Best School Psychologist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Diagnose and implement individual or schoolwide interventions or strategies to address educational, behavioral, or developmental issues that adversely impact educational functioning in a school.
20 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 861 people a year. The job pays a median of $127,780 in California across about 8,340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 42.2805In California → | 735 | 85.4% | 18 | $33,805 | $27,000 |
| 2 | CIP 42.2806In California → | 126 | 14.6% | 7 | $33,805 | $27,000 |
Top 20 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 20 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 108 | School Psychology | — | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 2 | Alliant International University - San Diego San Diego, CA Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 107 | School Psychology | — | — | — | 0% |
| 3 | University of Massachusetts Global Aliso Viejo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 102 | School Psychology | — | 43% | — | — |
| 4 | Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 85 | School Psychology | — | 62% | $20,686 | 88% |
| 5 | Fresno Pacific University Fresno, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 72 | School Psychology | — | 50% | $14,298 | 64% |
| 6 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Educational Psychology | — | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 7 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | School Psychology | — | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 8 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 37 | Educational Psychology | — | 69% | $23,964 | 71% |
| 9 | University of La Verne La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 33 | School Psychology | — | 63% | $45,461 | 71% |
| 10 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | School Psychology | — | 76% | — | 36% |
| 11 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | School Psychology | — | 69% | — | 46% |
| 12 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | School Psychology | — | 57% | — | 93% |
| 13 | California State University - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | School Psychology | $40,316 | 55% | — | 94% |
| 14 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 19 | School Psychology | — | 62% | $26,940 | 85% |
| 15 | The Chicago School at Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Educational Psychology | — | 0% | — | 46% |
| 16 | California State University - Monterey Bay Seaside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | School Psychology | — | 59% | — | 97% |
| 17 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | School Psychology | — | 56% | — | 94% |
| 18 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | School Psychology | — | 57% | — | 95% |
| 19 | La Sierra University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 11 | School Psychology | — | 60% | $26,504 | 91% |
| 20 | Northcentral University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Educational Psychology | — | — | — | — |
All 20 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 108 | 1 |
| Alliant International University - San Diego | San Diego | Private for-profit | 107 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts Global | Aliso Viejo | Public | 102 | 1 |
| Azusa Pacific University | Azusa | Private not-for-profit | 85 | 1 |
| Fresno Pacific University | Fresno | Private not-for-profit | 72 | 1 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 69 | 2 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| University of the Pacific | Stockton | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 2 |
| University of La Verne | La Verne | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 1 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 28 | 1 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 23 | 1 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 20 | 1 |
| California State University - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Public | 20 | 1 |
| California Baptist University | Riverside | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 2 |
| The Chicago School at Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 19 | 1 |
What school psychologists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $95,990. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national School Psychologists page.
How to become a School Psychologist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to School Psychologists2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 42.2805School Psychology
- 42.2806Educational Psychology
Common questions
Answers for people weighing school psychologists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a School Psychologist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is School Psychology, which awarded 735 degrees in California in 2024-25, 85.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a School Psychologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Clinical. Together they graduate about 861 people a year in California.
How much do school psychologists earn in California?+
The median is $127,780 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 33.1% above the U.S. median of $95,990. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for school psychologists growing?+
BLS projects a +0.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 3,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
20 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do school psychologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Psychologist, School Psychologist, Consulting Psychologist, Bilingual School Psychologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3034.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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