2023 Best Social Sciences Schools
Finding the Best Social Sciences School for You
With 205,984 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social sciences is the #6 most popular major in the United States.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. This report analyzed 649 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Social Sciences Schools in the United States
Check out the social sciences programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools in Social Sciences
Our analysis found Claremont McKenna College to be the best school for social sciences students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Claremont McKenna is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that social sciences majors at Claremont McKenna take out is $14,000.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Williams College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Social Sciences Schools list. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Williams accumulate an average of around $13,246 in student debt.
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The excellent programs at Teachers College at Columbia University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools 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.
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The excellent programs at Rice University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools in the United States. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Rice accumulate an average of around $13,000 in student debt.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dartmouth College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.
After completing their degree, social sciences graduates from Dartmouth carry an average student debtload of $15,091. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $626.
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Duke University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
After completing their degree, social sciences graduates from Duke carry an average student debtload of $11,167.
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The Graduate Center, CUNY came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. The Graduate Center is a medium-sized public school located in the city of New York.
After completing their degree, social sciences graduates from The Graduate Center carry an average student debtload of $21,780.
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Vanderbilt University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville.
On average, social sciences graduates from Vanderbilt take out $11,462 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $595.
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Bowdoin College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Bowdoin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Brunswick.
Social Sciences majors at Bowdoin take out an average of $18,374 in student loans while working on their egree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $450.
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Princeton 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. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #11, Yale University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of New Haven.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Yale accumulate an average of around $15,003 in student debt.
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Johns Hopkins University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Social Sciences majors at Johns Hopkins take out an average of $15,411 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Pomona College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #13 on the list. Pomona is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Claremont.
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University of Notre Dame did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #14 on the list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Notre Dame accumulate an average of around $19,814 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $485, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Colorado School of Mines landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Mines is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Golden.
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Amherst College landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Social Sciences majors at Amherst take out an average of $14,527 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #17, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
After completing their degree, social sciences graduates from Northwestern carry an average student debtload of $15,919. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $456, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Stanford University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Carnegie Mellon University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
After completing their degree, social sciences graduates from Carnegie Mellon carry an average student debtload of $23,250.
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Harvard University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Schools ranking. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.
Social Sciences majors at Harvard take out an average of $15,313 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Cornell University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Schools list. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Cornell accumulate an average of around $14,550 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $640, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Bates College landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the city of Lewiston, Bates is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, social sciences graduates from Bates take out $11,043 in student loans while working on their degree.
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University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for social sciences students. It came in at #23 on the list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
On average, social sciences graduates from UPenn take out $13,886 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Washington and Lee University landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Located in the town of Lexington, Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
While working on their degree, social sciences majors at Washington and Lee accumulate an average of around $23,540 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $709, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Wake Forest University landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best social sciences programs. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.
The average amount in student loans that social sciences majors at Wake Forest University take out is $19,955.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Social Sciences Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 649 different United States social sciences schools we analyzed.
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 Social Sciences Schools award.
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
Social Sciences Related Rankings by Major
Social Sciences Majors to Study
| 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 |
| Anthropology | 11,415 |
| Criminology | 11,039 |
| Geography & Cartography | 8,526 |
| Other Social Sciences | 2,414 |
| Urban Studies | 1,507 |
| Sociology & Anthropology | 541 |
| Archeology | 339 |
| Demography & Population Studies | 88 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Social Sciences
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Education | 327,871 |
| Psychology | 195,678 |
| Communication & Journalism | 120,571 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 55,820 |
| History | 32,731 |
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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