Best Colleges for Religious Studies

INTRODUCTION

If you think life as a religious missionary, outreach worker, or charity officer sounds interesting, then a degree in religious studies may just be for you. You could even become a historian and researcher of ancient religions!

POPULARITY

Religious studies is the 97th most popular degree in America, with 3,941 students receiving their bachelors degree last year. It just beat out #98 Operations Management and Supervision, and narrowly lost to #96 Architecture.

The degree is offered at a total of 640 colleges across the nation, and is the 30th most widely offered degree. Given that religious studies is offered at 84% of the Top 100 Best Colleges in America, you can be sure this is a critical degree and the skillsets acquired are likely to last for a long time.

It is also worth noting that close to 20% of colleges offering religious studies are public making it a relatively inaccessible field.

The southeast produces the most religious studies graduates, largely led by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, while it’s the Big South Conference that leads conference totals. As far as states, Virginia ranks highest, with particular help from William & Mary and Liberty University.

All that being said, no individual school produces more religious studies graduates than Amridge University, which graduated 795 students last year alone. Although size is critical, another important factor to consider is the program’s density (the percent of all students that study religious studies). More students studied religious studies as a percentage of total students at Cairn University-Langhorne than any other college.

Good luck on your college search. We hope you enjoy Authority's 2022 official Best Colleges for Religious Studies list. Some of our picks may surprise you!