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Research & Experimental Psychology

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

This is psychology with the lab coat on. You'll take the same intro courses as everyone else, then veer hard into research methods, experimental design, and enough statistics to make an economist nervous. Coursework leans cognitive, developmental, social, and behavioral neuroscience — the science of minds in general, not the treatment of any mind in particular.

Expect to run subjects, get run as a subject, work as a research assistant by junior year, and produce a senior thesis with actual data in it. You will learn R. Not the letter grade — though possibly also that.

What you'll do after college

The classic move is the lab-manager-to-PhD pipeline: two years running someone's lab, then graduate school in cognitive, social, developmental, or quantitative psychology. The professor route requires the doctorate and a tolerance for peer review.

Everyone else takes the methods training straight to industry: UX research, behavioral science teams, people analytics, market research, and data analysis all pay real money for someone who can design a clean study and smell a fake effect. To be clear, this major does not make you a therapist — it makes you the person who checks whether the therapy works.

Famous graduates

  • Elizabeth Loftus — The world's leading researcher on false memory; B.A. in Mathematics and Psychology from UCLA
  • B.F. Skinner — Father of operant conditioning and professional pigeon supervisor; B.A. in English from Hamilton College (the box came later)
  • Stanley Milgram — Ran history's most famous obedience experiments; B.A. in Political Science from Queens College
  • Philip Zimbardo — Architect of the Stanford Prison Experiment; B.A. in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology from Brooklyn College

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$55,799
837
100–93%
$57,107
1,906
93–85%
$55,441
2,781
84–68%
$57,926
3,439
68–47%
$61,781
4,184
47–32%
$66,986
2,453
32–13%
$71,794
1,846
13–4%
$67,931
907
4–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$50,601
639
400–1040
$54,217
1,364
1050–1170
$58,889
2,092
1170–1280
$57,002
2,408
1290–1360
$62,469
2,992
1370–1460
$69,133
2,056
1460–1490
$73,732
1,381
1500–1530
$67,284
634
1530–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings by acceptance rate and institution category

