2024 Best Religious Studies Schools
62
Colleges in the United States
9,470
Religion Degrees Awarded
$34,289
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 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 62 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 9,470 degrees in religious studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Religious Studies School
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
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
Every student pursuing a degree in religious studies has to take a look at Duke University. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were approximately 22 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available. Those religious studies students who get their degree from Duke University receive $14,980 more than the standard religion student.
More information about a degree in religious studies from Duke University
Emory University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in religious studies. 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 #28 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.
There were approximately 21 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent year we have data available. Those religious studies students who get their degree from Emory University make $17,836 more than the typical religion student.
More information about a degree in religious studies from Emory University
University of Pennsylvania is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in religious studies. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 8 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in religious studies from University of Pennsylvania
Every student pursuing a degree in religious studies has to check out Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Jewish Theological Seminary of America is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
There were about 56 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Jewish Theological Seminary of America in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the religious studies major at Jewish Theological Seminary of America make $32,028 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in religious studies from Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In TN
Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were roughly 16 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in religious studies from Vanderbilt University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
20th
Most Popular In NY
35
Religion Degrees Awarded
Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 35 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in religious studies from Columbia University in the City of New York
UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Chapel Hill. This university ranks 2nd out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were approximately 26 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the religion program earn an average of $29,606 for their early career.
More information about a degree in religious studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Virginia is a very large public university located in the small suburb of Charlottesville. A Best Colleges rank of #33 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 66 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 earn an average of $24,609 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in religious studies from University of Virginia - Main Campus
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In WI
34
Religion Degrees Awarded
Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 34 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in religious studies from University of Wisconsin - Madison
USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 8 religious studies students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in religious studies from University of Southern California