Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Psychology, General

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$29,183

Avg. Earnings

3.3 yrs

Best Payback

120,502

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	University of Chicago Chicago, IL · Private	$8,375	$45,128	3.3 yrs
2	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private	$2,815	$38,289	3.4 yrs
3	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$44,747	4 yrs
4	Hamilton College Clinton, NY · Private	$13,321	$46,087	4.8 yrs
5	Stanford University Stanford, CA · Private	$7,081	$40,368	5.3 yrs
6	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA · Private	$11,521	$43,426	5.5 yrs
7	Colgate University Hamilton, NY · Private	$17,557	$47,260	5.7 yrs
8	Lafayette College Easton, PA · Private	$13,393	$44,170	5.8 yrs
9	Barnard College New York, NY · Private	$19,810	$48,432	5.9 yrs
10	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME · Private	$14,896	$44,971	6 yrs
11	Colby College Waterville, ME · Private	$5,536	$38,289	6.7 yrs
12	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private	$19,827	$46,321	7 yrs
13	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT · Private	$13,580	$42,682	7.1 yrs
14	Northwestern University Evanston, IL · Private	$5,849	$38,048	7.7 yrs
15	Trinity College Hartford, CT · Private	$18,675	$43,798	8.5 yrs
16	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private	$17,098	$42,682	8.9 yrs
17	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	$13,423	$40,896	9.1 yrs
18	The University of Texas Permian Basin Odessa, TX · Public	$10,549	$39,523	9.3 yrs
19	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA · Private	$19,026	$42,682	9.9 yrs
20	Dickinson College Carlisle, PA · Private	$19,300	$42,682	10 yrs
21	Georgetown University Washington, DC · Private	$12,505	$39,585	10.9 yrs
22	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA · Private	$16,063	$40,281	12.2 yrs
23	Duke University Durham, NC · Private	$7,160	$37,208	13 yrs
24	Wabash College Crawfordsville, IN · Private	$19,742	$41,007	13.1 yrs
25	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private	$10,792	$38,289	13.1 yrs
26	Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC · Public	$13,358	$39,009	13.3 yrs
27	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA · Public	$13,613	$38,649	14.9 yrs
28	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private	$21,174	$40,068	16.7 yrs
29	Simmons University Boston, MA · Private	$26,374	$41,007	17.6 yrs
30	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private	$8,457	$36,848	18.3 yrs
31	National University San Diego, CA · Private	$23,427	$39,969	18.9 yrs
32	University of Houston-Downtown Houston, TX · Public	$15,426	$38,122	19.8 yrs
33	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK · Public	$12,985	$37,568	20.2 yrs
34	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$38,433	21.4 yrs
35	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA · Public	$15,615	$37,640	23.7 yrs
36	Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ · Private	$19,911	$38,289	24.2 yrs
37	Houston Christian University Houston, TX · Private	$20,447	$38,289	24.9 yrs
38	Saint Anselm College Manchester, NH · Private	$22,890	$38,649	25.1 yrs
39	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA · Private	$20,142	$37,856	28.2 yrs
40	Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN · Private	$19,658	$37,748	28.6 yrs
41	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$37,028	31.6 yrs
42	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA · Private	$26,956	$38,289	32.8 yrs
43	Norwich University Northfield, VT · Private	$21,686	$37,568	33.8 yrs
44	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX · Public	$14,952	$36,745	34.3 yrs
45	Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL · Private	$20,765	$37,208	37.6 yrs
46	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC · Private	$27,084	$37,856	37.9 yrs
47	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY · Private	$16,176	$36,668	38.8 yrs
48	Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA · Private	$18,814	$36,848	40.7 yrs
49	Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA · Private	$21,062	$37,054	41 yrs
50	Saint Joseph's University - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · Private	$26,825	$37,568	41.8 yrs

Top Earners in Psychology, General

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.