Deciding where to study an arts or humanities degree is not easy, with hundreds of options all over the world.
But 565 of the top universities for arts and humanities have been ranked in the Times Higher Education arts and humanities ranking 2021. So where should you go to study your arts or humanities major?
About a quarter of the best arts and humanities schools are in the US, but a number of European countries are well represented in the ranking, too; the top 100 includes a significant number of British, German and Dutch institutions.
Best universities worldwide
Best universities in the UK
Best universities in the United States
Best universities in Canada
Best universities in Australia
Best universities in South America
Best universities in France
Best universities in Germany
Best universities in the Netherlands
Best universities in Asia
If you’re hoping to study a humanities degree in Canada or Australia, these countries offer a choice of 25 and 26 universities respectively, and there are more than 40 institutions in the top 500 across Asia.
Times Higher Education subject tables are based on the same 13 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2021. However, the methodology is carefully recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields. The full methodology can be found here.
Arts and humanities degrees covered in the ranking include history, literature, philosophy, languages and architecture (scroll down for a full list of subjects and what you can do with them).
Students studying the arts and humanities
How to make an award-winning student film project
What are university students reading this summer?
Studying an English major at Yale University
Why study a PhD in English literature?
What it's like to study a modern languages degree
Here's why I did a master's in journalism
So you want to be a writer? Top tips from those who know
Why are there so few women in the arts?
Why study German?
Switching from an international relations major to English
A week in the life of a digital media student in the US
Does studying the liberal arts present you with too much choice?
Top 5 universities for arts and humanities degrees
1. Stanford University
When the university was established, the Stanford family said that their aim was to educate “cultured and useful citizens” and the university still counts its humanities courses as the “soul” of a Stanford education.
The School of Humanities and Sciences awards 63 per cent of all Stanford undergraduate degrees and almost 40 per cent of doctorates. Undergraduates are taught by faculty who are pioneers in their fields.
Recent achievements in the school include a complex study of race and ethnicity, an online course on classical music appreciation and an award-winning radio show hosted by Stanford philosophy professors.
Stanford is based next to Palo Alto, known as Silicon Valley because of its density of high-tech and start-up companies. The spirit of entrepreneurship in the area was encouraged by the university itself in the early 20th century, and many Stanford students and graduates are involved at the highest levels with the world’s most influential technology companies.
Many of the students live in campus residences, near the university’s faculty buildings, museums and recreation spaces.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Although well known as a leading university in science and technology teaching, the university also provides courses across the arts and humanities.
These include anthropology, history, linguistics, literature, media arts and sciences, and music and theatre arts.
When the School of Architecture and Planning opened in 1868, it had the first department of architecture in the US and is still known for commissioning progressive buildings on campus.
The MIT library system is divided into five libraries, three of which are dedicated to the arts and humanities – Hayden Library (humanities and sciences), Lewis Music Library and Rotch Library (art, architecture and planning). There are many notable collections within these libraries, such as the Lewis’ resources on 20th- and 21st-century music, hip-hop and electronic music.
MIT is affiliated with many thought leaders in the arts and humanities, including linguist Noam Chomsky, who is Institute Professor and professor of linguistics (emeritus) at the university. The institution has produced six Pulitzer winners, and four current or former faculty are members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
3. University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is regularly ranked as a top university across a wide range of subjects. As one of the oldest universities in the world, its colleges and traditions are famous in the UK and beyond.
The university is located about 100km north of London and attracts top scholars and distinguished visitors. More than 23,000 students are enrolled at the university across 31 colleges.
College life is central to the university experience. Undergraduates live in college for at least part of their time at university and are primarily taught by tutors in small groups.
Postgraduates, however, are more loosely affiliated with their college, although many participate in recreational and academic life.
The School of Arts and Humanities teaches a variety of subjects, from Asian and Middle Eastern studies to the history of art. Many research projects are collaborative and inform student learning at all levels.
Recent projects have explored flamenco dance and its cultural significance, and an undergraduate scheme used architectural techniques to develop local allotments.
Notable Cambridge alumni in the arts and humanities include the philosopher Bertrand Russell, artist Quentin Blake and dramatist Christopher Marlowe.
What can you do with arts and humanities degrees?
What can you do with an archaeology degree?
What can you do with an architecture degree?
What can you do with a design degree?
What can you do with an art degree?
What can you do with a performing arts degree?
What can you do with a history degree?
What can you do with a linguistics degree?
What can you do with a languages degree?
What can you do with a philosophy degree?
What can you do with an English literature degree?
