Social Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #5 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 63 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Social Sciences Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 48,302 degrees in social sciences annually.
The social sciences program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Sciences rankings. We derive our Best Overall Social Sciences School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
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.
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 Schools in California.
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.
The schools below may not offer all types of social sciences 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 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a degree in social sciences. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were about 1954.0000000000002 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Those social sciences students who get their degree from University of California - Berkeley earn $14,473 more than the average social sciences graduate.
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in social sciences. UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 2831 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the social sciences program state that they receive average early career earnings of $40,486.
Stanford University is a great decision for students interested in a degree in social sciences. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were roughly 435 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social sciences major at Stanford University get $36,991 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Every student pursuing a degree in social sciences needs to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. UCSB is a very large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.
There were roughly 1894.0000000000002 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the social sciences program at University of California - Santa Barbara make $3,438 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 986 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those social sciences students who get their degree from University of Southern California receive $7,208 more than the average social sciences student.
UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were approximately 1505 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the social sciences program state that they receive average early career earnings of $40,053.
Claremont McKenna is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Claremont. A Best Colleges rank of #43 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Claremont McKenna is a great college overall.
There were roughly 206 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Claremont McKenna in the most recent data year. Those social sciences students who get their degree from Claremont McKenna College make $47,671 more than the typical social sciences graduate.
Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were approximately 1622 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the social sciences program report average early career wages of $35,792.
Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were approximately 1260 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the social sciences major at University of California - San Diego earn $3,181 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.
There were approximately 725 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the social sciences program earn around $31,531 for their early career.
UCR is a very large public university located in the large city of Riverside. This university ranks 28th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 1247 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the social sciences program state that they receive average early career income of $31,000.
SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 209 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent year we have data available. Those social sciences students who get their degree from Santa Clara University receive $25,540 more than the standard social sciences grad.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Social Sciences Schools in California 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 social sciences program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Social Sciences rankings. We derive our Best Overall Social Sciences School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
