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2023 Best Urban Studies Schools

89 Colleges
$39,193 Avg Salary
$21,495 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Urban Studies School for You

Urban Studies is the #208 most popular major in the country with 1,507 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Urban Studies Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 89 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Urban Studies Schools in the United States

Check out the urban studies programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 15% Best Urban Studies Schools

Our 2023 rankings named The Graduate Center, CUNY the best school in the United States for urban studies students. The Graduate Center is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of New York.

Read full report on Urban Studies at The Graduate Center, CUNY

#2

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

The excellent programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best urban studies schools in the United States. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Full Urban Studies at University of Pennsylvania Report

#3

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

The excellent programs at Stanford University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best urban studies schools in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Full Urban Studies at Stanford University Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great place for urban studies students. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

After completing their degree, urban studies graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $15,000.

Read full report on Urban Studies at University of California - Berkeley

#5

Barnard College

New York, NY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Barnard College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Urban Studies Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, Barnard is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Urban Studies majors at Barnard take out an average of $18,650 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read More…

#6

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Urban Studies Schools list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Urban Studies at Carnegie Mellon University Report

#7

Tufts University

Medford, MA

Tufts University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for urban studies students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Urban Studies at Tufts University Report

#8

Haverford College

Haverford, PA

Haverford College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Urban Studies Schools list. Haverford is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Haverford.

Read More…

University of Washington - Tacoma Campus landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best urban studies programs. UW Tacoma is a moderately-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Tacoma.

On average, urban studies graduates from UW Tacoma take out $21,157 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Urban Studies at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus Report

#10

Trinity College

Hartford, CT

With a ranking of #10, Trinity College did quite well on this year’s best schools for urban studies students. Located in the city of Hartford, Trinity Bantams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full Urban Studies at Trinity College Report

With a ranking of #11, University of Maryland - College Park did quite well on this year’s best schools for urban studies students. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

#12

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

With a ranking of #12, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for urban studies students. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Virginia Tech

Washington University in St Louis came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Urban Studies Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Washington University in St Louis

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 Urban Studies Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
15 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
16 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
17 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX

Urban Studies by Region

View the Best Urban Studies Schools for a specific region near you.

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

Urban Studies is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

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 Andrew Bossi.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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