New Zealand |
126–150 | 151–175 | Yonsei University (Seoul campus) | South Korea |
126–150 | 151–175 | York University | Canada |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of Arizona | United States |
151–175 | 101–125 | University of Barcelona | Spain |
151–175 | 201–250 | Boston College | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of California, Santa Cruz | United States |
151–175 | 101–125 | University of Connecticut | United States |
151–175 | 101–125 | Durham University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Florida | United States |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Geneva | Switzerland |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Georgia | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of Graz | Austria |
151–175 | 251–300 | University of Jyväskylä | Finland |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 251–300 | University of Leicester | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 101–125 | Linköping University | Sweden |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of Luxembourg | Luxembourg |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Massachusetts | United States |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Miami | United States |
151–175 | 151–175 | Mizzou - University of Missouri | United States |
151–175 | 101–125 | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan |
151–175 | 151–175 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 251–300 | University of Newcastle | Australia |
151–175 | 251–300 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro | United States |
151–175 | 201–250 | University of Surrey | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 101–125 | University of Twente | Netherlands |
151–175 | 151–175 | Western University | Canada |
176–200 | 151–175 | Aston University | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 251–300 | Chung-Ang University | South Korea |
176–200 | 201–250 | Dalhousie University | Canada |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Denver | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | Eötvös Loránd University | Hungary |
176–200 | 251–300 | University of Essex | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 126–150 | Florida State University | United States |
176–200 | 176–200 | Friedrich Schiller University Jena | Germany |
176–200 | 201–250 | Goethe University Frankfurt | Germany |
176–200 | 126–150 | University of Innsbruck | Austria |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Iowa | United States |
176–200 | NR | Jönköping University | Sweden |
176–200 | 176–200 | King Abdulaziz University | Saudi Arabia |
176–200 | NR | Korea University | South Korea |
176–200 | 201–250 | Université Libre de Bruxelles | Belgium |
176–200 | 151–175 | McMaster University | Canada |
176–200 | 176–200 | Northeastern University | United States |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Oslo | Norway |
176–200 | 126–150 | University of Reading | United Kingdom |
176–200 | =85 | Tel Aviv University | Israel |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Turku | Finland |
176–200 | 251–300 | University College Cork | Ireland |
176–200 | 301–400 | Washington State University | United States |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Würzburg | Germany |
View the full table of the best universities for psychology degrees
Editors note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian and Belarusian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.
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Find the best colleges for psychology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2023 data