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2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

There are about 117,405 students enrolled in Social Sciences in the USA.

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popularity

Above Average

Compared to national avg.

Diplomas received last year

19,706

Vs. National Avg.

25%

popularity Rank

#57

cost

Very Affordable

Compared to national avg.

Median degree cost

$23K

Vs. National Avg.

-4%

cost Rank

#284

salary

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Average Salary Two Years Out of School

$40K

Vs. National Avg.

0%

salary Rank

#265

professors

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Professor Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

1%

professors Rank

#241

students

Average

Compared to national avg.

Diversity Rating

B-

Vs. National Avg.

2%

students Rank

#200

SUMMARY

Choosing to study Social Sciences is not only a valuable choice, but usually a needed first step for scholars endeavoring to begin a career as a social services specialist, a policy advisor, or a digital court reporter. In fact, social sciences is of average popularity coming in at the 68th most popular area of study. In the last year, there were 6,806 social sciences diplomas received. In-state tuition for social sciences at private colleges is, on average, 3.9 times more spendy than their public equivalents.

There are 343 colleges which offer social sciences. This number of institutions is on par with other majors offered in the United States. If you're hoping to surround yourself with other social sciences students, consider schools in New York which have more undergraduates admitted to social sciences than any other state. More generally, the best region to study social sciences is in the Far West region with University of Oregon, Portland State University, and Washington State University best representing the region. Interestingly, our pick for the best conference to study social sciences is the Pacific-12 Conference with University of Oregon, University of Utah, and Washington State University representing the conference. Based on our list on the best colleges, our belief is that the best college for social sciences is Harvard University.

The overall 'best' school is not necessarily the best school for you. There can be many more perspectives to consider when choosing ​university. Features like campus amenities, transportation services, and food might definitely change your feelings on which college to attend. At Authority, we've weighed the pros and cons for you. If, as an example, you are interested in which social sciences school is home to the top college campus, the winner is Harvard University. If, for example, you are mostly interested in which college boasts the finest campus, we have a whole page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through government databases, professor reviews, student reviews, and more so we can compare all U.S. majors in an unbiased and informative way. Here you can find our well researched list for the schools with the best student life&nbspand from that list, our pick for the school with the best student life for social sciences is University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Are you curious why? Continue scrolling to learn more about Authority's top choices. Some of our picks might shock you.

If cost is a primary influence in your choice of where you attend university, you might consider avoiding University of Southern California. University of Southern California&nbspis the most expensive university for social sciences, at least regarding out of state attendance. We do have an entire page for the most expensive&nbspcolleges that could put the price tag of University of Southern California&nbspinto perspective. You may also be interested to know that social sciences is the 226th most expensive major in the United States, with an average cost of $29,000. On a broader scale, the most costly state for social sciences in the nation is Louisiana demonstrated by a tuition of $52,760 at the main school in Louisiana Tulane University of Louisiana. Even more broadly, the most expensive region for social sciences is the New England region which is best demonstrated with University of Bridgeport with a cost of $31,920, Harvard University with a cost of $47,730, and Providence College with a cost of $51,490.

Our cheapest region for social sciences is the Plains region which is represented by Bellevue University with a cost of $7,176, Dickinson State University with a cost of $9,782, and Oglala Lakota College with a cost of $2,016. More optimistically, the most affordable college for social sciences is University of South Florida-Sarasota-Manatee. Authority's full list of the most affordable colleges can be explored here.

In-state students can anticipate paying about $9,100 for a degree in social sciences. The cost inflates intensely to an average of $20,200 for an out-of-state public-school student. On that note, our selection for the college representing the best value for social sciences: Harvard University. Through this link you can find our comprehensive list for the colleges we see as being the best value&nbspin general. That being said, this idea is based on out-of-state tuition costs. The value proposition changes when in-state tuition is considered, but we do not know in which states any one student has residency.

Earnings for social sciences majors vary a lot, but within two years graduation graduates will typically make around $41,100. There can be much variation in salary; top positions can enjoy pay up to $68,100. Even right out of university, the lowest end positions within the social sciences space earn $24,100, which isn't that bad. The highest earning grads from social sciences graduated from Harvard University&nbspand if you want to find the colleges with all of the highest earning graduates, Authority has that too.

