A degree in philosophy is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #83 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 101 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of philosophy. Combined, these schools handed out 9,787 degrees in philosophy to qualified students.
Your choice of philosophy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for philosophy 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 philosophy 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 Philosophy Schools.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the philosophy degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Every student who is interested in philosophy needs to take a look at University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 209 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from University of Pennsylvania receive an earnings boost of around $39,478 over the average income of philosophy graduates.
Any student pursuing a degree in philosophy needs to look into Cornell University. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were approximately 33 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year.
University of Southern California is a great option for students pursuing a degree in philosophy. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 72 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the philosophy degree program at University of Southern California make $4,805 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Every student pursuing a degree in philosophy needs to take a look at University of Virginia - Main Campus. University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the suburb of Charlottesville. This university ranks 1st out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were about 36 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent year we have data available.
UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were about 85 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Boston College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 108 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Those philosophy students who get their degree from Boston College receive $13,770 more than the average philosophy graduate.
Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 45 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available.
UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle. This university ranks 1st out of 50 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were about 91 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of around $8,497 over the average income of philosophy majors.
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 78 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York make $19,093 more than the typical philosophy graduate.
Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 35 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 68 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent data year. Those philosophy students who get their degree from University of Maryland - College Park earn $2,033 more than the average philosophy graduate.
UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 129 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program state that they receive average early career income of $30,182.
NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were about 83 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy degree program at New York University get $6,784 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta. This university ranks 2nd out of 68 colleges for overall quality in the state of Georgia.
There were roughly 69 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent data year.
Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 91 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the philosophy program at University of California - Berkeley earn $2,780 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Fordham U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bronx. This university ranks 7th out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 67 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Fordham U in the most recent data year.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison. This university ranks 1st out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 77 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Philosophy degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Madison receive an earnings boost of about $2,400 over the average earnings of philosophy graduates.
Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were approximately 30 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were about 71 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the philosophy program state that they receive average early career wages of $34,284.
Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Boston U is a great university overall.
There were approximately 61 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent year we have data available. Those philosophy students who get their degree from Boston University receive $6,802 more than the typical philosophy student.
Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 40 philosophy students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the philosophy degree program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn $4,310 more than the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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).
Your choice of philosophy school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for philosophy schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