What can you do with an English language degree?
What can you do with a theology degree?
4. University of Oxford
As one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, the University of Oxford is hugely respected across all disciplines. The humanities division includes the faculties of music, history, classics, theology and religion, and English language and literature.
There are about 20,000 students at the university, more than a third of whom are international. Students belong to a college, where undergraduates take the majority of their classes with just a few of their peers and a college tutor.
In line with the British higher education system, students entering Oxford are admitted for a specific course, in contrast to US institutions, where students can take a variety of courses before declaring their major.
It is possible for undergraduates to study for joint degrees, such as philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) – a course particularly well known at Oxford – and combinations of arts and sciences.
Many writers, actors, composers and other prominent personalities in arts and culture dating back to the 14th century are Oxford graduates, including novelists J. R. R. Tolkien and Graham Greene and satirist Jonathan Swift.
5. UCL
The Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UCL offers students a wide variety of courses, in departments including English language and literature, philosophy, information studies, Greek and Latin, fine art, and Hebrew and Jewish studies.
The faculty also has a strong research output including an innovative digital project around transcribing the work of Jeremy Bentham, whose ideas contributed to the founding of UCL, and an exploration into the histories of the Italian mafias.
Each year, the faculty hosts a Festival of Culture, which is a five-day event of talks, panels, live performances, walking tours, film screenings and exhibitions showcasing the research being undertaken at the university.
Universities by degree subject
Best universities for business and economics
Best universities for clinical, pre-clinical and health
Best universities for computer science
Best universities for engineering and technology
Best universities for life sciences
Best universities for physical sciences
Best universities for social sciences
Best universities for psychology degrees
Best universities for education degrees
Best universities for law degrees
Best universities for arts and humanities 2021
Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2021 profile
Arts and humanities Rank 2021 | Arts and humanities rank 2020 | University | Country/region |
1 | 1 | Stanford University | United States |
2 | 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States |
3 | 2 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
4 | 3 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
5 | 6 | UCL | United Kingdom |
6 | 5 | Harvard University | United States |
7 | 8 | The University of Chicago | United States |
8 | 10 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
9 | 7 | Princeton University | United States |
10 | 11 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
11 | 9 | Yale University | United States |
12 | 14 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States |
13 | 12 | Columbia University | United States |
14 | 13 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
15 | 18 | University of Toronto | Canada |
16 | 17 | New York University | United States |
17 | 15 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
18 | 16 | LMU Munich | Germany |
19 | 27 | Durham University | United Kingdom |
20 | =19 | Humboldt University of Berlin | Germany |
21 | 28 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom |
=22 | 21 | Leiden University | Netherlands |
=22 | =19 | Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris | France |
24 | 34 | University of Tübingen | Germany |
25 | 22 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
26 | 24 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
27 | 25 | Free University of Berlin | Germany |
28 | 23 | Peking University | China |
29 | 26 | Cornell University | United States |
30 | 37 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
31 | 42 | University of Melbourne | Australia |
32 | 29 | Duke University | United States |
33 | 32 | Heidelberg University | Germany |
34 | 30 | University of Vienna | Austria |
35 | 33 | Australian National University | Australia |
36 | 45 | McGill University | Canada |
37 | 35 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
38 | 43 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom |
39 | 47 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom |
40 | 39 | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey | United States |
41 | 36 | Johns Hopkins University | United States |
42 | 31 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
43 | 59 | University of Texas at Austin | United States |
44 | 41 | University of Sydney | Australia |
45 | 40 | University of York | United Kingdom |
46 | =52 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
=47 | =76 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark |
=47 | 38 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
49 | 54 | University of Notre Dame | United States |
=50 | 48 | Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1 | France |
=50 | 51 | University of Warwick | United Kingdom |
52 | 56 | University of Freiburg | Germany |
53 | 49 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland |
54 | 70 | Utrecht University | Netherlands |
55 | 50 | Lancaster University | United Kingdom |
56 | 46 | Tsinghua University | China |
57 | 55 | Brown University | United States |
=58 | 61 | University of California, San Diego | United States |
=58 | =52 | Sorbonne University | France |
60 | 44 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States |
61 | 66 | Sapienza University of Rome | Italy |
62 | 63 | University of Helsinki | Finland |
63 | 58 | Northwestern University | United States |
64 | =67 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Israel |
65 | NR | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands |
66 | 57 | SOAS University of London | United Kingdom |
67 | 62 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom |
68 | 71 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus | United States |
69 | 84 | Ghent University | Belgium |
70 | 65 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom |
71 | 85 | University of Zurich | Switzerland |
72 | 72 | Lomonosov Moscow State University | Russian Federation |
73 | =67 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom |
