If you plan on majoring in social sciences, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #5 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 61 schools in New York to determine which ones were the best for social sciences students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 16,429 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. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for social sciences schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
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 New York.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the social sciences degree levels they 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 is hard to beat Cornell University if you wish to pursue a degree in social sciences. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were roughly 550 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Those social sciences students who get their degree from Cornell University make $27,417 more than the typical social sciences student.
Columbia University in the City of New York is a great decision for students interested in a degree in social sciences. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 1405 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Those social sciences students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York earn $29,821 more than the average social sciences graduate.
Any student pursuing a degree in social sciences has to look into New York University. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 1377 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Social Sciences degree recipients from New York University get an earnings boost of around $17,008 above the average earnings of social sciences majors.
Every student who is interested in social sciences needs to check out Barnard College. Barnard is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #86 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Barnard is a great college overall.
There were about 250 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Barnard in the most recent year we have data available. Those social sciences students who get their degree from Barnard College make $24,021 more than the standard social sciences graduate.
Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.
There were approximately 721 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social sciences degree program at Syracuse University earn $6,219 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the rural area of Hamilton, Colgate is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #133 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Colgate is a great university overall.
There were approximately 333 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Colgate in the most recent data year. Social Sciences degree recipients from Colgate University receive an earnings boost of about $23,935 above the average earnings of social sciences graduates.
Binghamton University is a large public university located in the midsize suburb of Vestal. A Best Colleges rank of #154 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Binghamton University is a great university overall.
There were about 634 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Binghamton University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, social sciences degree recipients usually earn around $41,882 in the first five years of their career.
Fordham U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Bronx. A Best Colleges rank of #67 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Fordham U is a great university overall.
There were roughly 579 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Fordham U in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the social sciences major at Fordham University make $6,486 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Clinton, Hamilton is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #138 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Hamilton is a great college overall.
There were about 185 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at Hamilton in the most recent data year. Social Sciences degree recipients from Hamilton College get an earnings boost of about $26,326 above the average earnings of social sciences majors.
University at Buffalo is a very large public university located in the suburb of Buffalo. A Best Colleges rank of #171 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means University at Buffalo is a great university overall.
There were roughly 778.9999999999999 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at University at Buffalo in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the social sciences program earn about $30,382 for their early career.
UAlbany is a large public university located in the medium-sized city of Albany. This university ranks 27th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 660 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at UAlbany in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the social sciences program earn about $36,775 in the first couple years of working.
University of Rochester is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Rochester. A Best Colleges rank of #82 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means University of Rochester is a great university overall.
There were about 259 social sciences students who graduated with this degree at University of Rochester in the most recent data year. Social Sciences degree recipients from University of Rochester get an earnings boost of approximately $10,498 over the average income of social sciences majors.
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 New York 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. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for social sciences schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
