• Find a bachelor's degree




    Bachelors Degree Center is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Any­one who is con­sid­er­ing apply­ing to a psy­chol­o­gy bach­e­lor’s pro­gram may like­ly be focused on the over­all cost. Those who are on a bud­get want to get the best edu­ca­tion pos­si­ble from an afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree. They will prob­a­bly need to do some research first before decid­ing which loca­tion to attend. In addi­tion, there are also some oth­er points of inter­est to con­sid­er when attempt­ing to save mon­ey on col­lege tuition.

There are sev­er­al oth­er options avail­able. How­ev­er, it is impor­tant to con­sid­er whether or not you plan to relo­cate to get the most sav­ings. Although most col­leges will offer some online edu­ca­tion or com­bi­na­tion cours­es, you’ll need to decide whether you can attend the col­lege in per­son to get the most sav­ings. Once you have nar­rowed down the pos­si­bil­i­ty of relo­cat­ing, you can use that infor­ma­tion to nar­row down your choices.

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Psychology Degree Programs

For stu­dents look­ing for the best return on invest­ment, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter fea­tures accred­it­ed, rep­utable insti­tu­tions focused on career impact. From the ini­tial pool, BDC edi­tors rank pro­grams by their tuition rate, based on cur­rent IPEDS data.

1. University of Washington

Top­ping the list of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams is the BA or BS in Psy­chol­o­gy from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton. These degrees are very sim­i­lar, but the Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence requires more math and sta­tis­tics. It also requires three cred­its of under­grad­u­ate research. The BA is a less inten­sive degree that is intend­ed to instill a wide foun­da­tion in under­stand­ing psy­chol­o­gy. The BS degree pre­pares stu­dents for a grad­u­ate Ph.D. pro­gram, where­as the BA pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for pro­fes­sion­al master’s pro­grams in ther­a­py and counseling.

The Depart­ment of Psy­chol­o­gy at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton pro­motes a healthy soci­ety and healthy minds through psy­chol­o­gy. The depart­ment uses insights into behav­ior, the brain, and the mind to pro­mote social equal­i­ty, opti­mize human poten­tial, and under­stand how the mind works.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers both a BA and a BS in Psy­chol­o­gy, so regard­less of your plans, UW has the right psy­chol­o­gy degree for you.

Degree: BA or BS in Psychology

BA or BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Uni­ver­si­ty of Washington

2. Indiana University-Bloomington

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton also offers both a BA and a BS in Psy­chol­o­gy. They are among the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams in the US. The Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Psy­chol­o­gy is meant for stu­dents who want a career in research or indus­try. While the program’s main focus is psy­chol­o­gy, it also empha­sizes com­put­er skills, math, and sci­ence. The pro­gram requires lab­o­ra­to­ry work and advanced psy­chol­o­gy cours­es that are not required for the BA pro­gram. The Bach­e­lor of Arts in Psy­chol­o­gy cov­ers tac­tics, strate­gies, the­o­ries, and con­cepts relat­ed to human behavior.

The Col­lege of Arts and Sci­ences at Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton pro­vides sup­port for stu­dents who want to invent, cre­ate, explore, and make a dif­fer­ence in the world. The school pro­duces inno­v­a­tive, inquis­i­tive, and well-round­ed graduates.

What We Like: Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton offers three options for stu­dents inter­est­ed in psy­chol­o­gy: the BS or BA in Psy­chol­o­gy, or the BS in Neuroscience.

Degree: BA in Psychology

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton BA and a BS in Psychology

3. University of Iowa

Next on the list of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams is the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa, which offers both a Bach­e­lor of Arts and a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Psy­chol­o­gy. The BA pro­gram includes 34 hours of psy­chol­o­gy cours­es and is meant for stu­dents who want a broad edu­ca­tion­al foun­da­tion with a focus on psy­chol­o­gy. The BS in Psy­chol­o­gy includes 41 hours of psy­chol­o­gy cours­es and is intend­ed for stu­dents who want to pur­sue a master’s degree or Ph.D. in psy­chol­o­gy. The cur­ricu­lum includes cours­es in data analy­sis, research meth­ods, and neu­ro­science in addi­tion to psy­chol­o­gy courses.

