The psychology graduate program at the University of California Berkeley led U.S. News and World Report's rankings. The department's research focus lies in five areas, including behavioral neuroscience; change, plasticity and development; clinical science; cognition, brain and behavior; and social-personality. The department offers a non-terminal master's degree as part of the Ph.D. program. In 2010, 4.8 percent of applicants were admitted.
Stanford University tied for first place in U.S. News and World Report's rankings. The Stanford Department of Psychology's research emphasis is in the sub-areas of affective science, cognitive, developmental, neurological and social psychology. Stanford offers a non-terminal master's degree as part of the Ph.D. program. The Department of Psychology admits an average of two to four graduate students in each sub-area per year.
Ranked seventh, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Department of Psychology offers a Master of Science in applied personnel and applied management without a thesis requirement, and a Master of Arts with a thesis requirement. Departmental sub-fields include visual cognition and human performance, quantitative, social-personality, industrial-organizational, developmental, cognitive, brain and cognition, clinical/community, and biological. Of more than 200 annual applicants, the department usually accepts eight into the program.
Princeton University's psychology graduate program ranked eighth in the U.S. Students focus on one of five sub-fields, including cognitive neuroscience, perception and cognition, personality and social psychology, physiological psychology, and systems neuroscience. Princeton offers the master's degree en-route to the Ph.D. To obtain the M.A., students must pass courses in social psychology, cognitive psychology and graduate statistics and ethics, complete required research projects and pass a general exam.
Also in eighth place, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Psychology offers a non-terminal master's degree. Research sub-fields include biological psychopathology, clinical science and psychopathology research, cognitive and brain sciences, industrial/organizational, biological, counseling, school, social, quantitative/ methods, and personality, individual differences and behavior genetics. In 2010, 389 students applied to the program. Of those, 44 were admitted and 23 entered the program.