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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

$50,173
892
100–89%
$51,038
1,689
89–82%
$50,778
2,461
82–72%
$51,984
3,189
70–45%
$60,932
3,355
45–35%
$61,463
2,457
35–15%
$69,966
1,583
15–7%
$74,793
830
6–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$46,825
692
400–1040
$47,680
1,179
1050–1170
$53,080
1,742
1170–1280
$52,585
2,218
1280–1360
$55,659
2,739
1370–1410
$63,075
1,612
1420–1480
$68,660
1,239
1480–1540
$73,739
582
1540–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$43,801p10 $67,923p90 Arts Military Female-only Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University Liberal Arts 1–20 Public University 1–25 Private University 21–40 Private University 1–20 Bennington College · $36,925 Woodbury University · $52,004 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott · $81,800 Wellesley College · $51,487 Barnard College · $64,331 Smith College · $62,558 Scripps College · $55,571 Mount Holyoke College · $47,037 Agnes Scott College · $49,088 Bay Path University · $46,593 Denison University · $53,518 Bates College · $68,695 Trinity University · $55,173 Pitzer College · $54,350 Trinity College (CT) · $67,054 Skidmore College · $55,256 Lafayette College · $67,861 Gettysburg College · $60,319 Union College · $43,588 Whitman College · $50,508 Earlham College · $49,905 Occidental College · $61,378 Wabash College · $57,232 Berry College · $49,251 Lake Forest College · $51,545 Albion College · $34,664 Cornell College · $46,973 Centre College · $48,352 Maryville College · $47,738 Eckerd College · $44,075 Knox College · $48,440 Saint Mary's College of California · $60,221 Keuka College · $52,840 Illinois College · $47,515 Augsburg University · $48,457 Luther College · $46,860 Manchester University · $50,127 Oglethorpe University · $46,846 Eureka College · $46,766 Wilson College · $47,581 University of California, Irvine · $62,639 University of California, Santa Barbara · $66,321 University of Washington · $56,564 Florida International University · $48,531 University of California, Davis · $62,401 Florida Atlantic University · $47,985 University of South Carolina · $48,055 University of Pittsburgh · $54,768 University of Central Missouri · $46,442 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $51,801 Central Michigan University · $52,750 Murray State University · $41,388 Northwest Missouri State University · $49,298 University of Colorado Denver · $55,965 University of Delaware · $61,576 University of Nebraska at Kearney · $45,488 University of Texas at Dallas · $55,847 University of Michigan - Flint · $43,085 University of Alabama · $52,846 Indiana University · $45,718 University of North Florida · $44,611 Middle Tennessee State University · $60,689 University of Oregon · $61,010 University of Massachusetts Boston · $56,596 Metropolitan State University of Denver · $45,360 University of Toledo · $46,777 Western Washington University · $50,647 University of North Georgia · $45,685 Eastern Washington University · $52,837 University of Utah · $57,508 Purdue University Fort Wayne · $43,642 Savannah State University · $39,215 Western Michigan University · $49,333 Metropolitan State University · $39,425 University of Arizona · $41,316 University of Cincinnati · $48,270 University of Nevada, Reno · $51,255 Western Kentucky University · $41,526 University of California, Riverside · $48,948 Georgia College & State University · $49,089 University of Hawaii at Manoa · $47,258 University of Kansas · $50,799 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee · $50,709 University of North Alabama · $32,894 Pennsylvania State University - Abington · $42,393 Pennsylvania Western University · $41,660 Kansas State University · $52,270 University of California, Merced · $56,194 Ohio State University - Lima · $44,724 Brigham Young University · $59,002 Villanova University · $56,866 College of Wooster · $46,739 Saint Olaf College · $55,156 Fordham University · $66,000 Texas Christian University · $59,966 Loyola University New Orleans · $50,140 LeTourneau University · $48,859 Creighton University · $38,925 Harding University · $44,955 Albright College · $51,638 East Texas Baptist University · $49,063 MidAmerica Nazarene University · $52,695 Sacred Heart University · $60,543 Pepperdine University · $90,509 Centenary University · $40,503 Niagara University · $49,560 University of Detroit Mercy · $51,374 Lindsey Wilson College · $44,721 Emmanuel College · $58,822 Morningside University · $47,546 Baldwin Wallace University · $47,279 Gordon College · $45,037 Canisius University · $54,352 Concordia University - Irvine · $49,888 Regis University · $51,666 Mount St. Mary's University · $49,357 George Fox University · $53,430 Gannon University · $42,081 Cornerstone University · $40,248 Southern Nazarene University · $43,313 Florida Institute of Technology · $65,585 Stetson University · $48,621 Quinnipiac University · $60,249 Illinois Institute of Technology · $56,461 University of Charleston · $48,610 Tiffin University · $49,834 Westminster University · $43,801 Pace University · $59,170 New York Institute of Technology · $57,507 Rider University · $64,964 Drexel University · $61,188 Keystone College · $38,332 Utica University · $43,934 Maryville University of Saint Louis · $45,436 Williams College · $67,036 Pomona College · $64,690 Swarthmore College · $67,187 Carleton College · $56,895 Amherst College · $67,820 Claremont McKenna College · $68,442 Bowdoin College · $67,578 Haverford College · $58,698 Middlebury College · $61,831 Vassar College · $63,793 Colby College · $64,967 Hamilton College · $57,826 Davidson College · $64,122 Reed College · $45,077 Grinnell College · $56,597 Wesleyan University · $61,359 Colgate University · $60,730 Macalester College · $55,139 Georgia Tech · $81,352 University of California, Berkeley · $63,606 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $63,419 University of Virginia · $68,328 Purdue University · $49,575 University of Maryland, College Park · $62,977 UCLA · $78,384 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $58,965 University of Texas at Austin · $57,889 University of Tennessee, Knoxville · $49,464 University of California, San Diego · $70,223 Ohio State University · $53,549 Washington University in St Louis · $73,507 Washington & Lee University · $67,518 Northeastern University · $64,262 Tulane University · $56,427 University of Richmond · $65,193 University of Rochester · $67,923 George Washington University · $70,879 Brandeis University · $66,481 Harvard University · $102,305 Johns Hopkins University · $71,101 Stanford University · $75,470 Brown University · $62,147 Duke University · $57,071 Princeton University · $61,952 University of Chicago · $84,957 University of Pennsylvania · $64,586 Carnegie Mellon University · $89,955 Yale University · $64,437 Cornell University · $77,682 Dartmouth · $97,357 Vanderbilt University · $65,545 Columbia University · $80,055 Tufts University · $77,980 Arts: mean $44,465 Military: mean $81,800 Female-only: mean $53,809 Liberal Arts: mean $52,103 Public University: mean $49,839 Religious University: mean $51,620 Private University: mean $53,121 Liberal Arts 1–20: mean $61,655 Public University 1–25: mean $63,144 Private University 21–40: mean $66,524 Private University 1–20: mean $75,507 All colleges: p10 $43,801 All colleges: p90 $67,923
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Research & Experimental Psychology 195 16,456 22% / 78% 6% $56,593 95%
Psychology 95 10,003 22% / 78% 7% $57,030 95%
Research & Experimental Psychology 17 1,985 21% / 79% 2% $51,971 95%
Behavioral Neuroscience 20 1,112 23% / 77% 2% $53,958 93%
Psychological Science 3 877 25% / 75% 4% $62,907 91%
Psychological Sciences 3 807 24% / 76% 7% $57,897 99%
Experimental Psychology 13 463 19% / 81% 11% $54,411 95%
Developmental and Child Psychology 17 407 9% / 91% 2% $51,331 93%
Psychological and Brain Sciences 2 284 25% / 75% 2% $70,038 97%
Social Psychology 10 161 18% / 82% 6% $51,347 94%
Industrial and Organizational Psychology 17 97 21% / 79% 1% $57,562 97%
Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics 2 58 17% / 83% 5% $70,551 97%
Cognitive Psychology 3 45 18% / 82% 0% $55,304 91%
Integrative Neuroscience 1 29 28% / 72% 0% $66,000 88%
Neuroscience and Behavior 1 29 21% / 79% 10% $61,359
Child Development 1 26 35% / 65% 0% $52,837 90%
Child Studies 1 26 12% / 88% 8% $65,545
Child Psychology 3 20 0% / 100% 0% $43,682 96%
Personality Psychology 2 9 22% / 78% 0% $58,788
Educational Neuroscience 1 6 0% / 100% 0% $52,846
Psychology and Biological Sciences 1 6 17% / 83% 0% $89,955
Child and Adolescent Development 1 3 0% / 100% 0% $60,046
Child and Developmental Psychology 1 3 0% / 100% 0% $49,063