2025 Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools
Philosophy & Religious Studies isn't the most popular doctorate program in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #20 in popularity out of 36 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 6 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 656 doctor's degrees in philosophy & religious studies to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Philosophy & Religious Studies School for Your Doctor's Degree
Your choice of philosophy & religious studies for getting your doctor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on philosophy & religious studies students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other philosophy & religious studies students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for philosophy & religious studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized philosophy & religious studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for philosophy & religious studies students working on their doctor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Philosophy & Religious Studies Schools
The philosophy & religious studies 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 & Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools.