Best Psychology Colleges

School acceptance rate: 50%

The best-value psychology bachelor’s degree program comes from Baruch College, a public university in New York City and one of the oldest members of the City University Colleges of New York (CUNY) system.

The psychology undergraduate program from the Department of Psychology at Baruch’s Weissman School of Arts and Sciences comprises foundational courses like:

• Research Methods in Psychology
• Psychopathology
• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Personality and Individual Differences
• Cognitive Psychology

Students choose 2 additional courses in unique subdisciplines ranging from environmental psychology to the psychology of sleep.

In addition to its bachelor’s BA program, the school offers a BBA major in Industrial Organizational Psychology, constituted of many of the same courses with several relevant electives to the major added on.

Acceptance rate: 48%

The 2nd best psychology bachelor’s degree by value for money comes from another CUNY institution – Hunter College, a public university in New York that is nationally renowned for its affordable and rigorous psychology programs.

Hunter’s Department of Psychology offers a psychology undergraduate major that equips students with the skills to evaluate and process research data. Apart from Statistical Methods and Experimental Psychology courses, which are core to this research-oriented program, coursework is grouped in the following disciplines:

• Biopsychology (Animal Behavior and Physiological Psychology tracks)
• Cognitive/Developmental (Cognitive Psychology and Developmental Psychology tracks) 
• Social/Clinical/Health (Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Health Psychology tracks)

Elective courses include opportunities to conduct independent research or gain fieldwork experience, as well as explore topics in neuroscience (for BPEndure or RISE program students).

Acceptance rate: 50.7%

The 3rd-best psychology bachelor’s program comes from another excellent-value school, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a public university in New York and member of the CUNY system. As its name suggests, John Jay is best known for its criminal justice, forensic psychology, and forensic science programs.

The school offers a unique psychology bachelor’s program, a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology, which is well suited for prospective students interested in exploring the psychological dimensions of criminal justice.

The curriculum of the forensic psychology BA program is a comprehensive and well-curated mix of core classes, electives, capstone classes, and an optional honors thesis component. Examples of core and electives courses include:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychology and the Law
• Psychological Disorders and Distress
• Social Psychology
• Multicultural Psychology

General electives include unique courses like Family Conflict and the Family Court, Psychology of Oppression and Culture, and Psychopathology and Healing, which enable students to walk away from the program well prepared for criminal justice roles in law enforcement and related fields.

The degree is also offered as an accelerated dual admission program that leads to an MA in Forensic Mental Health Counseling.

Acceptance rate: 66.6%

City College, another member of the CUNY system in New York City, offers the 4th best-value psychology undergraduate program in the country.

Psychology undergraduate degrees at City College include a BA, BS, and combined BA/MA option. While most students opt for the BA program, the BS route is suitable for students who excel in science and math and/or plan to continue to graduate school in fields like allied health.

While distinct in their course offerings, all programs are designed to equip students with strong foundational knowledge in key areas like psychopathology, social interaction, and the biology of human behavior, training their analytical, practical, and communication skills.

Acceptance rate: 55.3%

Rounding out our top-5 best-value psychology bachelor’s programs is that of Lehman College, another CUNY institution in New York City that offers quality degree programs at affordable tuition rates – including its psychology bachelor’s program.

The psychology undergraduate program at Lehman is research-oriented, with statistics and experimental methods as foundational to the curriculum and opportunities to collaborate on research initiatives with faculty members.

Students attend courses in a broad range of psychology subdisciplines – from Childhood Psychopathology to Introduction to Primate Behavior Studies – and upper-level coursework includes a practicum, independent study, or honors research component.

Acceptance rate: 69.5%

Queens College is a public university in New York and another CUNY institution that tops our list of best-value psychology bachelor’s degree programs for its affordability and good financial returns.

The Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program at Queens College prepares students for careers in settings like human resources, rehabilitation, and marketing, among many others, while also training its students for future graduate-level coursework.

Among the unique draws of the program is the real-world experience it imparts to its psychology trainees, who can participate in research lab work or intern with one of the school’s many organizations in its network. Additionally, the program’s Global Student Success Program ensures international students are equipped with the support and skills they need to thrive in an American university setting.

Acceptance rate: 3.2%

Harvard University is an Ivy League private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is home to the 7th-best psychology undergraduate program in the country. While by no means the cheapest on paper, Harvard’s psychology bachelor’s balances the cost of the degree with average future earnings.

Students of Harvard’s undergraduate program in psychology choose between the following concentration tracks:

• General
• Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology
• Cognitive Science (Mind, Brain and Behavior)

While the General track offers flexibility in coursework, other tracks allow students to explore psychological subdiscipline in depth – an advantage particularly for those who plan to attend graduate school later.

Beyond the tracks mentioned, students also have the option to declare psychology as a secondary field.

Acceptance rate: 54.5%

The 8th best-value psychology undergraduate program comes from Brooklyn College, a public university in Brooklyn and CUNY system member.

Brooklyn College’s Psychology BA program imparts to its students a solid knowledge base in psychology, both for immediate employment or graduate school, in addition to critical skills like scientific reasoning and communication.

The Magner Career Center assists in placing its psychology undergrads at several New York-based institutions (e.g., the New York City Department of Education and New York University) through its internship database, job fairs, and internship panels.

Acceptance rate: 23%

The University of Florida (UF), a large public university in Gainesville, Florida, offers the 9th-best psychology bachelor’s program in the country by value for money. Psychology is the 2nd most popular major at UF.

UF's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in the following specializations:

• General Psychology
• Behavior Analysis
• Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience

All specializations include coursework in psychology, statistics, mathematics, and biology, and an optional senior honors thesis.

Acceptance rate: 89.1%

Coming in at 10th place in best-value psychology undergraduate degrees in the country is the psychology program at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), a large public university in Carson, California and California State University system member.

