by our College Data Analytics TeamIn 2024, College Factual analyzed 18 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 212 doctor's degrees in religious studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The religion doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality religion program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for religious studies students working on their doctor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in religious studies.
It's hard to beat Emory University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in religious studies. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.
Students who graduate with their doctorate from the religion program report average early career earnings of $52,125.
More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Emory University
It's hard to beat Duke University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in religious studies. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University
It's difficult to beat University of Pennsylvania if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in religious studies. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in religious studies. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Vanderbilt University
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Columbia University in the City of New York
Located in the large city of New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
UCSB is a very large public university located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from University of California - Santa Barbara
Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from University of Virginia - Main Campus
Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in religious studies from Boston University
View the Best Religious Studies Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
Religious Studies is one of 3 different types of Philosophy & Religious Studies programs to choose from.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Religion/Religious Studies | 181 |
| Jewish Studies | 14 |
| Other Religion/Religious Studies | 4 |
| Islamic Studies | 3 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Philosophy | 388 |
| General Philosophy & Religious Studies | 22 |
| Other Philosophy & Religious Studies | 7 |
