U.S. News & World Report ranking places department in elite company as UC Irvine earns its best public university standing
By Mimi Ko Cruz
UC Irvine’s undergraduate psychology program, which is administered by the Department of Psychology in the School of Social Ecology and the Department of Cognitive Sciences in the School of Social Sciences, has reached a new high-water mark, landing at No. 12 in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 “Best Colleges” rankings — and No. 6 among all public universities.
Within the UC system, the department places fourth behind UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC Davis.
The psychology ranking arrives as part of a strong showing for UCI overall. The campus placed eighth among the nation’s best public universities — its highest such standing in more than a decade. UCI also ranked 34th among all public and private universities nationwide.
Nicholas Scurich, professor and chair of psychology, shared the news with department faculty in an email Tuesday, describing a moment he said confirmed a trajectory already well underway.
“On a personal level, I have never been more excited or optimistic about our department,” he wrote, pointing to the department’s self-supporting master’s programs, a provisionally accredited clinical program, a robust grant portfolio, a growing student body and incoming faculty hires as evidence of sustained momentum. “These latest rankings only confirm that in my mind.”
The ranking places the psychology program in a tie with some of the most distinguished programs in American higher education, including Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, UNC–Chapel Hill, Penn, Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis.
Jon Gould, dean of the School of Social Ecology, said the recognition is consistent with what he has seen from UCI’s psychology faculty year after year.
“It is no surprise to see our psychology program receive such high national recognition,” Gould said. “Our faculty are not only world-class researchers, but they are also dedicated to providing a top-flight education to students, many of whom are the first in their family to attend college.”
Psychology was not alone in distinguishing itself. UCI also ranked No. 8 in software engineering, No. 25 in artificial intelligence, No. 28 in computer science and No. 31 in business and economics, among other disciplines.
For Scurich, the bottom line is straightforward.
“This is a terrific recognition of what we have built together and, even more importantly, where we are headed,” he wrote to his colleagues. “Congratulations, everyone.”
The Psychology Department’s 31 faculty members include prominent scholars who are experts on child development, memory, trauma and aging, among other topics. Their specialties include everything from developmental, social, personality, health, psychology and law, biological, clinical, cultural, community, environmental, and ecological psychology. They share a strong commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and to research that has the potential for application to important societal problems.
Psychological science degree programs include:
- Undergraduate Program
- Ph.D. Programs
- Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology
- Post-Baccalaureate Program in Psychology
The school has 1,811 undergrads, majoring in psychology or psychological science, 105 MLFP students, 64 doctoral students and six postdoctoral scholars in psychology this year.