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Research and Experimental Psychology

Students study scientific research methods, experimental design, statistical analysis, and the systematic investigation of psychological phenomena in laboratory and field settings. Graduates typically pursue careers in academic research, market research, data analysis, user experience research, and pharmaceutical clinical trials, or continue to doctoral programs in psychology. The strong quantitative and research design skills developed are highly transferable to data-driven careers.

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Schools

Programs analyzed

Earnings

$35,198

Avg 1-yr grad earnings

Range $20,182–$56,504

Outlook

40/100

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

AI Risk

High

50% task exposure

Field Overview

What Research and Experimental Psychology graduates do

Your degree in research and experimental psychology opens two primary doors: one into the lab and classroom, the other into management and applied fields. In a research-focused career, you won’t just be reading studies—you’ll be designing them. As a medical scientist, your days will involve running experiments, analyzing complex data sets, and writing grant proposals to fund your next big question. As a postsecondary teacher, you’ll be in front of a classroom, mentoring graduate students, and publishing your own research.

Many graduates leverage their understanding of human behavior to become managers, where they direct research teams, manage budgets, and set strategic goals. Most of these paths require a master's or PhD, with your career often starting as a social science research assistant. Demand is growing fastest in health-related teaching and clinical psychology. AI will automate significant chunks of routine work, like data processing and literature reviews. Your value will shift to designing experiments and making complex judgments. Note that entry-level research assistant roles face high AI exposure, as software now handles tasks juniors once did, making higher-order skills critical from day one.

Students weighing Research and Experimental Psychology often also consider Psychology Studies and Behavioral Sciences — compare earnings, ROI, and AI outlook side by side.

Career Trajectories

Where Research and Experimental Psychology graduates work

Common career paths for Research and Experimental Psychology graduates, with median salaries, projected growth, and AI exposure per role. Roughly 203,900 combined openings per year across these roles.

Role	Median Pay	Annual Openings	10-yr Growth	AI Exposure
Managers, all other	$136,550 $100K–$179K	106,700	+4.5%	Moderate · 47%
Psychologists, all other	$117,580 $74K–$145K	3,900	+4.3%	Moderate · 44%
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	$105,620 $74K–$176K	27,400	+17.3%	Moderate · 48%
Statisticians	$103,300 $79K–$138K	2,000	+8.5%	High · 66%
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists	$100,590 $77K–$134K	9,600	+8.7%	High · 52%
Clinical and counseling psychologists	$95,830 $67K–$132K	4,800	+11.2%	Moderate · 37%
Biological scientists, all other	$93,330 $68K–$121K	4,800	+1.2%	Moderate · 49%
Life scientists, all other	$87,800 $66K–$124K	400	+3.7%	Low · 0%
Psychology teachers, postsecondary	$80,330 $62K–$107K	4,000	+3.6%	Moderate · 48%
Child, family, and school social workers	$58,570 $47K–$74K	35,100	+3.4%	Low · 24%
Social science research assistants	$58,040 $46K–$73K	5,200	+4.4%	High · 67%

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Top Institutions

Best schools for Research and Experimental Psychology

Schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score (earnings × AI resilience × ROI × job-market size). Top 10 of 84.

Rank #1 · DegreeOutlook Score 55

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA · Private nonprofit

$41,501 1-yr earnings

3.3x ROI multiple

High AI risk

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY · #2

$53,156/yr · 1.9x ROI

University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus

Denver, CO · #3

$35,155/yr · 13.0x ROI

University of California-Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA · #4

