2023 Best Anthropology Schools
Finding the Best Anthropology School for You
Anthropology is the #77 most popular major in the country with 11,415 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best Anthropology Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 396 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Anthropology Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Anthropology Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in Anthropology
Our analysis found Teachers College at Columbia University to be the best school for anthropology students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the city of New York, Teachers College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Full Anthropology at Teachers College at Columbia University Report
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Out of the 396 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The Graduate Center, CUNY landed the # 2 spot on the list. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York.
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Out of the 396 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Dartmouth College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.
On average, anthropology graduates from Dartmouth take out $12,740 in student loans while working on their degree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rice University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Anthropology Schools list. Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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Out of the 396 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Williams College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Duke University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Anthropology Schools list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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With a ranking of #7, Princeton University did quite well on this year’s best schools for anthropology students. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Full Anthropology at Princeton University Report
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With a ranking of #8, Yale University did quite well on this year’s best schools for anthropology students. Yale is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New Haven.
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Bowdoin College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. Bowdoin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the fringe town of Brunswick.
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Amherst College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Anthropology Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #11, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s best schools for anthropology students. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
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Stanford University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best anthropology programs. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Full Anthropology at Stanford University Report
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With a ranking of #13, Pomona College did quite well on this year’s best schools for anthropology students. Pomona is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.
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Northwestern University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best anthropology programs. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
The average amount in student loans that anthropology majors at Northwestern take out is $14,951.
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Harvard University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for anthropology students. It came in at #15 on the list. Harvard is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
Full Anthropology at Harvard University Report
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Johns Hopkins University ranked #16 on this year’s Best Anthropology Schools list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Full Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University Report
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University of Notre Dame came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
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Cornell University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best anthropology programs. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.
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University of Pennsylvania came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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Bates College came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Lewiston, Bates is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Chicago came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Brown University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Anthropology Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Wake Forest University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Anthropology Schools list. Wake Forest University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.
Full Anthropology at Wake Forest University Report
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Barnard College landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best anthropology programs. Located in the city of New York, Barnard is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Augustana University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for anthropology students. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the city of Sioux Falls, Augustana Sioux Falls is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Full Anthropology at Augustana University Report
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Anthropology Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 396 different United States anthropology schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
| 52 | Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY |
| 53 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX |
| 54 | Kenyon College | Gambier, OH |
| 55 | Hobart and William Smith Colleges | Geneva, NY |
| 56 | Wheaton College Illinois | Wheaton, IL |
| 57 | Oberlin College | Oberlin, OH |
| 58 | Swarthmore College | Swarthmore, PA |
| 59 | Saint Vincent College | Latrobe, PA |
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Anthropology Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 61 | University of California - San Diego | La Jolla, CA |
| 62 | Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX |
| 63 | Binghamton University | Vestal, NY |
| 64 | University of Rochester | Rochester, NY |
| 65 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
| 66 | University of Louisville | Louisville, KY |
| 67 | Union College New York | Schenectady, NY |
| 68 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA |
| 69 | Colby College | Waterville, ME |
| 70 | Minnesota State University - Moorhead | Moorhead, MN |
| 71 | Webster University | Saint Louis, MO |
| 72 | University of Richmond | University of Richmond, VA |
| 73 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville, TN |
| 74 | University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls, IA |
| 75 | Hamline University | Saint Paul, MN |
| 76 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 77 | Middlebury College | Middlebury, VT |
| 78 | Franklin and Marshall College | Lancaster, PA |
| 79 | Gettysburg College | Gettysburg, PA |
Anthropology by Region
View the Best Anthropology Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Anthropology Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Anthropology
Anthropology is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Anthropology
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Political Science & Government | 49,282 |
| Economics | 49,055 |
| Sociology | 38,475 |
| General Social Sciences | 18,997 |
| International Relations & National Security | 14,306 |
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 Deror avi.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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