19,231Philosophy & Religious Studies Degrees Awarded
$31,946Avg Early-Career Salary
If you're seeking a degree in philosophy & religious studies, you will have fewer peers than average since the major degree program is the #28 one in the country in terms of popularity.This may make is a little harder to find a school that is a good fit for you.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 82 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for philosophy & religious studies students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 19,231 degrees in philosophy & religious studies during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Choosing a Great Philosophy & Religious Studies School
The philosophy & religious studies program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Philosophy & Religious Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Philosophy & Religious Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Philosophy & Religious Studies Rankings by Degree Level
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 Schools.
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.
Best Schools for Philosophy & Religious Studies in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of philosophy & religious studies degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of Pennsylvania is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in philosophy & religious studies. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 215 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy & religious studies students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania earn $29,385 more than the typical philosophy & religious studies graduate.
It's hard to beat Duke University if you wish to pursue a degree in philosophy & religious studies. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were roughly 65 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy & religious studies students who get their degree from Duke University earn $17,323 more than the average philosophy & religious studies student.
University of Chicago is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in philosophy & religious studies. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were roughly 86 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the philosophy & religious studies program make an average of $28,698 for their early career.
Any student pursuing a degree in philosophy & religious studies needs to look into Emory University. Located in the city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.
There were approximately 94 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the philosophy & religious studies major at Emory University get $10,873 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Boston College is a fairly large private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Chestnut Hill. This college ranks 8th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 110 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy & religious studies students who get their degree from Boston College make $19,791 more than the typical philosophy & religious studies grad.
USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 77 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy & religious studies program report average early career wages of $28,506.
Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 117 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Philosophy & Religious Studies degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York earn a boost of about $6,600 over the average earnings of philosophy & religious studies majors.
Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
There were approximately 40 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Jewish Theological Seminary of America in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the philosophy & religious studies program at Jewish Theological Seminary of America make $34,371 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were approximately 41 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, philosophy & religious studies degree recipients typically make an average of $31,978 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 51 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 97 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy & religious studies program at University of Washington - Seattle Campus make $4,344 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were roughly 97 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy & religious studies major at University of Wisconsin - Madison get $3,771 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 48 philosophy & religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. After graduating, philosophy & religious studies degree recipients generally make about $23,992 in their early careers.
Here are some additional great schools for Philosophy & Religious Studies students that almost earned our Best Philosophy & Religious Studies Schools award.
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 philosophy & religious studies program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Philosophy & Religious Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Philosophy & Religious Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
