2025 Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Philosophy & Religious Studies is about average in terms of popularity for doctor's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #20 out of the 36 majors across the country that we analyze each year. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for philosophy & religious studies students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 89 doctor's degrees in philosophy & religious studies to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 complete 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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Philosophy & Religious Studies in the Far Western US Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in philosophy & religious studies.

Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Doctorate in Philosophy & Religious Studies

1

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

13 Annual Graduates

University of California - Santa Barbara is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in philosophy & religious studies. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a doctorate in philosophy & religious studies from University of California - Santa Barbara

2

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

10 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in philosophy & religious studies needs to take a look at University of California - Irvine. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in philosophy & religious studies from University of California - Irvine

Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best philosophy & religious studies schools for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
California	30	72
Washington	27	3
Oregon	27	3
Hawaii	23	2

View All Rankings >

Philosophy & Religious Studies Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Philosophy	47
Religious Studies	28
General Philosophy & Religious Studies	8
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies	6

Most Popular Majors Related to Philosophy & Religious Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Social Sciences	686
Theology & Religious Vocations	338
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	233
English Language & Literature	122
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies	89
History	86
Communication & Journalism	73
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	32
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	13

Notes and References

• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.