Most Affordable Online Psychology Programs of 2025

If you’re passionate about learning about the human mind and want to impact people’s mental health, an online psychology program may be for you. With an online program, you can save money by taking courses at home and earning the same education as on campus.

According to the 2020 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, on-campus tuition and fees for psychology bachelor’s degrees cost $12,000. By attending online, students paid $9,300 — saving well over two grand before financial aid

Discover the most affordable online psychology degrees and see where your education can take you.

Source: BestColleges 2024 Annual Online Trends Report

Finding the right program starts with determining its accreditation status and cost. Other factors include the amount of financial aid you’ll receive, the program’s length, and the types of careers you can enter.

Online psychology bachelor’s tuition and fees after aid was around $6,000 if you live in-state and about $3,000 for out-of-state students in 2020. Online programs are typically cheaper than in-person ones since you avoid some transportation, housing and facility fees.

Federal financial aid can lower the cost even further. You might also qualify for some grants and scholarships at your college. Apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to see if you’re eligible for grants, scholarships, or loans based on your financial need.

Typically, an online bachelor’s in psychology will take four years. However, you may complete it quicker if you have transfer credits or can earn credits for previous work and life experience, exams, military training, or licenses.

If you’re working, consider a part-time program that can help you balance your responsibilities. If you want to earn your degree faster, accelerated programs can reduce the length by a few years. Accelerated programs can also be more intense than traditional programs since they compress the same material into a shorter time frame.

Choosing an affordable program is important, but your degree may not be recognized by employers and if the school isn’t accredited.

Accreditation is an independent review of a school’s academic quality and the most important factor in evaluating a program. To be eligible for federal financial aid, you must attend an accredited program. Most employers will not even consider hiring graduates of unaccredited programs, and credits from unaccredited schools rarely transfer to accredited schools. All programs on this list are accredited.

Some of the most common requirements for an online psychology bachelor’s program application are similar to in-person programs, including:

After earning your bachelor’s degree, you have a few options: either continue through a master’s, enter the workforce, or do both. Psychology is a vast major that doesn’t always lead to mental health counseling or psychology careers.

Some of the most common professions are interpersonal — serving the community, youth, other employees, and people with intellectual disabilities. Explore how some common psychology bachelor’s degree careers pay and what the roles entail.

Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics

If you’re trying to balance life, family, work, and a degree, an online psychology degree program on a budget may be worthwhile. Balancing responsibilities was one of the biggest concerns for students that BestColleges surveyed. However, 100% of those students who took online psychology, education, and social sciences courses recommend the virtual format.

The majority of surveyed students didn’t miss out on the on-campus experience. Eighty-five percent felt the online environment was the same or better than in-person learning.

BestColleges found that 92% of surveyed online psychology, education, and social science students and graduates said their degree has, had, or will have a positive return on investment.

But before enrolling in an online degree, consider your career goals. If you want to pursue undergraduate research, which is almost always in-person, an online degree might not fit your needs or requirements for higher-level programs. Otherwise, an online psychology degree from an accredited university allows you to pursue a job right out of college or a master’s degree.

Psychology bachelor’s degree holders also made a median of $50,000 in 2019, according to the American Psychological Association. However, you may have bigger opportunities for salary growth by pursuing more advanced degrees that open doors for more careers.

Beyond a bachelor’s degree in psychology, you can advance your education from master’s through medical school.

Some common degrees like a master of science in clinical mental health counseling and the master of arts in school counseling prepare you for general and K-12 specific counseling.

The doctorate level explores research and medical practice.

A Ph.D. in psychology takes your master’s program experience one step further. Typically, Ph.D. candidates conduct research and teach at the university level. If you want to pursue the bridge between medicine and mental health, psychiatrists are trained physicians who evaluate, diagnose, and treat mental health conditions. They must go to medical school and earn a medical license to practice.