You may be surprised at how affordable psychology programs can be. We’ll show you where to find the cheapest online options for this degree. Below, we also cover the career paths available after graduation and explain exactly why you should consider earning your degree online.
What You Can Do with a Psychology Degree
There are several different disciplines within the psychology profession, including:
- Clinical psychologist: These psychologists are focused on diagnosing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. They often work in healthcare facilities, and in some states, they are allowed to prescribe medication.
- Counseling psychologist: This type of psychology involves meeting with clients to help them understand themselves, deal with issues, and improve their well-being.
- Developmental psychologist: In this research-oriented role, psychologists study how people change over time. Many developmental psychologists focus on a specific age group, such as adolescents or older adults.
- Industrial-organizational psychologist: This discipline involves using psychological principles to help address workplace issues.
As with most occupations, your career options as a psychologist will depend on your level of education.
To hold the title of “psychologist,” you’ll likely need a doctoral degree. If you’re considering a doctorate, you have two options to choose from. A Ph.D. in Psychology program will focus on teaching you how to conduct original research. A Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program will prepare you for more practical, hands-on roles. In addition to earning a doctorate, most states require you to complete an internship and one to two years of supervised professional experience in order to become licensed as a psychologist.
In some schools and industrial-organizational settings, you may be able to find entry-level work as a psychologist with a master’s degree.
While it takes a lot of education to become a psychologist, the monetary rewards are certainly worth it. The average salary for this occupation is $81,040 per year (nearly double that of all professions), and the top 10% make more than $133,890.
It’s worth noting that psychology jobs aren’t the only option for those who have earned a psychology degree. In fact, this is one of the most versatile degrees available. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that workers with a psychology degree are employed in many different industries, such as:
Social worker
Psychologists who work in the field rather than research settings often have similar job responsibilities as social workers. Both of these occupations require strong communication and interpersonal skills and involve helping people address challenges in their lives. While social workers tend to make less money (they have an average salary of $50,390), one advantage to this career path is that you can find entry-level work with just a bachelor’s degree.
Human resources specialist
Human resources specialists help organizations with tasks such as recruitment, training, benefits administration, and conflict resolution. You’ll be especially well-qualified for a human resources role if you are able to earn your degree with a concentration in industrial-organizational psychology. This occupation offers above-average pay (average salary of $62,290) as well as a strong growth rate (8% over the next decade, which is faster than average), and it only requires a bachelor’s for entry-level jobs.
Postsecondary teacher
This is another option for those who have earned a graduate degree in psychology. Teaching at a traditional four-year university typically requires a Ph.D., though you may be able to get a teaching job at a community college with a master’s degree. The average salary for postsecondary teachers is $79,640, and this occupation is growing at an exceptionally high rate of 12% over the next decade.
Lawyer
Of course, you can’t become a lawyer with just a psychology degree. This occupation requires a Juris Doctor — but to get into law school and reach this level of education, you’ll first need to earn an undergraduate degree. A Bachelor’s in Psychology is one of the most popular “pre-law” options, as it covers many subjects relevant to the legal profession (perception, motivation, statistics, etc.).
Why You Should Consider Earning Your Psychology Degree Online
Earning a college degree can be quite time-consuming. To successfully keep up with their classes and maintain good grades, most students need to study for about two to three hours per week for every credit hour of courses that they’re taking. A full-time semester is generally considered 12 credit hours, so you can see how all this coursework can really add up.
With an in-person program, you must also consider the commute. Unless you already happen to live near campus or are willing to pay the exorbitant rates for college dorms, you would need to spend additional hours every week driving back and forth from campus to attend in-person lectures and exams. Choosing an online program instead would eliminate this need, providing you with more availability for all the time it already takes to complete your studies.
Online classes can also be more convenient. They’re often offered in an asynchronous format, which means you can go through lessons and even take many of the required tests at your own pace. This is especially useful for parents, full-time workers, or anyone else trying to fit their psychology degree program into a busy schedule.
Our Research
This list features some of the country’s cheapest online psychology degree programs. Each school featured is a nonprofit, accredited institution, either public or private, with a high standard of academic quality for postsecondary institutions.
We evaluated each school’s program on tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, and reputation. Then, we calculated the Intelligent Score on a scale of 0 to 100. Read more about our ranking methodology.
Next, we compared this comprehensive list of the cheapest online psychology degree programs to a list of aggregated college rankings from reputable publications, such as U.S. News & World Report, to simplify a student’s college search. We pored through these rankings so students don’t have to.
