This fascinating and fast-evolving field of enquiry is a hugely popular field of study and research worldwide. The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016 features a ranking of the world’s 200 top universities for psychology, based on a methodology which draws on employer and academic reputation, and data on research citations.
For a general overview of the top psychology schools in each world region, plus the overall top 10, see below. Or, to search and compare using the interactive ranking table, click here.
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Top 10 Universities for Psychology in the World
Based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2016
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Rank
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Name of Institution
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Location
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1
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Harvard University
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United States
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2
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University of Oxford
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United Kingdom
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3
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University of Cambridge
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United Kingdom
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4
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Stanford University
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United States
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5
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UCL (University College London)
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United Kingdom
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6
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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
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United States
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7
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Yale University
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United States
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8
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University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
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United States
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9
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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United States
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10=
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Princeton University
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United States
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10=
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University of Amsterdam
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The Netherlands
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See the full psychology ranking >
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Top universities for psychology in the US and Canada
The US claims a mammoth share of the top universities for psychology, including seven in the top 10 alone. Outside of the top 10 there are another 55 US universities featured, including 32 in the world’s top 100. All ranking within the top 20 are New York University, the University of Pennsylvania,Columbia University, the University of Michigan and theUniversity of Chicago.
Meanwhile neighboring Canada has a total of 15 top psychology schools featured, including nine within the world’s top 100. In the world’s top 50 are the University of Toronto, the University of British Colombia, McGill University and Western University.
United States:
1Harvard University
4Stanford University
6University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
7Yale University
8University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
9Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
=10Princeton University
13New York University (NYU)
15University of Pennsylvania
=18Columbia University
=18University of Michigan
20University of Chicago
25Duke University
26Northwestern University
32University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
33University of Texas at Austin
=34University of Wisconsin-Madison
42University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
=43Cornell University
45Boston University
=47University of Minnesota
51-100Arizona State University
51-100Brown University
51-100Carnegie Mellon University
51-100City University of New York
51-100Indiana University Bloomington
51-100Johns Hopkins University
51-100Michigan State University
51-100The Ohio State University
51-100Pennsylvania State University
51-100The University of Arizona
51-100University of California, Davis
51-100University of California, Irvine
51-100University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
51-100University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
51-100University of Virginia
51-100University of Washington
51-100Vanderbilt University
51-100Washington University in St. Louis
101-150Dartmouth College
101-150Purdue University
101-150The University of Georgia
101-150University of Colorado Boulder
101-150University of Florida
101-150University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC)
101-150University of Kansas
101-150University of Maryland, College Park
101-150University of Miami
101-150University of Pittsburgh
101-150University of Rochester
101-150University of Southern California
151-200Boston College
151-200Emory University
151-200Florida State University
151-200Georgia Institute of Technology
151-200Rutgers University - New Brunswick
151-200University of Connecticut
151-200University of Iowa
151-200University of Kentucky
151-200University of Massachusetts Amherst
151-200University of Missouri, Columbia
151-200University of Oregon
Canada:
12University of Toronto
17University of British Columbia
23McGill University
36The University of Western Ontario
51-100McMaster University
51-100Queen's University at Kingston
51-100Université de Montréal
51-100University of Alberta
51-100York University
101-150Simon Fraser University
101-150University of Calgary
101-150University of Waterloo
151-200Concordia University
151-200Dalhousie University
151-200Université du Québec
Top universities for psychology in Europe
After the US, the UK claims the next highest number of top universities for psychology at 29, and occupies three of the top 10 positions. As well as those listed in the table above, also in the top 50 are King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the University of Manchester and Cardiff University.
Meanwhile Germany is home to 14 of the world’s top psychology schools, with three ranked among the global top 100: Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Following on is the Netherlands, with nine schools featured in the psychology ranking, all among the top 100. As well as the University of Amsterdam in the top 10, other Dutch universities in the top 50 includeVrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Six more top psychology schools are claimed by Spain and five by Belgium, while Switzerland, Sweden and Italy each have four. Among these countries, universities ranked within the top 100 for psychology include Belgium’s University of Ghent and KU Leuven (both ranked in the top 50), Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and Switzerland’s University of Geneva and University of Zurich.
Beyond Sweden, the other Nordic countries offer an additional five entrants in the ranking, with two each for Denmark and Norway, and one in Finland. The highest ranked university of these is Denmark’sAarhus University (51-100).
Lastly in Europe, France and Ireland each have one entry in the psychology ranking, with the Irish Trinity College Dublin placing 101-150.
