Psychology Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Psychology maps to BLS occupations averaging about $95,124, with roughly 191,620 workers nationwide in those roles. About 118,927 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 55%.
Key Statistics
Psychology: what the data shows
Common questions about psychology degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a psychology degree?
A Psychology program is classified under NCES CIP 42.0101 in the Psychology, General field family (42.01).
A general program that focuses on the scientific study of individual and collective behavior, the physical and environmental bases of behavior, and the analysis and treatment of behavior problems and disorders. Includes instruction in the principles of the various subfields of psychology, research methods, and psychological assessment and testing methods.
IPEDS counted 118,927 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a psychology degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.0101 in our file:
- 18,782 Associate (13.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 118,927 Bachelor's (82.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 6,999 Master's (4.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 38 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in psychology?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Speaking, Instructing, Learning Strategies, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Elementary School Teachers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 42.0101, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a psychology degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Psychology to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary School Teachers | 1,393,310 | $62,340 |
| Special Education Teachers | 28,200 | $62,190 |
| Middle School Teachers | 620,370 | $62,970 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a psychology degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Psychology, General bachelor's program family: median debt $26,040, median earnings $50,706 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.82.
About 6.2% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $11,790 and median net price is $16,866.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Psychology and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$11,790 Median In-State Public
$30,242 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Psychology majors are, on average, $11,790 for in-state public colleges, and $30,242 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Psychology programs.
Institutions awarding the most Psychology degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 4,494 |
| 2 | University of Central Florida | FL | 1,677 |
| 3 | Florida International University | FL | 1,642 |
| 4 | Liberty University | VA | 1,564 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion | AZ | 1,291 |
| 6 | California State University-Fullerton | CA | 1,106 |
| 7 | California State University-Northridge | CA | 1,057 |
| 8 | Capella University | MN | 1,048 |
| 9 | University of South Florida | FL | 921 |
| 10 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 908 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
118,927 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Psychology from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Psychology.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,099 |
| 3 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 54,926 |
| 4 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | 44,617 |
| 5 | Brigham Young University-Idaho | ID | 42,090 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Psychology programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
| 2 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,126 |
| 3 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 4 | Lassen Community College | CA | $1,144 |
| 5 | College of the Redwoods | CA | $1,147 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Psychology programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $29 |
| 2 | Central Carolina Community College | NC | $616 |
| 3 | Fort Scott Community College | KS | $665 |
| 4 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $1,228 |
| 5 | West Shore Community College | MI | $1,335 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Psychology programs.
Graduation Rates
55.46% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
55.17% Average Graduation Rate
1,465 Institutions Reporting
42.47% - 68.25% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Psychology programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Psychology is in CA (15,414 completions). That state represents about 13.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is NH (6.28% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 15,414 | 13.0% | 3.43% |
| TX | 9,291 | 7.8% | 3.17% |
| NY | 9,255 | 7.8% | 3.36% |
| FL | 8,204 | 6.9% | 3.58% |
| VA | 4,586 | 3.9% | 3.73% |
| PA | 4,067 | 3.4% | 2.38% |
| NH | 3,972 | 3.3% | 6.28% |
| NC | 3,611 | 3.0% | 2.92% |
| NJ | 3,509 | 3.0% | 4.07% |
| MA | 3,305 | 2.8% | 2.59% |
| GA | 3,272 | 2.8% | 2.86% |
| IL | 3,099 | 2.6% | 2.24% |
| OH | 2,846 | 2.4% | 2.06% |
| AZ | 2,798 | 2.4% | 2.02% |
| MN | 2,795 | 2.4% | 3.27% |
| MI | 2,793 | 2.4% | 2.44% |
| MD | 2,482 | 2.1% | 3.37% |
| CO | 2,070 | 1.7% | 2.89% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 42.0101 in the survey year used in our extract (144,746 total across levels below).
- 18,782 Associate (13.0% of IPEDS total)
- 118,927 Bachelor's (82.2% of IPEDS total)
- 6,999 Master's (4.8% of IPEDS total)
- 38 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $95,124. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Psychology graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary School Teachers | $95,682 | 1,393,310 |
| Special Education Teachers | $62,288 | 28,200 |
| Middle School Teachers | $95,363 | 620,370 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Psychology, General CIP family (509 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Psychology graduate.
- $26,040 median federal loan debt among completers
- $50,706 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.82 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 6.2% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$95,005 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Psychology majors is $95,005.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Psychology majors.
Occupations by Share
191,620 2023 Workforce
The number of Psychology graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Psychology by share of the total number of graduates.
Return on Investment & Value
Debt and earnings fields below come from College Scorecard where present in our degree extract.
Financial value (extract)
$13,532 Median Student Debt
$40,568 Median Annual Earnings (10 years after enrollment)
33.36% Debt-to-Earnings Ratio
3.3 years Estimated Payback Period (assuming 10% of income)
501.30% Return on Investment (10-year earnings vs 4-year cost)
Ten-year earnings in this extract exceed four years of median net price.
$67,466 Estimated Total Cost (4 years at median net price)
Financial value comparison for Psychology degree.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Psychology in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Psychology.
Age distribution for Psychology degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
118,927 Total Degrees Awarded
22,953 Male (19.30%)
95,974 Female (80.70%)
Gender distribution of Psychology degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
58,758 White (49.41%)
27,417 Hispanic or Latino (23.05%)
13,484 Black or African American (11.34%)
7,198 Asian (6.05%)
5,591 Two or More Races (4.70%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Psychology degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Psychology are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Psychology.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Psychology field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Psychology majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Psychology majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Psychology majors.
About
A general program that focuses on the scientific study of individual and collective behavior, the physical and environmental bases of behavior, and the analysis and treatment of behavior problems and disorders. Includes instruction in the principles of the various subfields of psychology, research methods, and psychological assessment and testing methods.
In 2023, 118,927 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Psychology.
CIP Code
42.0101 - Psychology
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $26,040 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $50,706, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.82. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Psychology graduate.
Women earned 80.0% of 147,078 Psychology completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $95,124. The largest mapped role by headcount is Elementary School Teachers (1,393,310 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $11,790 in-state at public colleges and $30,242 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.