by our College Data Analytics Team
In 2021-2022, 5,415,716 social sciences students received their bachelor's degree, making the major the #3 most popular in the country. Out of all those awarded degrees, 753,263 went to undergraduates in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States.
This year's Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Social Sciences in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking analyzed 151 colleges that offered a bachelor's degree in social sciences. To us, 'best value' doesn't just mean the school with the lowest overall costs. For this ranking, we are identifying those social sciences schools that provide their students with a hiqh quality education at a price that is lower than other colleges and universities of the same caliber.
To determine the average cost, we look at total expenses - such as tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other related expenses - and then subtract the average financial award a student receives. Knowing this amount can help you determine how much you may have to borrow in loans or take out of savings. Depending on your income and other factors, the cost for you to attend a particular school may be more or less.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Value Social Sciences Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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 following schools top our list of the Best Social Sciences Colleges for the Money.
Our rankings recognize Thomas Edison State University as the #1 school in this year's rankings. Located in the small city of Trenton, TESU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Thomas Edison State University
University of Maryland Global Campus earned the #2 spot in our 2024 rankings. UMGC is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Adelphi.
When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.
Our rankings recognize Hunter College as the #3 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of New York, Hunter is a public school with a very large student population.
The average student at Hunter graduates in less than 4.7 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $21,690. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the Hunter is $101,292. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania comes in at #4 in this year's ranking. Located in the town of Slippery Rock, SRU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
It takes about 4.2 years for the average student at SRU to complete their degree, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $20,964. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the SRU is $88,678. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Queens College landed the #5 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value social sciences schools. Located in the city of Queens, QC is a public school with a fairly large student population.
It takes the average student at QC about 4.6 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $27,830. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from QC be around $129,131. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
The #6 spot in this year's ranking belongs to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. John Jay is a fairly large public school located in the large city of New York.
It takes about 4.5 years for the average student at John Jay to complete their degree, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $34,600. This means that the average student pays around $155,700 to get a bachelor’s degree from John Jay. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. Located in the distant town of Indiana, IUP is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
The average student at IUP graduates in less than 4.3 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $26,618. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from IUP is $114,724. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.
Read full report on Social Sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus
Our rankings recognize Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania as the #8 school in this year's rankings. Ship is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Shippensburg.
The average student at Ship graduates in less than 4.4 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $23,328. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from Ship is $101,477. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Full Social Sciences at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Report
Stockton University earned the #9 spot in our 2024 rankings. Stockton State is a medium-sized public school located in the midsize suburb of Galloway.
The average student at Stockton State graduates in less than 4.2 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $25,658. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from Stockton State is $108,790. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
The #10 spot in this year's ranking belongs to The Graduate Center, CUNY. Located in the large city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public school with a medium-sized student population. On top of its placing in our value rankings, The Graduate Center also did well on our Best Social Sciences Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. It's in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.
Explore the best social sciences colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 6,873 |
| New York | 14,528 |
| New Jersey | 2,791 |
| Maryland | 3,849 |
| Delaware | 763 |
| District of Columbia | 3,013 |
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