The overall diversity of social sciences ranks decent, falling in the 73rd percentile of all majors. The school with the most composite diversity for social sciences is New York University&nbspand here you can find our general list of the schools which have the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of Social Sciences is only within the 42nd percentile compared to all other majors. Racial diversity is actually above financial diversity, ranking in the 71st percentile. White students compose the largest share, 55%, of students majoring in social sciences. Additionally, 66% of students pursuing a social sciences major are women.

The median score of social sciences professors is 4.1 stars, a score that is 2% higher than the median for all majors; which is a good score. If you are interested in the most popular social sciences professor in the nation, consider looking up Norma Schropshire from Wayne State University. It might come as a surprise, but the best ranked instructors for social sciences by student come from University of Southern California. If we including data beyond simply rankings it becomes clear that the university with comprehensively the best instructors for social sciences is Harvard University. You can find more detail on our evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, as well as some of the finest instructors nationwide.

Finally, the hardest school to get into for social sciences is Harvard University. While we think of this list more as a novelty, we have a general list of the hardest colleges to get into. That being said, we do hope you understand that considering the education process from examples primarily shaped by superlatives could be said to be the root of many of higher education's fundamental issues. We hope you explore our other pages on different schools and read some of Authority's helpful background articles on beneficial things to think about as your college search continues.

Top 25 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Search for the best Social Sciences colleges according to your filter parameters.

A+

Rating

#1 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY | www.columbia.edu/

7%

Acceptance

33,882

Students

#10

Ranking

$62K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#2 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Yale University

New Haven, CT | https://www.yale.edu/

7%

Acceptance

14,910

Students

#8

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#3 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA | www.harvard.edu/

5%

Acceptance

41,024

Students

#3

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

C

Rating

#4 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Goddard College

Plainfield, VT | www.goddard.edu/

84%

Acceptance

443

Students

#1459

Ranking

$18K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#5 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN | www.vanderbilt.edu/

12%

Acceptance

13,918

Students

#17

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#6 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Stanford University

Stanford, CA | www.stanford.edu/

5%

Acceptance

20,961

Students

#2

Ranking

$56K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#7 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD | www.jhu.edu/

11%

Acceptance

34,250

Students

#4

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#8 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA | web.mit.edu/

7%

Acceptance

12,195

Students

#1

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#9 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of California-Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA | www.ucla.edu/

14%

Acceptance

46,947

Students

#50

Ranking

$43K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#10 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Georgetown University

Washington, DC | www.georgetown.edu/

17%

Acceptance

22,720

Students

#19

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#11 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL | www.northwestern.edu/

9%

Acceptance

25,870

Students

#12

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#12 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of Virginia-Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA | https://www.virginia.edu/

23%

Acceptance

29,237

Students

#38

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#13 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA | www.upenn.edu/

9%

Acceptance

30,688

Students

#7

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#14 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ | www.princeton.edu/

6%

Acceptance

8,532

Students

#5

Ranking

$49K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#15 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN | www.nd.edu/

19%

Acceptance

13,268

Students

#16

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#16 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Brown University

Providence, RI | www.brown.edu/

8%

Acceptance

10,807

Students

#13

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#17 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Duke University

Durham, NC | www.duke.edu/

8%

Acceptance

17,855

Students

#6

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#18 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.uchicago.edu/

7%

Acceptance

20,413

Students

#11

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#19 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA | www.cmu.edu/

17%

Acceptance

15,567

Students

#21

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#20 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO | www.wustl.edu/

16%

Acceptance

17,893

Students

#18

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#21 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH | www.dartmouth.edu/

9%

Acceptance

7,171

Students

#15

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#22 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Pomona College

Claremont, CA | www.pomona.edu/

9%

Acceptance

1,733

Students

#40

Ranking

$55K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#23 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Rice University

Houston, TX | www.rice.edu/

11%

Acceptance

8,005

Students

#22

Ranking

$51K

Tuition

A

Rating

#24 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

Muhlenberg College

Allentown, PA | www.muhlenberg.edu/

62%

Acceptance

2,950

Students

#172

Ranking

$55K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#25 2024 Best Colleges for Social Sciences

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA | www.usc.edu/

16%

Acceptance

52,376

Students

#28

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

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