$34,431/yr · 10.1x ROI

#	School	DW Score	1-yr Earnings	ROI
5	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	50	$33,455	14.8x
6	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	50	$27,748	13.3x
7	Tufts University Medford, MA · Private nonprofit	49	$56,504	1.1x
8	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT · Public	49	$39,661	9.6x
9	Trinity Washington University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	48	$40,432	4.7x
10	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	48	$39,955	9.5x
11	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	47	$35,982	8.6x
12	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	47	$35,556	11.1x
13	University of North Georgia Dahlonega, GA · Public	47	$30,389	21.8x
14	California State University-San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA · Public	47	$26,697	17.6x
15	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Private nonprofit	46	$49,035	0.9x
16	Yale University New Haven, CT · Private nonprofit	46	$47,874	0.8x
17	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	46	$32,301	9.2x
18	Bates College Lewiston, ME · Private nonprofit	45	$47,376	0.9x
19	Princeton University Princeton, NJ · Private nonprofit	45	$47,050	1.0x
20	Amherst College Amherst, MA · Private nonprofit	45	$45,786	0.7x
21	Metropolitan State University Saint Paul, MN · Public	45	$36,600	8.4x
22	Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA · Public	45	$32,149	12.6x
23	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	45	$31,568	8.2x
24	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	45	$29,830	10.0x
25	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit	44	$44,542	0.7x
26	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	44	$38,463	—
27	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	44	$31,532	8.6x
28	Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL · Public	44	$23,981	23.6x
29	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	44	$23,420	10.5x
30	Barnard College New York, NY · Private nonprofit	43	$44,055	0.7x
31	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH · Private nonprofit	43	$42,947	0.6x
32	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	43	$36,257	7.3x
33	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	43	$31,172	11.4x
34	Smith College Northampton, MA · Private nonprofit	42	$43,717	1.5x
35	Colgate University Hamilton, NY · Private nonprofit	42	$41,883	0.6x
36	Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA · Private nonprofit	42	$41,599	0.6x
37	Park University Parkville, MO · Private nonprofit	42	$40,313	5.1x
38	University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO · Public	42	$34,822	7.9x
39	Northeastern State University Tahlequah, OK · Public	42	$32,440	9.8x
40	University of Rochester Rochester, NY · Private nonprofit	41	$39,732	1.6x
41	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	41	$34,715	5.9x
42	University of North Florida Jacksonville, FL · Public	41	$30,816	11.1x
43	Hamilton College Clinton, NY · Private nonprofit	40	$39,880	0.5x
44	Brown University Providence, RI · Private nonprofit	40	$39,493	0.4x
45	Duke University Durham, NC · Private nonprofit	40	$39,359	0.5x
46	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA · Public	40	$34,450	4.8x
47	University of Chicago Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	40	$31,986	2.2x
48	Savannah State University Savannah, GA · Public	40	$27,763	16.8x
49	Carleton College Northfield, MN · Private nonprofit	39	$39,238	0.5x
50	Villanova University Villanova, PA · Private nonprofit	39	$39,218	0.5x
51	Purdue University Fort Wayne Fort Wayne, IN · Public	39	$32,031	7.7x
52	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	38	$38,463	1.5x
53	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN · Private nonprofit	38	$38,027	0.5x
54	George Washington University Washington, DC · Private nonprofit	38	$37,906	0.5x
55	New York University New York, NY · Private nonprofit	38	$37,512	0.6x
56	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	38	$37,494	0.4x
57	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit	38	$37,377	0.5x
58	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	38	$33,384	4.2x
59	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	38	$31,027	6.9x
60	Denison University Granville, OH · Private nonprofit	37	$36,909	0.4x
61	Emmanuel College Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	37	$36,603	1.0x
62	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private nonprofit	37	$36,283	0.4x
63	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	37	$31,129	5.6x
64	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	37	$29,350	8.5x
65	Westminster University Salt Lake City, UT · Private nonprofit	36	$35,127	1.1x
66	Truman State University Kirksville, MO · Public	36	$28,801	6.6x
67	St Olaf College Northfield, MN · Private nonprofit	35	$35,070	0.5x
68	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY · Private nonprofit	34	$34,361	0.3x
69	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	34	$28,494	4.2x
70	Utica University Utica, NY · Private nonprofit	33	$31,695	3.5x
71	Murray State University Murray, KY · Public	33	$23,674	9.7x
72	Mount St. Mary's University Emmitsburg, MD · Private nonprofit	32	$34,454	1.6x
73	Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA · Private nonprofit	32	$32,439	0.3x
74	Canisius University Buffalo, NY · Private nonprofit	32	$29,333	3.2x
75	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	31	$25,654	3.5x
76	Colorado Christian University Lakewood, CO · Private nonprofit	30	$33,134	1.8x
77	Union College Schenectady, NY · Private nonprofit	30	$30,061	0.1x
78	University of North Alabama Florence, AL · Public	30	$20,182	3.2x
79	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA · Private nonprofit	29	$28,507	0.1x
80	Centenary University Hackettstown, NJ · Private nonprofit	29	$27,933	0.9x
81	Creighton University Omaha, NE · Private nonprofit	28	$26,845	0.4x
82	Eckerd College Saint Petersburg, FL · Private nonprofit	27	$31,596	1.2x
83	Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA · Private nonprofit	27	$23,898	0.6x
84	Albion College Albion, MI · Private nonprofit	26	$23,906	0.1x

How do Research and Experimental Psychology programs stack up? See 84 schools ranked by earnings and value →

Highest Earnings Top 5

Tufts University MA	$56,504
Columbia University in the City of New York NY	$53,156
Johns Hopkins University MD	$49,035
Yale University CT	$47,874
Bates College ME	$47,376

Best ROI Top 5

Florida Atlantic University FL	23.6x
University of North Georgia GA	21.8x
California State University-San Bernardino CA	17.6x
Savannah State University GA	16.8x
Eastern Washington University WA	14.8x

Related majors

Similar fields of study often offered alongside Research and Experimental Psychology.

Psychology Clinical Psychology Psychology Studies Biology Political Science Economics English History Sociology Business Administration Communication and Media Studies Natural Resources & Conservation Research

FAQ

Frequently asked about Research and Experimental Psychology

What do Research and Experimental Psychology graduates make in their first year?

Across 84 schools, Research and Experimental Psychology graduates earn an average of $35,198 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $20,182 to $56,504 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Research and Experimental Psychology?

Our analysis classifies Research and Experimental Psychology as "High" for AI risk — approximately 50% of typical job tasks overlap with current AI capabilities. That puts some of the daily work in the automation-sensitive category.

Where should I study Research and Experimental Psychology?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), Harvard University ranks #1 for Research and Experimental Psychology with a score of 55/100 and graduate earnings of $41,501/yr.

What's the ROI on a Research and Experimental Psychology degree?

On average, Research and Experimental Psychology graduates earn 4.9x their in-state tuition over 10 years. ROI varies significantly by school — choose carefully.