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User experience researcher education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a user experience researcher. User experience researchers usually study psychology, graphic design, or biology. 67% of user experience researchers hold a bachelor's degree, and 22% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 1,809 real user experience researcher resumes to see exactly what user experience researcher education sections show.
The most common colleges for user experience researchers are the University of Washington and the University of Washington.
There are also many online user experience researcher courses to help get the education required to be a user experience researcher.
There are certain user experience researcher certifications that you should consider. These user experience researcher certifications include Certified User Experience Professional (CUXP) and Certified Usability Analyst.
What education do you need to become a user experience researcher?
What degree do you need to be a user experience researcher?
- Bachelor's, 67%
- Master's, 22%
- Doctorate, 5%
- Associate, 4%
- Other Degrees, 2%
What should I major in to become a user experience researcher?
- Psychology, 25%
- Graphic Design, 9%
- Biology, 8%
- Other Majors, 52%
Most common colleges for user experience researchers
| User experience researcher common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Washington | 15.30% |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 9.29% |
| University of California - Davis | 6.56% |
| University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | 5.46% |
| University of North Texas | 4.92% |
Best majors for user experience researchers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 25.2% |
| 2 | Graphic Design | 8.9% |
| 3 | Biology | 8.0% |
| 4 | Human Computer Interaction | 5.8% |
| 5 | Chemistry | 5.4% |
Best colleges for user experience researchers
The best colleges for user experience researchers are Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
A user experience researcher with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for user experience researchers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become user experience researchers.
1. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$10,595
Enrollment
30,184
2. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,830
Enrollment
29,474
3. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
In-state tuition
$10,555
Enrollment
30,360
4. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
5. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
6. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
8. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Enrollment
33,495
9. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
10. Texas State University
San Marcos, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,280
Enrollment
34,187
20 best online courses for user experience researchers
Advertising disclosure
1. Data Analysis Immersive (Full-time)
Learn to problem solve, and effectively communicate, like an analyst. This course teaches you to use industry-standard tools to make ethical, data-driven decisions. Experience hands-on training to master SQL, Excel, Tableau, PowerBI, and Python – tools listed in virtually every data analytics job posting across industries...
2. Data Analytics (Part Time)
Harness Excel, SQL, and Tableau to drive powerful analysis and insights. Build confidence and credibility to apply this versatile skill set to countless jobs. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...
3. Data Analyst
Use Python, SQL and Statistics to advance your programming skills and refine your ability to work with messy, complex datasets...
4. Marketing Analytics
Gain an in-depth understanding of Google Analytics and marketing analytics. Analyze data and build models with Excel, Data Studio, and create informative data visualizations with Tableau...
5. User Experience Research and Design
Integrate UX Research and UX Design to create great products through understanding user needs, rapidly generating prototypes, and evaluating design concepts. Learners will gain hands-on experience with taking a product from initial concept, through user research, ideation and refinement, formal analysis, prototyping, and user testing, applying perspectives and methods to ensure a great user experience at every step...
6. User Research and Design
In this course you will learn and practice techniques of user research and early UI design exploration. First, you will learn and practice several techniques for user research, including in-person research and survey and log-analysis techniques. Then, you will learn to analyze and deliver user research in forms that support UI design, including personas, use cases, tasks, and scenarios. Finally, you will learn and practice ideation techniques that start from user research and broadly generate...
7. UX Design Process from User Research to Usability Testing
UX Process for Beginners from User Interviews to Personas, User stories, Information architecture to Usability testing...
8. User Experience (UX): The Ultimate Guide to Usability and UX
Get a job in UX and build your user research and UX design skills with this hands-on user experience training course...
9. Digital Marketing (Part Time)
Build confidence and capability to apply modern marketing strategies on the job. Drive growth with multichannel campaigns powered by data and customer insight. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...
10. Intro to Data Analytics
Discover if data is a career fit for you Regardless of your industry or role, fluency in the language of data analytics will allow you to contribute to data driven decision making. In this free, two-hour livestream, you’ll learn to understand, analyze, and interpret data so you too can join the data conversation. We’ll cover how to ask the right questions of your data and basic analytic functionality. Then you’ll apply your new found data analytic skills to a real-world dataset, allowing you...
11. Data Structures and Algorithms
Get hands-on practice with over 80 data structures and algorithm exercises and guidance from a dedicated mentor to help prepare you for interviews and on-the-job scenarios...
12. Data Visualization
You will start by building data visualizations and dashboards, considering your audiences to be as effective as possible. Then, you’ll move into drafting presentations using storytelling techniques, visualizations, and animations to provide data-driven recommendations...
13. User Interface Design
In this Specialization, you will learn industry-standard theory and methods for developing successful user interfaces (UIs). Upon completing this Specialization, you will have fluency with the user research, prototyping and evaluation techniques necessary for creating intuitive interfaces that facilitate good user experiences. You will also have demonstrated this fluency through an in-depth Capstone Project that can be shown to prospective employers in the fast-growing field of UI...
14. User Experience Design & User Interface Design Fundamentals
Learn the basics of successful User Experience Design and User Interface Design...
15. User Research And Testing For UX Writing
How To Prepare And Test UX Writing Decisions With User Research...
16. Digital Marketing
Gain real-world experience running live campaigns as you learn from top experts in the field. Launch your career with a 360-degree understanding of digital marketing...
17. Intro to Data Analysis
Start your data science journey right with this hands-on introduction to the discipline of data analysis. In this course you'll learn the 5 key stages of the data analysis process and apply them to real data sets using Python libraries NumPy, pandas, and Matplotlib...
18. Fast-start Usability Testing and UX Research - Begin Today!
Beginner to advanced in mere hours! Learn to confidently use modern, effective usability testing and UX research methods...
19. UX Fundamentals: User Testing
Get better in UX by understanding your users...
20. Data Visualization
Discover how data visualization can communicate insights far more effectively than text or tables. In this course, you’ll learn how to build data visualizations programmatically using Python, and how you can use visualization to both discover and convey trends in your data...
Top 10 most affordable universities for user experience researchers
The most affordable schools for user experience researchers are California State University - Long Beach, hunter college of the city university of new york, and university of florida.
If the best universities for user experience researchers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for user experience researchers.
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
4. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
5. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
6. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
7. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
8. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
9. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
10. California State University - Fresno
Fresno, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,587
Cost of attendance
16,915
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for user experience researchers
The hardest universities for user experience researchers to get into are Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Some great schools for user experience researchers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for user experience researchers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
2. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
3. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
17%
SAT average
1,507
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
5. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,506
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
8. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
Admissions rate
28%
SAT average
1,429
9. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
10. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
19%
SAT average
1,466
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for user experience researchers
The easiest schools for user experience researchers to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, kean university, and university of the incarnate word.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a user experience researcher without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for user experience researchers.
1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
2. Kean University
Union, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
86%
SAT average
991
3. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
4. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
Admissions rate
92%
SAT average
1,031
5. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
6. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
7. William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
994
8. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
9. Linfield College
McMinnville, OR • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
1,117
10. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
Average user experience researcher salary by education level
| User experience researcher education level | User experience researcher salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $113,373 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $101,620 |
| Doctorate Degree | $114,257 |
User experience researcher education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025