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Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

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2023 Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

612 Colleges
$35,065 Avg Salary
$23,480 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 612 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best bachelor's degree programs for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Social Sciences

#1

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, CA

Our analysis found Claremont McKenna College to be the best school for social sciences students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont McKenna is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Social Sciences at Claremont McKenna College Report

#2

Williams College

Williamstown, MA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Williams College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Williams College

#3

Rice University

Houston, TX

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Rice University helped the school earn the #3 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.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Rice University

#4

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Dartmouth College is a great place for social sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Dartmouth College

#5

Duke University

Durham, NC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

Full Social Sciences at Duke University Report

#6

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

With a ranking of #6, Vanderbilt University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.

Full Social Sciences at Vanderbilt University Report

#7

Bowdoin College

Brunswick, ME

With a ranking of #7, Bowdoin College did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Bowdoin is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Brunswick.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Bowdoin College

#8

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Princeton University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Princeton University

#9

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago ranked #9 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Social Sciences at University of Chicago Report

#10

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Yale University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree social sciences programs. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New Haven.

Read More…

#11

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree social sciences programs. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.

Read More…

#12

Pomona College

Claremont, CA

Pomona College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list. Pomona is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Pomona College

#13

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Northwestern University

#14

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

Amherst College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Social Sciences at Amherst College Report

#15

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University

#16

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Stanford University

#17

The Graduate Center, CUNY

New York, NY

The Graduate Center, CUNY landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree social sciences programs. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York.

Read full report on Social Sciences at The Graduate Center, CUNY

#18

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.

Full Social Sciences at Cornell University Report

#19

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Johns Hopkins University

#20

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Read More…

#21

Bates College

Lewiston, ME

Bates College ranked #21 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Lewiston, Bates is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Bates College

Washington and Lee University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the distant town of Lexington, Washington and Lee is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read More…

#23

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winston-Salem.

Read More…

#24

Colgate University

Hamilton, NY

With a ranking of #24, Colgate University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their bachelor’s degree. Colgate is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hamilton.

Read More…

#25

Bucknell University

Lewisburg, PA

Bucknell University ranked #25 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read More…

Rest of the Top 50 Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools

#26

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA
#27

Brown University

Providence, RI
#28

Park University

Parkville, MO
#29

Lafayette College

Easton, PA
#31

DePauw University

Greencastle, IN
#32

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA
#33

Barnard College

New York, NY
#34

Georgetown University

Washington, DC
#35

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA
#36

Denison University

Granville, OH
#37

Augustana University

Sioux Falls, SD
#38

Carleton College

Northfield, MN
#39

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA
#40

Haverford College

Haverford, PA
#42

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA
#43

Trinity College

Hartford, CT
#44

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY
#45

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA
#47

Lycoming College

Williamsport, PA
#48

William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA
#49

Tufts University

Medford, MA
#50

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

Additional Award Winners

This section represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 612 different United States social sciences schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Villanova University Villanova, PA
52 College of Saint Benedict Saint Joseph, MN
53 Niagara University Niagara University, NY
54 Florida Southern College Lakeland, FL
55 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
56 Upper Iowa University Fayette, IA
57 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
58 Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX
59 Angelo State University San Angelo, TX
60 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC
61 Grinnell College Grinnell, IA
62 Middlebury College Middlebury, VT
63 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
64 Emory University Atlanta, GA
65 Gustavus Adolphus College Saint Peter, MN
66 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
67 Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY
68 Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA
69 Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
70 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
71 University of Wisconsin - River Falls River Falls, WI
72 Kenyon College Gambier, OH
73 Colby College Waterville, ME
74 Sewanee - The University of the South Sewanee, TN
75 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
76 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
77 Saint Vincent College Latrobe, PA
78 St Olaf College Northfield, MN
79 University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
80 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
81 University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA
82 Cabrini University Radnor, PA
83 Saint Johns University Collegeville, MN
84 Roanoke College Salem, VA
85 George Washington University Washington, DC
86 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
87 Mount St Mary’s University Emmitsburg, MD
88 Furman University Greenville, SC
89 Oberlin College Oberlin, OH
90 Elon University Elon, NC
91 Union College New York Schenectady, NY

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Social Sciences students that almost earned our Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
92 New York University New York, NY
93 Wheaton College Illinois Wheaton, IL
94 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA
95 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
96 Webster University Saint Louis, MO
97 University of Rochester Rochester, NY
98 Saint Anselm College Manchester, NH
99 University of Delaware Newark, DE
100 Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA
101 Arizona State University - Skysong Scottsdale, AZ
102 Fort Hays State University Hays, KS
103 Dickinson College Carlisle, PA
104 University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA
105 Randolph - Macon College Ashland, VA
106 Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL
107 University of Wisconsin - Whitewater Whitewater, WI
108 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
109 American University Washington, DC
110 Bellevue University Bellevue, NE
111 Catholic University of America Washington, DC
112 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
113 Occidental College Los Angeles, CA
114 Brigham Young University - Provo Provo, UT
115 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
116 Minnesota State University - Moorhead Moorhead, MN
117 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
118 University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL
119 University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND
120 Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA
121 University of Dayton Dayton, OH
122 University of Florida Gainesville, FL

Social Sciences by Region

View the Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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

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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