Psychology is the study of the mind and human behaviour. Psychology students will learn about the feelings that humans experience, what motivates us and how we interact with each other.

Many psychology graduates will go on to careers as professional psychologists, however a degree in psychology can also lead to careers in childcare, social work or in the legal profession. Scroll down for a full guide to what you can do with a psychology degree.

This year Times Higher Education has released a ranking of the 494 best universities for psychology degrees. The ranking features 47 countries.

Stanford University takes first place in the 2020 ranking, followed by Princeton University. UCL is the only UK university in the top 10 (number 4) and the University of British Columbia, which rounds out the top 10, is the only Canadian institution.

More than a quarter of the universities in the overall ranking (141 universities) are US universities. The next most represented country is the UK, with 72 universities present. Australia, Germany and Canada are also well represented, with 31, 29 and 27 universities respectively.

The ranking uses the same methodology as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, but with a higher weighting for citations and a lower weighting for teaching. The full methodology can be found here.

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The top 5 universities for psychology degrees

The department of psychology at Stanford University was one of the first departments to be established at the institution.

Undergraduate and graduate programmes are available, with the latter emphasising research training. The department is split into five research groups known as department areas. The areas are affective science, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, and social psychology.

The department has close ties with many other departments at Stanford, such as biology, law, medicine, law and business. There are aims to increase participation in various interdisciplinary programmes on campus.

Research is carried out in areas including addictive behaviours, psychopathology and risk, and stereotyping.

The psychology department at Princeton University has produced one Nobel prizewinner, six Distinguished Contributions awards from the American Psychological Association and three William James Fellow Awards from the Association for Psychological Science.

Graduate study is focused on systems neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, perception and cognition, personality and social psychology, and physiological psychology. This is viewed as a preparatory programme for a PhD.

The department is closely affiliated with the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, which fosters research on neuroscience and psychological function.

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The Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest continuously functioning psychology department in North America.

One of the courses offered within the department at undergraduate level is “The Pursuit of Happiness”, which aims to explore the theoretical, scientific and practical aspects of well-being and how students can use these methods to increase their own feelings of happiness.

Graduate research groups are split into two areas: brain, cognitive and decision science and clinical, positive and social psychology.

The UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences is the largest department of its kind in the UK, with more than 120 academic staff members and approximately 1,500 students.

The undergraduate programme at UCL is accredited by the British Psychological Society and graduates are eligible to become members.

As well as undergraduate courses, the department offers 20 master’s degrees in topics including business psychology, neuroscience, decision science and human-computer interaction.

What can you do with a psychology degree?

5. University of Chicago

The University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology was founded in 1893.

Undergraduate psychology courses are centred around faculty-taught courses and research opportunities, which makes it one of the most popular majors at the university. The Undergraduate Research Initiative is a programme that aims to help psychology students find research opportunities to fit their interests and prepare them for future careers. The initiative includes a series of workshops, informational sessions, and career development events throughout the year to help students make the most of the many opportunities and research-related events available on campus and beyond.

The PhD programmes are also popular and students can choose between four research areas to focus their work on: cognition, developmental psychology, integrative neuroscience or social psychology.

Student experience of studying psychology

Opportunity and adventure at the Florida Institute of Technology

Using an academic learning diary

International perspective: students from Hong Kong in the UK

International perspective: an Iranian student in Poland

Going to university with cerebral palsy

Vlog: A week in the life of a student in Canada

Top universities for psychology degrees 2020

Click on each institution to view its World University Ranking 2020 profile

View the full table of the best universities for psychology degrees

Read more: the most detailed subject guide you will ever see to help you pick your degree