A psychology degree can connect you with a number of career paths, including law, medicine, education, or the creative arts. Psychology majors develop critical thinking ability and learn to understand others — both essential skills for a successful life and career.
If you’re looking to study psychology in Illinois, you have many great choices. This guide covers the best schools in Illinois for psychology.
Table of Contents
- University of Chicago
- Northwestern University
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- DePaul University
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Loyola University—Chicago
- Knox College
- The Bottom Line on the Best Schools in Illinois for Psychology
Whether you’re looking to go public or private, big or small, religious or secular, selective or nonselective, Illinois has a quality psychology program for you. The best schools in Illinois for psychology include the following:
- University of Chicago
- Northwestern University
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- DePaul University
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Loyola University—Chicago
- Knox College
University of Chicago
- Location: Chicago
- Acceptance rate: 6%
- Graduation rate: 95%
- Freshman retention rate: 99%
- Median SAT range: 1500-1570
- Median ACT range: 34-35
The University of Chicago is the highest ranked, most selective school in Illinois, and psychology is one of the most popular majors on campus. Psychology majors at UC get to participate in university-funded research starting their freshman year. This gives them a leg up when applying for jobs, internships, law school, medical school, and other graduate programs. Psychology courses are taught by faculty members rather than TAs. Class sizes are small.
Location is another benefit of studying psychology at the University of Chicago. The school’s Hyde Park location in the heart of Chicago plugs students and graduates into a vast network for internships and jobs. Employers in the area know that when they hire a UC grad, they’re getting someone who’s been pushed to their intellectual limits and challenged to think about every issue and every problem from all angles. Grad schools favor applicants from UC for the same reason.
Earning a psychology degree from UC isn’t easy. You’ll spend some long nights in the library — this is one reason UC was ranked as one of the best colleges for introverts. But the payoff, both in terms of the education you’ll receive and the career opportunities you’ll be granted, makes it worth it.
Northwestern University
- Location: Evanston
- Acceptance rate: 9%
- Graduation rate: 95%
- Freshman retention rate: 98%
- Median SAT range: 1430-1550
- Median ACT range: 33-35
Northwestern University has one of the most prestigious psychology departments in the country. Many of its graduates go on to earn Masters degrees and Ph.D.s at Ivy League and equivalent graduate schools. Others enter the workforce directly and are highly sought after by firms and recruiters in fields as diverse as social services, education, and law enforcement.
With its suburban location in Evanston on the shores of Lake Michigan, Northwestern offers easy access to Chicago and all the jobs, internships, and networking opportunities available in America’s third-largest city. The career services department at Northwestern begins working with psychology majors their freshman year, helping them devise a path of study and make contacts to ensure they succeed in their career goals.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Location: Champaign
- Acceptance rate: 63%
- Graduation rate: 85%
- Freshman retention rate: 93%
- Median SAT range: 1210-1470
- Median ACT range: 27-33
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the nation’s top research universities. Its psychology department is unique in that it prioritizes getting undergraduates involved in research as early as possible. This experience pays dividends when applying to grad school or looking for a job after graduation.
The psychology department at UIUC has some of the best research facilities not just in the state but in the country. Its research facilities include labs for animal behavior study, child development, electrophysiology, behavior research, flight simulation, and more.
If you’re looking for a rigorous education but also want a traditional big school college experience with sports, tailgating, and Greek Life, UIUC is worth a look.
DePaul University
- Location: Chicago
- Acceptance rate: 70%
- Graduation rate: 72%
- Freshman retention rate: 86%
- Median SAT range: 1060-1280
- Median ACT range: 23-29
DePaul has been referred to as the NYU of Chicago, a reference to the way the campus is integrated into the larger city. But unlike NYU, DePaul has an actual campus feel to it while still providing students with easy access to everything Chicago offers, including jobs and internships.
Psychology is one of the most popular majors at DePaul. One reason is the number of directions you can go with a psychology degree from the school. When you declare a psychology major, you can choose one of eight concentrations to focus on:
- Industrial/organizational (B.A.)
- Human services (B.A.)
- Community (B.A.)
- Human development (B.A.)
- Standard (B.A.)
- General (B.S.)
- Cognitive neuroscience (B.S.)
- Healthcare (B.S.)
DePaul offers robust research opportunities as well. Using the Psi Chi Match Maker service, you can search for research opportunities with DePaul faculty members or graduate students. The school also actively assists students in securing research roles off campus and paid internships off campus.
Illinois Wesleyan University
- Location: Bloomington
- Acceptance rate: 57%
- Graduation rate: 81%
- Freshman retention rate: 87%
- Median SAT range: 1130-1320
- Median ACT range: 24-29
Illinois Wesleyan University is a liberal arts college in Bloomington with around 1,700 students. It is listed as a Best Value school by Princeton Review and is ranked in the top 100 liberal arts colleges by U.S. News. IWU offers small classes and close relationships with professors. In the psychology department, students and professors regularly team up on research projects, some of which get presented at national conferences, helping raise the student’s profile and open the door to opportunities in the field.
Because IWU is an undergraduate-focused school, you’ll never have to compete with graduate students for research opportunities on campus, and you’ll never have a single class taught by a TA. The school’s convenient location in the center of the state plugs you into job markets in Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Peoria.
Loyola University—Chicago
- Location: Chicago
- Acceptance rate: 71%
- Graduation rate: 75%
- Freshman retention rate: 85%
- Median SAT range: 1130-1330
- Median ACT range: 25-31
Loyola University—Chicago is situated along Lake Michigan about halfway between Lincoln Park and Evanston. As a Jesuit institution, it emphasizes community service. Students are encouraged to engage with the local Chicago community, particularly those in need. As a result of the small size of the student body and its commitment to serve, it tends to foster close bonds and a strong camaraderie.
Loyola offers a major in psychology as well as in the growing field of neuroscience. Classes are small and taught by faculty, not TAs. If you know you won’t be stopping at a bachelor’s degree, you can choose to pursue a five-year BS/MA in applied social psychology. Or, if you’d rather keep your options open for grad school, you can pursue a traditional bachelor’s. Loyola students have high acceptance rates to grad school.
Knox College
- Location: Galesburg
- Acceptance rate: 71%
- Graduation rate: 75%
- Freshman retention rate: 83%
- Median SAT range: 1180-1360
- Median ACT range: 23-31
Knox College is the smallest school on our list, with only 1,150 undergrads and no graduate students. Despite its small size and relative lack of national name recognition, it’s one of the best schools for psychology in Illinois. Knox give psychology students the option to pursue one of two routes: a traditional BA in psychology, or a BS that follows a similar curriculum but engages more deeply with math and science topics. Both paths prepare students for grad school and open them to a variety of career opportunities right out of college.
Something else unique that Knox does is called an immersive term. Students can elect to spend an entire 10-week term (Knox runs on a trimester calendar) immersed in one subject rather than taking a variety of classes. Psychology majors often elect to spend an immersive term studying clinical psychology. Students who take this class have the opportunity to write articles that get published in major journals, attend national psychology conferences, and work side by side with faculty members on various research projects.
The Bottom Line on the Best Schools in Illinois for Psychology
A psychology degree can open your mind and broaden your world. And in Illinois, you have many great schools from to pursue it, no matter what your high school transcript or test scores look like. The best schools in Illinois for psychology range from massive state universities with tens of thousands of students to small liberal arts classes where your largest class one term might have 10 people. There is something for everyone here, and with a little effort, you can land at your perfect school.
