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Most Popular Urban Studies Schools

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2023 Most Popular Urban Studies Schools

130 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 Most Popular Urban Studies Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 130 schools in the United States to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Urban Studies program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Urban Studies Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named University of Southern California the most popular school in the United States for urban studies students. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Urban Studies at University of Southern California

#2

Hunter College

New York, NY

The excellent programs at Hunter College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best urban studies schools in the United States. Hunter is a fairly large public school located in the city of New York.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Urban Studies Schools list. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

While working on their degree, urban studies majors at UC Irvine accumulate an average of around $14,891 in student debt.

Full Urban Studies at University of California - Irvine Report

#4

Queens College

Queens, NY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Queens College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Most Popular Urban Studies Schools list. QC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Queens.

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Out of the 130 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Urban Studies majors at VCU take out an average of $23,752 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University

The Graduate Center, CUNY came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Urban Studies Schools ranking. The Graduate Center is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of New York.

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#7

Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH

With a ranking of #7, Cleveland State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for urban studies students. Located in the large city of Cleveland, Cleveland State University is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Urban Studies majors at Cleveland State University take out an average of $31,750 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Cleveland State University

With a ranking of #8, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for urban studies students. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a fairly large student population.

On average, urban studies graduates from UCSD take out $14,863 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Urban Studies at University of California - San Diego Report

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for urban studies students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public school with a very large student population.

On average, urban studies graduates from UMN Twin Cities take out $20,380 in student loans while working on their degree.

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University of Washington - Tacoma Campus landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular urban studies programs. UW Tacoma is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Tacoma.

Urban Studies majors at UW Tacoma take out an average of $21,157 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Urban Studies at University of Washington - Tacoma Campus

University of California - Berkeley ranked #11 on this year’s Most Popular Urban Studies Schools list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

Urban Studies majors at UC Berkeley take out an average of $15,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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

University of Nevada - Las Vegas ranked #11 on this year’s Most Popular Urban Studies Schools list. UNLV is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Las Vegas.

The average amount in student loans that urban studies majors at UNLV take out is $32,595.

Full Urban Studies at University of Nevada - Las Vegas Report

#13

New York University

New York, NY

New York University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Urban Studies Schools ranking. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Full Urban Studies at New York University Report

#14

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

With a ranking of #14, University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for urban studies students. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

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#14

Portland State University

Portland, OR

With a ranking of #14, Portland State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for urban studies students. Located in the large city of Portland, Portland State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Urban Studies at Portland State University Report

#16

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #16, San Francisco State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for urban studies students. Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

On average, urban studies graduates from SFSU take out $20,301 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Urban Studies at San Francisco State University

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Urban Studies Schools ranking. Pitt is a very large public school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

Full Urban Studies at University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Report

The University of Texas at Austin ranked #18 on this year’s Most Popular Urban Studies Schools list. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.

Read full report on Urban Studies at The University of Texas at Austin

University of Connecticut did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for urban studies students. It came in at #19 on the list. UCONN is a very large public school located in the suburb of Storrs.

After completing their degree, urban studies graduates from UCONN carry an average student debt load of $20,873.

Read full report on Urban Studies at University of Connecticut

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Urban Studies Schools award.

Rank College Location
20 California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA
21 Tufts University Medford, MA
22 Georgia State University Atlanta, GA
23 Barnard College New York, NY
24 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
25 Brown University Providence, RI
26 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
26 Trinity College Hartford, CT

Urban Studies by Region

View the Most Popular 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.

  • 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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