2023 Best Social Sciences Schools
Finding the Best Social Sciences School for You
In 2020-2021, 22,292 social sciences students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #10 most popular in the country.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. This report analyzed 348 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2023 Best Social Sciences Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Social Sciences Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in Social Sciences
Our analysis found Teachers College at Columbia University to be the best school for social sciences students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Teachers College at Columbia University
The excellent programs at Rice University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools in the United States. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means The Graduate Center, CUNY is a great place for social sciences students. Located in the large city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
The excellent programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools in the United States. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
The excellent programs at Princeton University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools in the United States. Princeton is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Princeton.
Johns Hopkins University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.
With a ranking of #7, Yale University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Harvard University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Colorado School of Mines did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Golden, Mines is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Colorado School of Mines
Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #10 on the list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.
Vanderbilt University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
University of Notre Dame came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Northwestern University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Carnegie Mellon University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
Cornell University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
With a ranking of #16, Brown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Providence.
University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Tufts University ranked #18 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Tufts is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Medford.
Georgetown University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.
University of California - Berkeley came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Social Sciences at University of California - Berkeley
With a ranking of #21, Institute of World Politics did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. Institute of World Politics is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Institute of World Politics
University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #22 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Virginia - Main Campus
With a ranking of #23, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.
Full Social Sciences at Washington University in St Louis Report
William & Mary came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. William & Mary is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Williamsburg.
Niagara University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Niagara University, Niagara is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Rest of the Top Best Social Sciences Schools
Remaining Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Social Sciences Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 348 different United States social sciences schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI |
| 52 | Citadel Military College of South Carolina | Charleston, SC |
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Social Sciences students that almost earned our Best Social Sciences Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 53 | University of North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND |
| 54 | Catholic University of America | Washington, DC |
| 55 | The University of Arizona Global Campus | San Diego, CA |
| 56 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 57 | North Dakota State University - Main Campus | Fargo, ND |
| 58 | Creighton University | Omaha, NE |
| 58 | Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus | Atlanta, GA |
| 60 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 61 | James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA |
| 62 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 63 | University of Delaware | Newark, DE |
| 64 | Binghamton University | Vestal, NY |
| 65 | Monmouth University | West Long Branch, NJ |
| 66 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 67 | Valdosta State University | Valdosta, GA |
| 68 | Texas A&M University - College Station | College Station, TX |
| 69 | Angelo State University | San Angelo, TX |
Social Sciences by Region
View the Best Social Sciences Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Social Sciences Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Social Sciences
Social Sciences Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Economics | 6,173 |
| International Relations & National Security | 5,010 |
| Political Science & Government | 2,664 |
| Geography & Cartography | 2,315 |
| Sociology | 1,907 |
| Anthropology | 1,446 |
| Criminology | 936 |
| General Social Sciences | 745 |
| Other Social Sciences | 532 |
| Urban Studies | 432 |
| Archeology | 66 |
| Demography & Population Studies | 66 |
Majors Similar to Social Sciences
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Education | 199,724 |
| Psychology | 42,013 |
| Communication & Journalism | 12,242 |
| Library Science | 5,929 |
| History | 4,391 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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