by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 609 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for social sciences students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 147,088 bachelor's degrees in social sciences to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Your choice of social sciences for getting your bachelor'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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for social sciences students working on their bachelor's degree.
The social sciences 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 Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools.
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.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in social sciences. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's hard to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in social sciences. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Chicago
Vanderbilt University is a good option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in social sciences. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Vanderbilt University
Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in social sciences. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Northwestern University
It's difficult to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in social sciences. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Columbia University in the City of New York
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Pennsylvania
Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Duke University
Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Johns Hopkins University
Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of California - Berkeley
Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Georgetown University
Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Cornell University
Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Harvard University
UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of California - Los Angeles
Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Notre Dame
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Boston College
Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Dartmouth College
Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Stanford University
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Yale University
Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from George Washington University
Brown is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Providence.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from Brown University
University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the suburb of Charlottesville.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Virginia - Main Campus
Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Located in the large city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from American University
NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from New York University
Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of Maryland - College Park
UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a bachelor’s in social sciences from University of California - Santa Barbara
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 20% of the 609 different United States social sciences schools we analyzed.
Here are some additional great schools for Social Sciences students that almost earned our Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
View the Best Social Sciences Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Political Science & Government | 42,363 |
| Economics | 37,777 |
| Sociology | 27,751 |
| International Relations & National Security | 8,561 |
| Anthropology | 8,434 |
| General Social Sciences | 5,486 |
| Geography & Cartography | 4,014 |
| Other Social Sciences | 1,491 |
| Urban Studies | 984 |
| Sociology & Anthropology | 519 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Communication & Journalism | 89,939 |
| Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 39,135 |
| English Language & Literature | 36,642 |
| History | 24,256 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 21,033 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 20,084 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 13,952 |
| Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies | 9,424 |
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 7,600 |
