2024 Best Urban Studies Doctor's Degree Schools

Urban Studies isn't the most popular doctorate program in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #182 in popularity out of 306 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.

College Factual looked at 9 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Urban Studies Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 24 doctor's degrees in urban studies to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Urban Studies School for Your Doctor's Degree

The urban studies doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to urban studies students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of urban studies students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt urban studies students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized urban studies related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for urban studies students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Urban Studies Doctor's Degree Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Urban Studies in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for urban studies students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Schools for a Doctorate in Urban Studies

1

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

2 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a great option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in urban studies. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from University of Southern California

2

Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA

9 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in urban studies has to look into Virginia Tech. Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from Virginia Tech

3

University of Delaware
Newark, DE

University of Delaware is a wonderful decision for students interested in a doctor's degree in urban studies. UD is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Newark.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from University of Delaware

4

University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

2 Annual Graduates

University of Utah is a great option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in urban studies. U of U is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from University of Utah

5

Portland State University
Portland, OR

4 Annual Graduates

Portland State University is a very large public university located in the large city of Portland.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from Portland State University

6

University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

3 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Louisville, UofL is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from University of Louisville

7

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

8

Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA

Tulane is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New Orleans.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from Tulane University of Louisiana

9

Cleveland State University
Cleveland, OH

2 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Cleveland, Cleveland State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in urban studies from Cleveland State University

Urban Studies by Region

View the Best Urban Studies Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Urban Studies Related Rankings by Major

Urban Studies is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Urban Studies Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Urban Studies/Affairs	24

Most Popular Majors Related to Urban Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Economics	1,248
Political Science & Government	654
Sociology	577
Anthropology	469
Geography & Cartography	249
Other Social Sciences	108
International Relations & National Security	73
Archeology	14
Demography & Population Studies	9
General Social Sciences	6

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Andrew Bossi. More about our data sources and methodologies.