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2025 Best Religious Studies Schools

29 Colleges in the United States
9,039 Religion Degrees Awarded
$31,389 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in religious studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #90 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 29 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for religious studies students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 9,039 degrees in religious studies during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Religious Studies School

Best Religious Studies Schools The religion program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Religious Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Religious Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Religious Studies Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Religion
Bachelor's Degrees in Religion
Master's Degrees in Religion
Doctor's Degrees in Religion

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 Schools list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Religious Studies in the United States

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the religion degree levels they offer.

10 Top Schools in Religion

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
40 Religion Degrees Awarded
$77,899 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in religious studies needs to take a look at Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

There were roughly 40 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Jewish Theological Seminary of America in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the religious studies major at Jewish Theological Seminary of America make $46,510 more than the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Jewish Theological Seminary of America

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
20th Most Popular In NY

It is hard to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you want to pursue a degree in religious studies. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were roughly 29.000000000000004 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Columbia University in the City of New York

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
61 Religion Degrees Awarded
$25,260 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Virginia - Main Campus if you want to pursue a degree in religious studies. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #35 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.

There were about 61 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the religion program make about $25,260 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in religious studies from University of Virginia - Main Campus

4
Liberty University crest
Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
763 Religion Degrees Awarded
$38,372 Median Starting Salary

Liberty University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in religious studies. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. This university ranks 11th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.

There were about 763 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Liberty University in the most recent year we have data available. Religious Studies degree recipients from Liberty University get an earnings boost of about $6,982 over the typical income of religious studies graduates.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Liberty University

5
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

Located in the large city of Atlanta, Emory is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #31 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.

There were roughly 25 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the religious studies program at Emory University earn $27,595 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Emory University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Religion Degrees Awarded
2.7% Growth in Graduates

Baylor is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Waco. A Best Colleges rank of #150 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Baylor is a great university overall.

There were approximately 37 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Baylor in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the religion program state that they receive average early career wages of $31,672.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Baylor University

7

Located in the city of Bronx, Fordham U is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #67 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Fordham U is a great university overall.

There were approximately 27 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Fordham U in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the religion program report average early career wages of $30,985.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Fordham University

8

UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chapel Hill. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UNC Chapel Hill is a great university overall.

There were roughly 27 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year. Religious Studies degree recipients from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill get an earnings boost of about $2,301 above the typical income of religious studies graduates.

More information about a degree in religious studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
57 Religion Degrees Awarded
21.1% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Saint Paul, UST MN is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #106 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UST MN is a great university overall.

There were roughly 57 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UST MN in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the religion program make about $27,496 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in religious studies from University of St Thomas Minnesota

10
Florida State crest
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In FL

Located in the midsize city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #117 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Florida State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 22 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Florida State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in religious studies from Florida State University

Religious Studies by Region

View the Best Religious Studies Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Religious Studies is one of 3 different types of Philosophy & Religious Studies programs to choose from.

Religion Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Talmudic Studies 3,666
Religion/Religious Studies 3,329
Jewish Studies 1,083
Christian Studies 829
Other Religion/Religious Studies 76
Islamic Studies 30
Catholic Studies 23
Buddhist Studies 3

View All Religion Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Philosophy 9,787
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies 219
General Philosophy & Religious Studies 186

View All Religion Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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