The Depart­ment of Psy­cho­log­i­cal & Brain Sci­ences at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa has a long his­to­ry of excel­lence and is ded­i­cat­ed to inter­dis­ci­pli­nary research. The depart­ment is the sev­enth old­est of its kind in the US.

What We Like: At the Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa, inclu­sion, equi­ty, and diver­si­ty are core val­ues. The school has an action plan to achieve these goals.

Degree: BA or BS in Psychology

Uni­ver­si­ty of Iowa BA or BS in Psychology

4. Newman University

The BS in Psy­chol­o­gy from New­man Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams in the coun­try. The pro­gram pro­vides a broad knowl­edge in human behav­ior and psy­chol­o­gy. Stu­dents learn the sci­en­tif­ic meth­ods and the­o­ries that cre­at­ed the field of psy­chol­o­gy while gain­ing an under­stand­ing of how psy­chol­o­gy can be used today. The pro­gram takes both a clin­i­cal approach and an exper­i­men­tal one so stu­dents can choose the path that suits them best. There are oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents to attend psy­chol­o­gy con­fer­ences and present research.

New­man Uni­ver­si­ty is a Catholic school that respects all reli­gions. The pro­gram, activ­i­ties, and orga­ni­za­tions avail­able at New­man inspire the spir­it and edu­cate the mind. New­man has six out­reach sites in addi­tion to its main cam­pus in Wichi­ta. The school is spon­sored by the Ador­ers of the Blood of Christ.

What We Like: Stu­dents learn the writ­ing and research skills they need to con­tin­ue on to grad­u­ate school and become psychologists.

Degree: BS in Psychology

BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — New­man University

5. University of California, Los Angeles

Anoth­er of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams is the BA or BS in Psy­chol­o­gy from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Los Ange­les. These pro­grams over­lap a great deal but dif­fer in focus. The stu­dent needs sat­is­fied by each pro­gram also dif­fer. Both pro­grams embrace psy­chol­o­gy as a sci­en­tif­ic area of study that employs sci­en­tif­ic research to explain and study ani­mal and human behav­ior. Stu­dents learn about nor­mal and abnor­mal psy­chol­o­gy, cog­ni­tive process­es, social influ­ences, and devel­op­men­tal fac­tors. They have the flex­i­bil­i­ty to dive deep­er into the areas of psy­chol­o­gy they are most inter­est­ed in.

UCLA’s Depart­ment of Psy­chol­o­gy is address­ing many of today’s most press­ing psy­cho­log­i­cal ques­tions in their research. These include ques­tions about social behav­ior, our reac­tions to trau­mat­ic events, and how to pre­vent and treat anx­i­ety and depression.

What We Like: UCLA offers a BS in Cog­ni­tive Sci­ence in addi­tion to the BS and BA in Psychology.

Degree: BA or BS in Psychology

BA or BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Los Angeles

6. Oklahoma Baptist University

The BA in Psy­chol­o­gy from Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty is also one of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams. In addi­tion to the reg­u­lar BA in Psy­chol­o­gy, the school has a BA in Psy­chol­o­gy: Pre-coun­sel­ing and a BA in Foren­sic Psy­chol­o­gy. The pro­grams are designed to pre­pare stu­dents for a vari­ety of careers in the field of psy­chol­o­gy. They also pre­pare stu­dents for grad­u­ate pro­grams. Stu­dents learn to inte­grate their per­son­al Chris­t­ian faith into the field of psy­chol­o­gy. OBU’s psy­chol­o­gy stu­dents do well on stan­dard­ized tests cov­er­ing knowl­edge of psychology.

Okla­homa Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty is a small Chris­t­ian school that has a lib­er­al arts foun­da­tion. The school has 88 pro­grams to choose from, and stu­dents have oppor­tu­ni­ties to par­tic­i­pate in over­seas work and study pro­grams. There is a sup­port­ive Chris­t­ian envi­ron­ment and stu­dents are able to inter­act close­ly with fac­ul­ty members.

What We Like: The BA in Psy­chol­o­gy pre­pares stu­dents for the school’s Mar­riage and Fam­i­ly Ther­a­py grad­u­ate program.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology

BA in Psy­chol­o­gy — Okla­homa Bap­tist University

7. Kansas Wesleyan University

The BA in Psy­chol­o­gy from Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides train­ing and edu­ca­tion for a vari­ety of careers, includ­ing crim­i­nal jus­tice work, sub­stance abuse treat­ment, coun­sel­ing, research, and teach­ing. As one of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams, it is a good choice for stu­dents who need to rely on finan­cial aid to finance their edu­ca­tion. The pro­gram is flex­i­ble and pre­pares stu­dents for three pos­si­ble career paths: grad­u­ate stud­ies in gen­er­al psy­chol­o­gy, coun­sel­ing or clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gy, or exper­i­men­tal psychology.

Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty is a stu­dent-cen­tered school on a small cam­pus. The school offers an out­stand­ing edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ence in a nur­tur­ing and friend­ly com­mu­ni­ty-focused envi­ron­ment. KWU is over 130 years old and is locat­ed in a thriv­ing arts com­mu­ni­ty. Almost all of the school’s full-time stu­dents receive some sort of finan­cial aid. KWU has an 11:1 stu­dent-to-fac­ul­ty ratio.

What We Like: Kansas Wes­leyan Uni­ver­si­ty also offers a Bach­e­lor of Arts in Psy­cho­log­i­cal Services.

Degree: Bach­e­lor of Arts (B.A.)

BA in Psy­chol­o­gy — Kansas Wes­leyan University

8. Penn State Behrend

Penn State Behrend offers two of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams: a BS in Psy­chol­o­gy and a BA in Psy­chol­o­gy. The pro­grams cov­er the full range of human behav­ior and pre­pare stu­dents for careers in a vari­ety of fields, includ­ing research, law, busi­ness, med­i­cine, social work, and edu­ca­tion. Stu­dents learn how to help peo­ple with psy­cho­log­i­cal dis­or­ders, how indi­vid­ual and group behav­iors dif­fer, how thoughts affect behav­ior, why peo­ple become aggres­sive, how we inter­act with each oth­er, and how per­son­al­i­ty devel­ops. The BA has a lib­er­al arts foun­da­tion, and the BS is more quantitative.

Penn State Behrend com­bines the stu­dent-cen­tered­ness of a small col­lege with the resources of a large research uni­ver­si­ty. Grad­u­ates are pre­pared to suc­ceed through out-of-class expe­ri­ences, research, and engag­ing instruc­tion. Penn State Behrend pro­vides a rig­or­ous edu­ca­tion that is respect­ed around the world.

What We Like: Penn State’s psy­chol­o­gy pro­grams pre­pare stu­dents for grad­u­ate work or to enter the work­force directly.

Degree: Psy­chol­o­gy BA

Penn State Behrend Psy­chol­o­gy BA

9. Johnson & Wales University — Providence

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Psy­chol­o­gy that is one of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams in the US. The field of psy­chol­o­gy deals with why human beings behave the way they do, which is knowl­edge that can be use­ful in a wide vari­ety of indus­tries. Psy­chol­o­gy grad­u­ates work in crim­i­nal­is­tics, human resources, sales, finance, busi­ness, and health­care, to name a few. A BS in psy­chol­o­gy pro­vides a path­way to a grad­u­ate degree or direct­ly into the work­force. There are plen­ty of elec­tives in the degree plan, allow­ing stu­dents to cus­tomize their programs.

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty has over 12,000 stu­dents and is an inno­v­a­tive leader in edu­ca­tion. The school offers grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate pro­grams in health and well­ness, nutri­tion, hos­pi­tal­i­ty, busi­ness, and the arts and sciences.

What We Like: JWU has small class­es and fac­ul­ty mem­bers get to know their students.

Degree: Psy­chol­o­gy BS

John­son & Wales Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Psychology

10. Curry College

The BS in Psy­chol­o­gy from Cur­ry Col­lege is anoth­er of the most afford­able psy­chol­o­gy degree pro­grams in the coun­try. This pro­gram gives stu­dents skills that will help them suc­ceed in just about any pro­fes­sion, includ­ing child­care, adver­tis­ing, law, pub­lic rela­tions, edu­ca­tion, busi­ness, cri­sis inter­ven­tion, coun­sel­ing, health care, and much more. Stu­dents devel­op strong crit­i­cal think­ing skills and learn how the brain influ­ences men­tal process­es and behav­ior. The pro­grams explores the cul­tur­al, social, psy­cho­log­i­cal, and bio­log­i­cal fac­tors that affect the rea­sons peo­ple act, feel, and think as they do.