CSUDH’s Bachelor of Arts in Psychology program offers a diverse curriculum to choose from. To start, students will need to take statistical analysis, research methods, general education psychology, and quantitative methods. Upper division coursework includes a research experience component focused one of the concentrations below:

• Personality and Social Psychology
• Learning and Evolutionary Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Biological Psychology
• Forensic and Legal Psychology

Directed research and independent study are also options toward the end of the program.

Acceptance rate: 63.9%

Florida International University (FIU), a large public university in Miami, Florida and designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, is home to the 11th best-value psychology bachelor’s degree program in the country.

Students of FIU’s psychology undergraduate program choose among 6 subdiscipline tracks:

• Cognitive/Neuroscience
• Social
• Applied
• Clinical/Personality
• Developmental
• Industrial-Organizational

Outside of the classroom, psychology undergrads can gain valuable real-world experience by participating in research initiatives, conducting studies in research labs, or taking part in one of FIU’s many student organizations.

This bachelor’s program is also available online.

Acceptance rate: 7%

The 12th best-value psychology undergraduate program comes from Rice University, a selective private university in Houston, Texas known for its STEM programs.

The psychology undergraduate program at Rice’s Department of Psychological Sciences is designed to give students a broad overview of the key disciplines of psychology and the research skills to examine these disciplines closely. Core courses include:

• Introduction to Psychology
• Introduction to Social Psychology
• Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
• Statistical Methods/Quantitative Analysis for the Social Sciences
• Research Methods

Apart from the courses mentioned, students will choose 10 elective courses to explore their topics of interest in depth.

Acceptance rate: 73.2%

The 13th best psychology degree comes from Farmingdale State College, a midsized public university in Farmingdale, New York and member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The school is a designated Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving and Hispanic-Serving Institution.

At the undergraduate level, Farmingdale State offers an applied psychology-focused Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology, which prepares graduates well for entry-level positions in business and human resources. The program offers the unique option of earning a micro credential in Developmental Science: Child Emphasis.

Note that the program requires 2 semesters of either an internship or research experience with a faculty member

Acceptance rate: 95.4%

California State University, Fresno, or Fresno State, is a large public university in Fresno, California and member of the California State University system.

Fresno State’s Department of Psychology offers a psychology undergraduate degree designed to impart to students a comprehensive understanding of the theory, methodology, and applications of psychology.

To qualify for the psychology major, students will need to have taken introductory courses in psychology, statistics, and the psychology major, as well as research designs and experimental methods.

Acceptance rate: 48%

Texas A &M International University (TAMIU) is a midsized public university in Laredo, Texas, and a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution.

The curriculum of the psychology bachelor’s degree program at TAMIU contains the following core classes:

• Intro to Psychology
• Lifespan Growth & Development
• Basis Statistics for Psychology Lab/Basic Statistics for Psychology
• Psychology of Personality
• Cognitive Psychology

Beyond those, students will choose courses themselves from a diverse elective course catalog that includes unique topics like “The Psychology of Bilingualism” and “The Psychology of Language.”

Acceptance rate: 48%

The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) is a midsized public university in Odessa, Texas, and member of the University of Texas system. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

UT Permian Basin’s affordable psychology bachelor’s degree program provides a comprehensive overview of all theoretical and practical applications of psychology, preparing students well to find entry-level positions and pursue graduate-level work for clinical or academic roles.

The core curriculum focuses on honing key skills in the psychology field that include critical thinking, communication, empirical and quantitative ability, teamwork, and personal & social responsibility.

All courses, both required and elective, should be completed with a grade of C or higher.

Acceptance rate: 66.7%

California State University, Fullerton is a public university in Fullerton, in Southern California, and the largest university in the California State University system.

The psychology bachelor’s degree program consists of 3 lower-division courses (introduction to psychology, introduction to statistics in psychology, and research methods in psychology) and upper-division experimental psychology and laboratory courses. Students will also choose between several courses across different subdisciplines, as well as take 300 and 400-level courses.

Students will need to take 8 units to satisfy the university’s upper division writing requirement, which includes a mixture of lecture/discussion and laboratory courses.

Acceptance rate: 87%

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a large public university in Edinburg, Texas, and a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution. 

UTRGV’s College of Liberal Arts is home to a Bachelor of Science in Psychology program that offers broad coverage of psychological subdisciplines, such as child and adult development, social interactions, memory, and cognition.

The curriculum consists of a well-curated mix of foundational and basic psychology, social and behavioral science, and life and physical science courses, in addition to electives spanning a wide range of subdisciplines.

The school recently (2022) introduced UTRGV Tuition Advantage, a tuition program that covers the cost of tuition and fees for students from families with a gross income of $125,000 or less.

Acceptance rate: 86.5%

California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB), is a midsized public university in Bakersfield, Central California, and designated Hispanic-Serving Institution.

CSUB’s psychology bachelor’s degree program combines foundational courses with flexible opportunities for students to pursue their interests, including supervised applied experiences (a unique feature of the program) and advanced research method courses.

Students choose their own foundational courses, which consist of 2 areas (A and B) and cover key areas like personality, abnormal, and social psychology.

Acceptance rate: 96.2% 

Finishing off our list of best-value psychology bachelor’s programs is that of California State University, East Bay (CSUEB), a midsized public university in Hayward, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. CSUEB is both an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander and Hispanic-Serving Institution.

CSUEB offers students the unique opportunity to choose between a BA or BS psychology degree depending on their interests and career aspirations. The Bachelor of Science in Psychology is available with a concentration in either Ergonomics and Human Factors or Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

Students of the Psychology Department can apply the concepts they’ve learned in the classroom in facilities like a state-of-the-art computer lab, shared vivarium, and labs for studying human behavior.