**To view the latest version of this article based on the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019, click here, or read on for the 2014 results.
Based on QS’s major international surveys of employers and academics, along with research citation data, the 2014 QS World University Rankings by Subject is a brilliant way to figure out which universities around the world are strongest in your desired subject of study.
The results of these subject rankings aim to identify universities with the strongest international reputations and the highest levels of research impact in each academic field. For more insight into the subject rankings methodology, read this overview.
To save you trawling through the rankings yourselves, here’s an overview of the top universities for psychology around the world, split into regions.
Top universities for psychology in the US and Canada
Over a quarter (52) of the top 200 universities for psychology are located within the US. According to this year’s results, Harvard University is the world’s leading university at which to study psychology, closely followed by Stanford University (4th), Yale University (5th) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 6th).
Other highly ranked universities for psychology in the US include the University of Michigan (7th), New York University (8th), the University of California, Berkeley (UCB, 10=), Princeton University (12th), the University of Pennsylvania (13th), Columbia University (17th), the University of Chicago (21st), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (23rd), Duke University (32nd) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (43rd).
Meanwhile, of the 14 universities in Canada included among the top 200 universities for psychology, the University of Toronto (18th), McGill University (20th), the University of British Columbia (27th), Western University (51-100) and York University (51-100) are the highest ranked.
Top universities for psychology in Europe
Beyond the US, the UK holds the next largest group of entrants in the ranking, with 28 UK universities within the global top 200 for psychology. The University of Cambridge, ranked third overall in the 2013/14 QS World University Rankings®, is in second place behind Harvard University for psychology, followed closely by its traditional rival, the University of Oxford (3rd).
According to the subject ranking, other top universities to study psychology in the UK are UCL (University College London, 9th), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE, 22nd), King’s College London (KCL, 28th), the University of Edinburgh (29th), the University of Manchester (36th) and Cardiff University (40th).
Outside of the UK, other European institutions featured in the top 50 universities for psychology are the Netherland’s University of Amsterdam (16th), Ghent University in Belgium (32nd), Maastricht University also in the Netherlands (35th) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany.
Overall, Germany claims 15 universities in the top 200, the Netherlands offers nine, Spain has seven, Belgium and Italy have five each, Switzerland has three, France has two, and Austria and Ireland have one each. The Nordic European countries have 13 between them (six in Sweden, three in Finland and two each in Denmark and Norway).
Top universities for psychology in Australia and New Zealand
Outside of the US and the UK, Australia offers the next largest selection of opportunities to study psychology at a leading school, with 18 institutions featured in the top 200.
Australia’s highest-ranked offering, the University of Melbourne, level-pegs with UCB in 10th place, followed closely by the University of Queensland (14th), and the University of New South Wales (15th). Also in the top 50 are the University of Sydney (24th), Australian National University (30th), the University of Western Australia (31st), Monash University (38th) and Macquarie University (48th).
Of New Zealand’s five universities within the top 200 for psychology, the University of Otago (19th) is the highest ranked, followed by the University of Auckland (34th) and the Victoria University of Wellington (51-100).
Top universities for psychology in Asia
Asia offers up 14 of the world’s top 200 universities for psychology this year. Hong Kong and Singapore offer the highest-ranked Asian universities at which to study psychology, with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) sharing 25th place. Following closely is another Hong Kong institution, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (41st), behind which is Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (45th).
Peking University, which claimed second place in the recently released QS University Rankings: BRICS, is the highest ranked Chinese university for psychology in 48th place, while Japan’s University of Tokyo is also within the top 100. South Korea, like Japan, has three universities ranked among the world’s best for psychology, including Korea University and Seoul National University.
Taiwan also manages two mentions within the top 200, for the National Cheng Kung University and the National Taiwan University (NTU).
More top universities for psychology
Some 30 countries across the globe have one or more universities ranked within the top 200 for psychology. In addition to those not already mentioned above, these include South Africa, Israel, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico.
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