College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

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

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
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$49,269 Median Starting Salary

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

2
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$52,125 Median Starting Salary

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

3
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In PA
25.0% Growth in Graduates

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
56 Religion Degrees Awarded
$66,317 Median Starting Salary

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

5
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
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

6
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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$29,606 Median Starting Salary
$18,700 Median Student Debt

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
66 Religion Degrees Awarded
15.2% Growth in Graduates

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

9
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

10
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
21st Most Popular In CA
25.0% Growth in Graduates

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

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Religious Studies students that almost earned our Best Religious Studies Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Liberty University Lynchburg, VA
12 University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA
13 Boston University Boston, MA
14 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
15 George Washington University Washington, DC

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
Religion/Religious Studies 3,626
Jewish Studies 1,387
Christian Studies 723
Other Religion/Religious Studies 117
Islamic Studies 50
Catholic Studies 6
Buddhist Studies 2

View All Religion Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Philosophy 10,054
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies 285
General Philosophy & Religious Studies 184

View All Religion Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options