• Top university programs in psychology prepare students for careers in helping professions and researchgraduation image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
  
  Studying psychology is very different for students pursuing their bachelor's degrees and those seeking to continue their education with graduate work. Undergraduate work is often focused on the history and origins of psychology, perhaps delving into research or clinical application in upper level courses. Among graduate students, there is continued specialization. Your career goals and particular field of interest will determine which school you choose.
  
  

Stanford University

• Stanford University is a persistent standout on rankings lists for graduate and undergraduate students. The department operates 17 separate psychology labs, where unique research is conducted under the supervision of an honored group of professors. Stanford's psychology department works to use an interdisciplinary approach to the scientific study of psychology. Some of their interests include vision and perception; memory; language and cognition; emotion; and culture and society.
  
  Stanford University
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  Jordan Hall, Building 01-420
  
  450 Serra Mall
  
  Stanford, CA 94305
  
  650-725-2400
  
  stanford.edu
  
  

University of California Berkeley

• The University of California at Berkeley has a psychology department that's consistently top-ranked in the nation. Faculty and student researchers take on a variety of subjects at Berkeley, including human development of language, how genetics and the environment produce both adaptive and maladaptive behavior, and how a culture shapes the way people view the world.
  
  University of California at Berkeley
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  3210 Tolman Hall
  
  Berkeley, CA 94720
  
  510-642-5292
  
  psychology.berkeley.edu
  
  

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• The main campus of the University of Illinois has a renowned psychology program that boasts an esteemed faculty and commitment to the subject. Noted for its broad range of unique course offerings, students can study psychology from many perspectives at UIUC, including the biological, clinical, developmental, quantitative and industrial-organizational.
  
  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  
  Psychology Department
  
  603 East Daniel St.
  
  Champaign, IL 61820
  
  217-333-0631
  
  psych.illinois.edu
  
  

University of California in San Diego

• For experimental and cutting-edge academic psychology, University of California at San Diego stands out among top-ranked schools. By recruiting and supporting top-notch faculty over the years, UCSD now boasts top researchers in areas of cognition, learning, memory, perception, attention, language, autism, emotion and social relationships.
  
  University of California, San Diego
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  9500 Gilman Drive #0109
  
  La Jolla, CA 92093-0109
  
  858-534-3000
  
  psy.ucsd.edu
  
  

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

• Another large university with a prestigious psychology department is the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. This vast department offers students degrees in many areas of study. Many students are attracted to the devotion the university makes to specific areas of psychological inquiry.
  
  University of Michigan
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  1012 East Hall
  
  530 Church Street
  
  Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043
  
  734-764-2580
  
  lsa.umich.edu
  
  

University of Minnesota

• Although not as widely known, large or prestigious as other top-ranked psychology universities, the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities has a unique and attractive method of studying applied psychology, and it supports creative scholarship.
  
  University of Minnesota
  
  Psychology Department
  
  N218 Elliott Hall
  
  75 East River Road
  
  Minneapolis, MN 55455
  
  612-625-2818
  
  psych.umn.edu
  
  

University of Pennsylvania

• Over the years, the strong psychology department at the University of Pennsylvania has produced top scientists in the field, and its dedication to the discipline is ongoing at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The university has the oldest continually running university psychology department in the country. Some of its more unique areas of research are ethnopolitical conflict, evolutionary psychology, and individual differences and behavior genetics.
  
  University of Pennsylvania
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  3720 Walnut Street, Solomon Lab Bldg.
  
  Philadelphia, PA, 19104
  
  215-898-7300
  
  psych.upenn.edu
  
  

Harvard

• Harvard's prestige and name recognition can hardly be overstated. The school is ranked with top honors in most areas of study, psychology being no exception. Harvard University employs brilliant and productive professors for its old and renowned department.
  
  Harvard University
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  William James Hall
  
  33 Kirkland Street
  
  Cambridge, MA 0213
  
  617-495-3800
  
  harvard.edu
  
  

Yale

• The psychology department at Yale is relatively small, compared to some of the larger schools on this list. There is a high faculty to student ratio, and those who do enroll at Yale receive ample guidance and assistance from mentoring professors.
  
  Yale University
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  P.O. Box 208205
  
  New Haven, CT 06520-8205
  
  yale.edu
  
  

University of Chicago

• With a demanding undergraduate program and several doctoral tracks, the University of Chicago offers a rigorous and intense educational experience in psychology. Interdisciplinary research thrives at the school, where biology and neuroscience are coupled with psychological investigations, with sometimes curious results. For example, a recent project out of the university posited that lonely rats were more susceptible to breast cancer.
  
  University of Chicago
  
  Department of Psychology
  
  5848 S. University Avenue
  
  Chicago, IL 60637
  
  773-702-8403