The 50 Cheapest Online Psychology Degree Programs
FiltersInstitution Type
Status
- Intelligent Score
- Alphabetically By University Name
- Acceptance Rate
- Enrollment
- In-state Graduate Tuition
- Out-of-state Graduate Tuition
- In-state Undergraduate Tuition
- Out-of-state Undergraduate Tuition
University of Florida
Intelligent Score: 99.52In-state: $4,477
Out-of-state: $25,694
In-state: $10,770
Out-of-state: $10,770
SAT: 1290-1460
ACT: 29-33
In-State: $129
Out-of-State: $552
Online
American Psychology Association
120
Florida International University
Intelligent Score: 97.48In-state: $4,721
Out-of-state: $16,529
In-state: $8,912
Out-of-state: $8,912
SAT: 1110-1260
ACT: 23-29
In-State: $228
Out-of-State: $345
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
Clayton State University
Intelligent Score: 97.05In-state: $4,064
Out-of-state: $14,786
In-state: $5,760
Out-of-state: $5,760
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
Undergraduate In-State: $169
Out-of-State: $616 Graduate In-State: $200
Out-of-State: $732
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Undergraduate: 120 Graduate: 60
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Intelligent Score: 97.04In-state: $27,590
Out-of-state: $44,590
In-state: $29,182
Out-of-state: $29,182
SAT: 1110-1360
ACT: 17-27
$289
Online, On-Campus, Hybrid
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
120
University of Louisiana Monroe
Intelligent Score: 96.84In-state: $5,407
Out-of-state: $19,135
In-state: $5,511
Out-of-state: $5,511
SAT: 1000-1210
ACT: 20-26
Undergraduate: $400 Graduate: $500
Online, On-Campus
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
Undergraduate: 120 Graduate: 36
Fort Hays State University
Intelligent Score: 96.4In-state: $4,140
Out-of-state: $14,580
In-state: $3,726
Out-of-state: $3,726
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
Undergraduate: $226 Graduate: $298
Online, On-Campus
Higher Learning Commission
Undergraduate: 120 Graduate: 61
Bellevue University
Intelligent Score: 95.98In-state: $7,176
Out-of-state: $7,176
In-state: $10,710
Out-of-state: $10,710
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
$440
Online, On-Campus
Higher Learning Commission
127
Kennesaw State University
Intelligent Score: 95.48In-state: $4,450
Out-of-state: $15,704
In-state: $5,328
Out-of-state: $5,328
SAT: 1030-1200
ACT: 19-25
In-State: $185
Out-of-State: $654
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
Middle Georgia State University
Intelligent Score: 94.4In-state: $2,728
Out-of-state: $10,075
In-state: $3,582
Out-of-state: $3,582
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
$131
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
Valdosta State University
Intelligent Score: 94.26In-state: $4,371
Out-of-state: $15,426
In-state: $4,572
Out-of-state: $4,572
SAT: 990-1140
ACT: 19-23
$182
Online, On-Campus
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
Fort Valley State University
Intelligent Score: 94.25In-state: $4,064
Out-of-state: $14,786
In-state: $4,344
Out-of-state: $4,344
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
$159
Online, On-Campus
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
123
Regis University
Intelligent Score: 93.04In-state: $38,208
Out-of-state: $38,208
In-state: $14,322
Out-of-state: $14,322
SAT: 1000-1220
ACT: 21-28
$500
Online, On-Campus
Higher Learning Commission
120
Park University
Intelligent Score: 92.41In-state: $8,251
Out-of-state: $8,251
In-state: $6,224
Out-of-state: $6,224
SAT: N/A
ACT: N/A
$453
Online
Higher Learning Commission
120
Utah State University
Intelligent Score: 90.8In-state: $6,732
Out-of-state: $21,677
In-state: $6,164
Out-of-state: $6,164
SAT: 1080-1320
ACT: 21-29
$382
Online
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
120
University of Houston
Intelligent Score: 90.44In-state: $8,449
Out-of-state: $20,665
In-state: $8,539
Out-of-state: $8,539
SAT: 1120-1310
ACT: 22-28
$385
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
University of Maryland Global Campus
Intelligent Score: 89.1In-state: $8,824
Out-of-state: $34,936
In-state: $13,158
Out-of-state: $13,158
SAT: 1270-1480
ACT: 30-34
In-State: $312
Out-of-State: $499
Online, On-Campus
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
120
LSU of Alexandria
Intelligent Score: 87.17In-state: $8,038
Out-of-state: $8,038
In-state: $9,132
Out-of-state: $9,132
SAT: 1090-1300
ACT: 23-28
In-State: $416
Out-of-State: $719
Online, On-Campus
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120
Northern Kentucky University
Intelligent Score: 86.8In-state: $9,912
Out-of-state: $19,872
In-state: $11,034
Out-of-state: $11,034
SAT: 960-1190
ACT: 20-26
$275
Online
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
120