United Kingdom:
2University of Oxford
3University of Cambridge
5UCL (University College London)
=21King's College London
31The University of Edinburgh
40London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
=43The University of Manchester
49Cardiff University
51-100Durham University
51-100The University of Warwick
51-100University of Birmingham
51-100University of Bristol
51-100The University of Exeter
51-100University of Glasgow
51-100University of St Andrews
51-100University of York
101-150Birkbeck, University of London
101-150Lancaster University
101-150Loughborough University
101-150The University of Nottingham
101-150The University of Sheffield
101-150University of Kent
101-150University of Leeds
101-150University of Southampton
101-150University of Sussex
151-200Bangor University
151-200City, University of London
151-200Newcastle University
151-200University of Aberdeen
Germany:
51-100Freie Universitaet Berlin
51-100Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
51-100Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
101-150Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
101-150Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg
101-150Universität Mannheim
151-200Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
151-200RWTH Aachen University
151-200Universität Frankfurt am Main
151-200Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg
151-200University of Cologne
151-200Universität Konstanz
151-200Universität Leipzig
151-200Universität Potsdam
Netherlands:
=10University of Amsterdam
=37Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
46Erasmus University Rotterdam
=47Radboud University
50Utrecht University
51-100Leiden University
51-100Maastricht University
51-100Tilburg University
51-100University of Groningen
Spain:
101-150Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
101-150University Complutense Madrid
101-150University of Barcelona
151-200University of Granada
151-200Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
151-200Universitat de Valencia
Belgium:
=27Ghent University
=37KU Leuven
51-100Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)
101-150Universite libre de Bruxelles
151-200Université de Liège
Switzerland:
51-100University of Geneva
51-100University of Zurich
151-200University of Basel
151-200University of Bern
151-200University of Lausanne
Sweden:
51-100Karolinska Institutet
151-200Lund University
151-200Stockholm University
151-200University of Gothenburg
151-200Uppsala University
Italy:
101-150Sapienza University of Rome
101-150Università di Padova
101-150Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna
151-200Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Denmark:
51-100Aarhus University
101-150University of Copenhagen
Norway:
101-150University of Oslo
151-200University of Bergen
Finland:
101-150University of Helsinki
France:
151-200Aix-Marseille University
Ireland:
101-150Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Top universities for psychology in Asia
Asia is home to 13 of the world’s 200 top psychology universities, including six in the top 100. Hong Kong and South Korea each have three representatives in the ranking, including the University of Hong Kong (41st) and Seoul National University (101-150).
Singapore claims two entries: the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nangyang Technological University (NTU), both ranked among the world’s top 100 for psychology.
Also with two representatives in the ranking are China and Japan, including China’s Peking Universityand Japan’s University of Tokyo, both within the top 100 worldwide.
Taiwan also features in the psychology ranking, with its sole entry National Taiwan University, ranked 101-150.
Hong Kong,China:
41The University of Hong Kong
51-100The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
101-150City University of Hong Kong
South Korea:
101-150Seoul National University
151-200Korea University
151-200Yonsei University
Singapore:
=27National University of Singapore (NUS)
51-100Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)
China:
51-100Peking University
151-200Beijing Normal University
Japan:
51-100The University of Tokyo
101-150Kyoto University
Taiwan,China:
101-150National Taiwan University (NTU)
Top universities for psychology in Australia and New Zealand
Australia boasts 17 of the world’s top universities for psychology, while New Zealand has four. Australia has six representatives within the top 50, including the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and theUniversity of Queensland.
Two of New Zealand’s offerings are also among the world’s top 50 psychology schools: the University of Auckland and the University of Otago.
Australia:
14The University of Melbourne
16The University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia)
=21The University of Queensland
24The University of Sydney
=29The Australian National University
=34The University of Western Australia
51-100Macquarie University
51-100Monash University
101-150Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
101-150The University of Adelaide
151-200Deakin University
151-200Flinders University
151-200Griffith University
151-200La Trobe University
151-200The University of Newcastle, Australia (UON)
151-200University of South Australia
151-200Western Sydney University
New Zealand:
=29The University of Auckland
=37University of Otago
51-100Victoria University of Wellington
101-150University of Canterbury
Top universities for psychology in Latin America
There are four Latin American universities featured in the psychology ranking, with one entrant each for Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Brazil’s Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Chile’s Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) all rank 101-150, while Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires is ranked 151-200.
Argentina:
151-200Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)
Brazil:
101-150Universidade de São Paulo
Chile:
101-150Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC)
Mexico:
101-150Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
Top universities for psychology in the Middle East & Africa
Finally, Israel claims two top psychology schools, including Hebrew University of Jerusalem, while South Africa claims one entry, the University of Cape Town. Both of these schools are ranked 101-150.
Israel:
101-150The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
151-200Tel Aviv University
South Africa:
101-150University of Cape Town