$49,083p10 $71,059p90 Art & Music STEM, Business & Military Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University 20–30% 10–20% 0–10% Woodbury University · $61,166 Florida Institute of Technology · $61,207 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott · $77,929 Lafayette College · $70,216 Mount Holyoke College · $45,313 Scripps College · $60,153 Gettysburg College · $61,099 Whitman College · $47,810 Union College · $42,127 Occidental College · $58,219 Centre College · $73,218 Lake Forest College · $69,113 Wabash College · $70,610 Albion College · $35,010 Cornell College · $52,191 Agnes Scott College · $53,334 Berry College · $59,946 Maryville College · $54,247 Eckerd College · $54,864 Knox College · $60,976 Saint Mary's College of California · $65,774 Keuka College · $56,802 Earlham College · $57,954 Bay Path University · $45,603 Luther College · $57,201 Manchester University · $54,472 Oglethorpe University · $53,392 Eureka College · $49,960 Wilson College · $49,019 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $69,152 University of California, Santa Barbara · $64,757 University of Tennessee, Knoxville · $60,167 University of Washington · $55,862 Purdue University · $56,885 University of Maryland, College Park · $67,814 University of California, Davis · $62,349 Ohio State University · $62,481 University of South Carolina · $56,684 Florida Atlantic University · $55,790 University of Pittsburgh · $61,805 Florida International University · $51,072 University of Central Missouri · $49,503 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $56,319 University of North Florida · $48,850 University of Texas at Dallas · $57,192 University of Alabama · $62,852 University of Delaware · $64,271 University of Colorado Denver · $59,243 Indiana University · $47,442 Middle Tennessee State University · $61,520 University of Massachusetts Boston · $68,981 Metropolitan State University of Denver · $48,016 University of Toledo · $56,404 Eastern Washington University · $55,421 University of Utah · $58,086 Purdue University Fort Wayne · $46,665 Savannah State University · $54,317 University of Nevada, Reno · $62,058 University of Arizona · $40,906 Murray State University · $45,382 Metropolitan State University · $48,153 Northwest Missouri State University · $56,273 University of California, Riverside · $53,031 University of Oregon · $62,970 Georgia College & State University · $56,729 University of Cincinnati · $57,329 University of Hawaii at Manoa · $50,977 University of Nebraska at Kearney · $55,986 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee · $60,310 University of North Alabama · $44,141 Central Michigan University · $54,704 Western Kentucky University · $59,288 North Dakota State University · $70,026 Pennsylvania State University - Abington · $51,069 University of Kansas · $68,812 Western Washington University · $52,391 Pennsylvania Western University · $44,377 Kansas State University · $62,554 University of Wyoming · $59,005 University of North Georgia · $53,380 University of California, Merced · $56,419 Northeastern State University · $54,720 Ohio State University - Lima · $63,883 Texas Christian University · $57,326 Saint Olaf College · $54,764 Loyola University New Orleans · $54,080 LeTourneau University · $59,784 Fordham University · $65,223 College of Wooster · $59,420 Creighton University · $42,796 Harding University · $60,782 Albright College · $57,288 East Texas Baptist University · $52,349 Sacred Heart University · $62,482 Brigham Young University · $64,268 Pepperdine University · $80,980 Lee University · $49,317 Centenary University · $38,910 Niagara University · $55,511 University of Detroit Mercy · $58,915 Lindsey Wilson College · $49,144 Emmanuel College · $68,606 Morningside University · $60,929 Southern Adventist University · $59,722 Baldwin Wallace University · $56,497 Gordon College · $61,247 Canisius University · $54,830 Concordia University - Irvine · $50,133 Mount St. Mary's University · $50,145 Gannon University · $47,860 Cornerstone University · $51,017 George Fox University · $59,483 Southern Nazarene University · $53,257 University of Rochester · $76,627 Brandeis University · $75,999 George Washington University · $67,915 Illinois Institute of Technology · $63,352 Quinnipiac University · $64,080 University of Charleston · $49,083 Goldey-Beacom College · $51,666 Westminster University · $52,308 Stetson University · $59,614 Pace University · $49,163 Drexel University · $69,222 New York Institute of Technology · $55,510 Tiffin University · $52,722 Rider University · $61,663 Utica University · $56,423 Maryville University of Saint Louis · $67,784 Park University · $55,890 University of Texas at Austin · $65,702 University of California, San Diego · $63,967 University of California, Irvine · $53,444 Villanova University · $56,428 Vassar College · $54,238 Carleton College · $56,263 Colorado College · $59,488 University of Richmond · $68,444 Smith College · $55,502 Skidmore College · $57,920 Trinity University · $62,090 Pitzer College · $61,176 Macalester College · $54,498 Reed College · $48,028 Trinity College (CT) · $66,194 Tufts University · $74,201 Carnegie Mellon University · $81,191 Washington University in St Louis · $78,196 Tulane University · $69,716 Northeastern University · $68,149 University of California, Berkeley · $64,643 Georgia Tech · $93,629 University of Virginia · $71,059 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $71,143 Barnard College · $59,063 Davidson College · $66,332 Middlebury College · $81,574 Haverford College · $69,622 Washington & Lee University · $70,582 Hamilton College · $57,493 Grinnell College · $60,176 Bates College · $70,111 Wellesley College · $63,807 Wesleyan University · $66,916 Colgate University · $60,380 Denison University · $55,996 Yale University · $62,069 Stanford University · $57,726 Harvard University · $112,707 Princeton University · $71,185 University of Chicago · $69,539 Columbia University · $83,749 University of Pennsylvania · $64,088 Duke University · $58,738 Vanderbilt University · $81,153 Dartmouth · $92,721 Johns Hopkins University · $69,570 Brown University · $84,157 Cornell University · $81,256 New York University · $66,973 UCLA · $69,271 Bowdoin College · $69,331 Pomona College · $59,385 Swarthmore College · $64,938 Amherst College · $70,876 Colby College · $66,806 Williams College · $73,721 Claremont McKenna College · $67,611 Art & Music: mean $61,166 STEM, Business & Military: mean $69,568 Liberal Arts: mean $56,101 Public University: mean $56,755 Religious University: mean $56,569 Private University: mean $60,531 20–30%: mean $58,892 10–20%: mean $69,237 0–10%: mean $72,617 All colleges: p10 $49,083 All colleges: p90 $71,059
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Research & Experimental Psychology 200 18,353 21% / 79% 6% $60,709 94%
Psychology 100 11,430 21% / 79% 7% $60,968 94%
Research & Experimental Psychology 17 2,135 23% / 77% 3% $58,822 92%
Behavioral Neuroscience 20 1,106 21% / 79% 4% $59,334 92%
Psychological Science 3 1,060 22% / 78% 6% $61,301 94%
Psychological Sciences 3 821 21% / 79% 5% $63,310 92%
Experimental Psychology 13 575 19% / 81% 5% $57,539 94%
Developmental and Child Psychology 18 393 10% / 90% 4% $56,190 94%
Psychological and Brain Sciences 2 304 26% / 74% 3% $71,576 97%
Social Psychology 11 218 18% / 82% 1% $57,686 92%
Industrial and Organizational Psychology 16 69 33% / 67% 3% $62,066 97%
Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics 2 46 15% / 85% 11% $65,941 96%
Cognitive Psychology 3 41 20% / 80% 7% $54,184 92%
Neuroscience and Behavior 1 37 32% / 68% 5% $66,916
Integrative Neuroscience 1 32 25% / 75% 3% $65,223 94%
Child Studies 1 25 12% / 88% 8% $81,153 95%
Child Development 1 23 13% / 87% 0% $55,421 88%
Child Psychology 3 17 6% / 94% 6% $52,582 100%
Personality Psychology 2 8 12% / 88% 0% $60,198
Child and Adolescent Development 1 4 0% / 100% 0% $65,551
Psychology and Biological Sciences 1 3 0% / 100% 0% $81,191
Child and Developmental Psychology 1 2 0% / 100% 0% $52,349
Educational Neuroscience 1 2 0% / 100% 0% $62,852
Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology 1 2 0% / 100% 0% $70,026
Developmental Psychology 2 0 $61,722
Physiological Psychology 1 0 $56,423 97%