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2024 Best Philosophy Schools

79 Colleges in the United States
10,054 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$30,510 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in philosophy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #83 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 79 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of philosophy. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 10,054 degrees in philosophy during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Philosophy School

Best Philosophy Schools Your choice of philosophy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for philosophy schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

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.

Philosophy Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Philosophy
Bachelor's Degrees in Philosophy
Master's Degrees in Philosophy
Doctor's Degrees in Philosophy

The philosophy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Philosophy Schools. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Philosophy in the United States

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the philosophy degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

11 Top Schools in Philosophy

1
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
206 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
17.5% Growth in Graduates

Every student who is interested in philosophy has to look into University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were about 206 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania earn $30,821 more than the typical philosophy student.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Pennsylvania

2
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In NC

It's difficult to beat Duke University if you want to pursue a degree in philosophy. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.

There were approximately 27 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Duke University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
71 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$28,698 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a degree in philosophy. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.

There were roughly 71 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program report average early career wages of $28,698.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Chicago

4
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
65 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
16.9% Growth in Graduates

Emory University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in philosophy. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.

There were roughly 65 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy degree program at Emory University earn $3,003 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Emory University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
82 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$38,546 Median Starting Salary

Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were approximately 82 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Philosophy degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York earn a boost of around $8,036 over the typical earnings of philosophy majors.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Columbia University in the City of New York

6
Boston College crest
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
95 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$51,737 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population. This college ranks 8th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were approximately 95 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from Boston College earn a boost of about $21,227 above the typical earnings of philosophy graduates.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Boston College

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
75 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
22.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 75 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program state that they receive average early career income of $28,506.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Southern California

8
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
35 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
14.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.

There were about 35 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program state that they receive average early career earnings of $31,978.

More information about a degree in philosophy from Vanderbilt University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
64 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$36,290 Median Starting Salary

UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle. This university ranks 1st out of 51 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.

There were approximately 64 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent year we have data available. Philosophy degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of around $5,780 above the typical income of philosophy graduates.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
72 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
$36,042 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were about 72 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill get an earnings boost of about $5,532 above the typical income of philosophy graduates.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
73 Philosophy Degrees Awarded
15.1% Growth in Graduates

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were roughly 73 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy major at University of Wisconsin - Madison get $5,207 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in philosophy from University of Wisconsin - Madison

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Philosophy students that almost earned our Best Philosophy Schools award.

Rank College Location
12 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
13 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
14 Boston University Boston, MA
15 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
16 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
17 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
18 New York University New York, NY
19 University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA

Philosophy by Region

View the Best Philosophy Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Philosophy is one of 3 different types of Philosophy & Religious Studies programs to choose from.

Philosophy Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Philosophy 9,487
Other Philosophy 297
Ethics 150
Applied & Professional Ethics 98
Logic 22

View All Philosophy Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Religious Studies 9,470
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies 285
General Philosophy & Religious Studies 184

View All Philosophy Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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