2023 Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Social Sciences Doctor'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.
The Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 168 schools in the United States to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for social sciences majors pursuing a doctor's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Social Sciences
Our 2023 rankings named Rice University the best school in the United States for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.
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Out of the 168 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Teachers College at Columbia University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of New York, Teachers College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The Graduate Center, CUNY. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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Out of the 168 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Princeton University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
Full Social Sciences at Princeton University Report
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Yale University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree social sciences programs. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New Haven.
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Johns Hopkins University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. 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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Vanderbilt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
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Harvard University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Harvard is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge.
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With a ranking of #11, University of Notre Dame did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
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Northwestern University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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Colorado School of Mines landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree social sciences programs. Mines is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Golden.
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With a ranking of #14, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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With a ranking of #15, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for social sciences students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Cornell University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree social sciences programs. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
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University of Chicago came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.
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Tufts University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Brown University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #21 on this year’s Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Georgetown University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Social Sciences Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Washington University in St Louis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Michigan State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Full Social Sciences at Michigan State University Report
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Claremont Graduate University landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Full Social Sciences at Claremont Graduate University Report
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Here are some additional great schools for Social Sciences students that almost earned our Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA |
| 27 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
| 28 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA |
| 29 | Emory University | Atlanta, GA |
| 30 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 31 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 32 | University of Rochester | Rochester, NY |
| 33 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA |
Social Sciences by Region
View the Best Social Sciences Doctor'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 |
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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