You'll be studying one of the lesser sought-after majors if you pursue a degree in south asian studies. It is ranked #1213 out of 1506 major degree programs in terms of popularity. This may make is a little harder to find a school that is a good fit for you.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best South Asian Studies Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 37 degrees in south asian studies annually.
Explore societal similarities and differences as seen through cultural, biological, archaeological and linguistic lenses when you earn one of your degrees in anthropology from Southern New Hampshire University.
The south asian studies program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for South Asian Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for south asian studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best South Asian Studies Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Explore societal similarities and differences as seen through cultural, biological, archaeological and linguistic lenses when you earn one of your degrees in anthropology from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for South Asian Studies in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of south asian studies degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
It is hard to beat Wellesley College if you wish to pursue a degree in south asian studies. Located in the large suburb of Wellesley, Wellesley is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 14th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.More information about a degree in south asian studies from Wellesley College
Columbia University in the City of New York is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in south asian studies. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 5 south asian studies students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available.
Explore societal similarities and differences as seen through cultural, biological, archaeological and linguistic lenses when you earn one of your degrees in anthropology from Southern New Hampshire University.
University of Wisconsin - Madison is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in south asian studies. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 46 colleges for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 18 south asian studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison 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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Karl Udo Gerth.