A degree in social studies education is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #291 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 122 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Social Studies Education Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,995 degrees in social studies education to qualified students.
The social studies teacher education program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Studies Education rankings. We derive our Best Overall Social Studies Education School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Social Studies Education Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Social Studies Education in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the social studies teacher education degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
24 Top Schools in Social Studies Teacher Education
It is difficult to beat University of Georgia if you wish to pursue a degree in social studies education. UGA is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UGA is a great university overall.
There were about 49 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at UGA in the most recent data year.
Boston University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in social studies education. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Boston U is a great university overall.
There were about 16 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent year we have data available.
It is hard to beat University of Washington - Seattle Campus if you want to pursue a degree in social studies education. UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.
There were roughly 10 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year.
Ball State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in social studies education. Located in the city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ball State is a great university overall.
There were about 27 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Ball State in the most recent data year.
NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 7 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year.
Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #134 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Miami University - Oxford is a great university overall.
There were approximately 26 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Miami University - Oxford in the most recent data year.
CCNY is a fairly large public college located in the city of New York. This college ranks 65th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 9 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at CCNY in the most recent data year.
Hunter is a very large public college located in the city of New York. This college ranks 30th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 34 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Hunter in the most recent year we have data available.
Temple is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #97 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Temple is a great university overall.
There were approximately 31 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent year we have data available.
UF is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were about 9 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.
There were approximately 5 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the town of Cortland, SUNY Cortland is a public school with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #218 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SUNY Cortland is a great school overall.
There were roughly 16 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Cortland in the most recent year we have data available.
Hofstra is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Hempstead. This university ranks 28th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 16 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Hofstra in the most recent year we have data available.
QC is a fairly large public college located in the city of Queens. This college ranks 52nd out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 52 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at QC in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 62nd out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 27 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Brooklyn College in the most recent data year.
Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were about 21 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at ECU in the most recent data year.
SUNY Oswego is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Oswego. This school ranks 60th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 35 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Oswego in the most recent year we have data available.
WMU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Kalamazoo. This university ranks 4th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 17 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at WMU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the suburb of Kent, Kent State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 9th out of 91 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 29 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Kent State in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 21 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Central Michigan in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #65 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.
There were about 23 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 39 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were roughly 15 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at UK in the most recent data year.
Minnesota State Mankato is a large public university located in the small city of Mankato. This university ranks 11th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were approximately 17 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota State Mankato in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the midsize city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #150 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Baylor is a great university overall.
There were roughly 2 social studies education students who graduated with this degree at Baylor in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The social studies teacher education program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Studies Education rankings. We derive our Best Overall Social Studies Education School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