Cur­ry Col­lege places a spe­cial focus on expe­ri­en­tial learn­ing and per­son­al atten­tion. The school excels in these areas. Accord­ing to the Nation­al Sur­vey for Stu­dent Engage­ment, Cur­ry Col­lege is rat­ed high­er than most schools for com­mu­ni­ty, career focus, and per­son­al attention.

What We Like: Cur­ry Col­lege also has a con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion ver­sion of this degree, with cours­es start­ing every eight weeks.

Degree: BS Psychology

BS in Psy­chol­o­gy — Cur­ry College

How Much Can I Make with a Bachelor’s in Psychology?

You may be won­der­ing, what is the aver­age psy­chol­o­gist salary? Accord­ing to PayScale, the aver­age year­ly salary for some­one with a bach­e­lor’s degree in psy­chol­o­gy is 61,373. How­ev­er, that fig­ure for a per­son with a bach­e­lor degree in psy­chol­o­gy salary can be as low as much as $34k per year for gen­er­al posi­tions with small­er com­pa­nies or char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tions, and as much as approx­i­mate­ly $154k per year for large com­pa­nies requir­ing indi­vid­u­als with more expe­ri­ence lat­er in their career.

This infor­ma­tion may have you won­der­ing what is the aver­age psy­chol­o­gist salary for lat­er in your career, or how much can you make with high-pay­ing jobs with a bach­e­lor’s in psy­chol­o­gy? The bach­e­lor’s in psy­chol­o­gy salary for indi­vid­u­als who have a bach­e­lor’s in psy­chol­o­gy salary is, on aver­age, between $67k and $154k per year and fluc­tu­ates accord­ing to the com­pa­ny and the sex of the indi­vid­ual. A bach­e­lor in psy­chol­o­gy salary is sub­stan­tial for most peo­ple who remain in that field for most of their pro­fes­sion­al careers.

The bot­tom line is a bach­e­lor’s degree in psy­chol­o­gy salary can fluc­tu­ate between 34k to as much as 154k per year depend­ing on the com­pa­ny you work for and the lev­el of expe­ri­ence you have in the field. This par­tic­u­lar degree is con­sid­ered to be a lucra­tive choice for peo­ple who want to ensure they can secure a well-pay­ing job in the future.

What are Some of the Most Common Psychology Jobs?

There are many dif­fer­ent depart­ments and careers you can choose from when you choose to pur­sue a bach­e­lor’s psy­chol­o­gy. For exam­ple, you can apply for edu­ca­tion­al psy­chol­o­gy jobs, which can allow you to work in sev­er­al dif­fer­ent capac­i­ties, such as build­ing a cur­ricu­lum for teach­ers and class­es accord­ing to the Psy­chol­o­gy School Guide. These edu­ca­tion­al psy­chol­o­gy jobs are more focused on imple­ment­ing bet­ter learn­ing envi­ron­ments and less on work­ing direct­ly with individuals.

Those who wish to work with stu­dents in a one-on-one set­ting to help them find a career path that works for them and help­ing them make the most out of their efforts in the field may be inter­est­ed in career coun­selor jobs1600 accord­ing to Careers In Psy­chol­o­gy. This posi­tion and career coun­selor jobs as a gen­er­al field can have a lucra­tive salary. On aver­age, accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics, the career coun­selor salary is approx­i­mate­ly $57k per year.

Those indi­vid­u­als who want to work with chil­dren in a school set­ting can research infor­ma­tion about a school psy­chol­o­gist near me to under­stand bet­ter what jobs are cur­rent­ly avail­able in the area. When doing an inter­net search for psy­chol­o­gist jobs near me, keep in mind that there are var­i­ous fields to con­sid­er, so it is wise to have a gen­er­al idea of which par­tic­u­lar jobs are of inter­est. For exam­ple, if you search “school psy­chol­o­gist near me,” you will like­ly pull up job post­ings for a posi­tion in the area involv­ing work­ing at a school direct­ly with chil­dren, teach­ers, and parents. 

Like­wise, if you search “career coun­selor jobs,” you will see posi­tions requir­ing you to guide and assist peo­ple with their career direc­tion. Still, if you search for “psy­chol­o­gist jobs near me,” you will get results cov­er­ing all fields applic­a­ble to peo­ple who have a psy­chol­o­gy degree and search­ing for work in the area in general.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Psychology

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Psychology

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Psychology