2022 Best Sociology Schools
College Factual looked at 726 colleges and universities when compiling its 2022 Best Sociology Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 37,807 degrees in sociology to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Sociology School
The sociology program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Sociology rankings. We derive our Best Overall Sociology School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
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.
Pick Your Sociology Degree Level
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Sociology Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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.
Read more about College Factual's methodology.
Featured Sociology Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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BA in Sociology
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Best Schools for Sociology in the United States
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 sociology degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
25 Top Schools in Sociology
Duke University is a good option for students interested in a degree in sociology. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham. A Best Schools rank of #9 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were approximately 59 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the sociology program at Duke University get $7,573 above the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in sociology from Duke University
Any student pursuing a degree in sociology needs to look into Yale University. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of New Haven. A Best Schools rank of #8 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.
There were about 35 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Yale University
It's difficult to beat Teachers College at Columbia University if you want to pursue a degree in sociology. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. This university ranks 6th out of 160 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 28 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Teachers College in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Teachers College at Columbia University
Every student who is interested in sociology has to look into Stanford University. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Schools rank of #3 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were roughly 40 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Stanford University
Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Schools rank of #10 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.
There were about 69 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the sociology degree program at Harvard University make $24,073 above the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in sociology from Harvard University
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Schools rank of #13 out of 2,576 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 37 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in sociology from University of Pennsylvania
Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Schools rank of #6 out of 2,576 colleges nationwide means Dartmouth is a great college overall.
There were approximately 35 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Dartmouth in the most recent data year. Sociology degree recipients from Dartmouth College earn a boost of around $12,073 above the typical income of sociology graduates.
More information about a degree in sociology from Dartmouth College
Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Schools rank of #12 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Princeton is a great university overall.
There were about 51 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Princeton in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Princeton University
Williams is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Williamstown. This college ranks 3rd out of 72 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 17 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Williams in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in sociology from Williams College
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. This university ranks 2nd out of 160 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 103 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Those sociology students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York earn $14,073 more than the typical sociology graduate.
More information about a degree in sociology from Columbia University in the City of New York
UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Schools rank of #7 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were about 51 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from University of Chicago
Claremont McKenna is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Claremont. A Best Schools rank of #5 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Claremont McKenna is a great college overall.
There were approximately 2 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Claremont McKenna in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Claremont McKenna College
Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Schools rank of #14 out of 2,576 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 44 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Northwestern University
Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 203 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 328 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Sociology degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley receive an earnings boost of about $8,973 over the average earnings of sociology graduates.
More information about a degree in sociology from University of California - Berkeley
Located in the distant town of Hamilton, Colgate is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 160 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 34 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Colgate in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Colgate University
Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Schools rank of #16 out of 2,576 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were approximately 80 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Sociology degree recipients from Cornell University get an earnings boost of approximately $8,373 above the average earnings of sociology majors.
More information about a degree in sociology from Cornell University
Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were approximately 32 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in sociology from Johns Hopkins University
Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 72 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 41 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Tufts in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Tufts University
Located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 113 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were about 51 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Wake Forest University in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the sociology major at Wake Forest University get $6,973 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in sociology from Wake Forest University
Located in the suburb of Amherst, Amherst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 4th out of 72 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 10 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Amherst in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in sociology from Amherst College
Brown is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence. This university ranks 1st out of 10 colleges for overall quality in the state of Rhode Island.
There were roughly 37 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Brown in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in sociology from Brown University
Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Schools rank of #15 out of 2,576 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were about 50 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Sociology degree recipients from University of Notre Dame get an earnings boost of approximately $6,773 above the typical earnings of sociology graduates.
More information about a degree in sociology from University of Notre Dame
Located in the city of Lewiston, Bates is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 3rd out of 23 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maine.
There were about 31 sociology students who graduated with this degree at Bates in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in sociology from Bates College
UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 11th out of 203 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 800 sociology students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Those sociology students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles receive $3,273 more than the typical sociology grad.
More information about a degree in sociology from University of California - Los Angeles
NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. This university ranks 7th out of 160 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 83 sociology students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the sociology major at New York University make $11,273 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in sociology from New York UniversityRest of the Top 50 Best Sociology Schools
Additional Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Sociology Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 726 different United States sociology schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Sociology Schools award.
Sociology by Region
View the Best Sociology Schools for a specific region near you.
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Southeast |
New England |
Rocky Mountains |
Plains States |
Middle Atlantic |
Far Western US |
Southwest |
Great Lakes |
Sociology Related Rankings by Major
Sociology is one of 12 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.
Sociology Focus Areas
Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Sociology | 37,747 |
Applied/Public Sociology | 36 |
View All Sociology Focus Areas >
Majors Similar to Sociology
Related Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Economics | 48,831 |
Political Science & Government | 48,597 |
General Social Sciences | 19,742 |
International Relations & National Security | 14,762 |
Anthropology | 12,008 |
Criminology | 10,182 |
Geography & Cartography | 8,936 |
Other Social Sciences | 2,491 |
Urban Studies | 1,475 |
Sociology & Anthropology | 498 |
View All Sociology Related Majors >
Notes and References
- 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Kontos.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Political and Social Sciences Schools
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Southern New Hampshire University
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