74 | 101–125 | Monash University | Australia |
=75 | =92 | Aarhus University | Denmark |
=75 | =74 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
=77 | 60 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
=77 | 73 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States |
79 | 86 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
80 | 80 | University of Arizona | United States |
81 | =74 | Queen Mary University of London | United Kingdom |
82 | 95 | University of Oslo | Norway |
83 | 79 | University of Washington | United States |
84 | 83 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom |
85 | 101–125 | University of Bologna | Italy |
86 | 97 | University of Hamburg | Germany |
87 | 89 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
88 | 91 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom |
89 | 81 | University of Southern California | United States |
=90 | 100 | Macquarie University | Australia |
=90 | =87 | University of Maryland, College Park | United States |
92 | 101–125 | University of Auckland | New Zealand |
=93 | 101–125 | Autonomous University of Barcelona | Spain |
=93 | 69 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | United States |
95 | =92 | Birkbeck, University of London | United Kingdom |
96 | =98 | Indiana University | United States |
97 | 101–125 | Stockholm University | Sweden |
=98 | 82 | University of California, Santa Barbara | United States |
=98 | 64 | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
100 | 96 | Radboud University Nijmegen | Netherlands |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Barcelona | Spain |
101–125 | 101–125 | Boston University | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of California, Irvine | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Cologne | Germany |
101–125 | =92 | Fudan University | China |
101–125 | =76 | University of Geneva | Switzerland |
101–125 | =98 | Georgetown University | United States |
101–125 | =87 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Kyoto University | Japan |
101–125 | 90 | Université Catholique de Louvain | Belgium |
101–125 | 101–125 | Lund University | Sweden |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Massachusetts | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Michigan State University | United States |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of Münster | Germany |
101–125 | 101–125 | National Autonomous University of Mexico | Mexico |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 101–125 | Penn State (Main campus) | United States |
101–125 | 78 | Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa | Italy |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Southampton | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 126–150 | Tel Aviv University | Israel |
101–125 | 101–125 | Tilburg University | Netherlands |
101–125 | 101–125 | Trinity College Dublin | Republic of Ireland |
101–125 | 101–125 | Uppsala University | Sweden |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Virginia (Main campus) | United States |
101–125 | 126–150 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Netherlands |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Aberdeen | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 176–200 | University of Adelaide | Australia |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Antwerp | Belgium |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Basel | Switzerland |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Bern | Switzerland |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of California, Santa Cruz | United States |
126–150 | 101–125 | Complutense University of Madrid | Spain |
126–150 | 201–250 | Eindhoven University of Technology | Netherlands |
126–150 | 126–150 | Emory University | United States |
126–150 | 151–175 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands |
126–150 | 151–175 | Goethe University Frankfurt | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Göttingen | Germany |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Hawai’i at Mānoa | United States |
126–150 | 101–125 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Montreal | Canada |
126–150 | 101–125 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore |
126–150 | 151–175 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Padua | Italy |
126–150 | 126–150 | Pompeu Fabra University | Spain |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Potsdam | Germany |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Reading | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | Royal Holloway, University of London | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | Technical University of Berlin | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | UNSW Sydney | Australia |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of the Witwatersrand | South Africa |
126–150 | 176–200 | University of Wollongong | Australia |
126–150 | 126–150 | Zhejiang University | China |
151–175 | 126–150 | Aalto University | Finland |
151–175 | 126–150 | Arizona State University (Tempe) | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | Bar-Ilan University | Israel |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of California, Davis | United States |
151–175 | 151–175 | Cardiff University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Colorado Boulder | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
151–175 | 201–250 | University of Graz | Austria |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Konstanz | Germany |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of Leicester | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Liverpool | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 126–150 | Loughborough University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Minnesota | United States |
151–175 | 126–150 | National Taiwan University (NTU) | Taiwan |
151–175 | 151–175 | Polytechnic University of Milan | Italy |
151–175 | 151–175 | Queen’s University Belfast | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of São Paulo | Brazil |
151–175 | 176–200 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
151–175 | 151–175 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China |
151–175 | 176–200 | Simon Fraser University | Canada |
151–175 | 201–250 | Tomsk State University | Russian Federation |
151–175 | 151–175 | University College Dublin | Republic of Ireland |
151–175 | 151–175 | Western Sydney University | Australia |
151–175 | 176–200 | York University | Canada |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Alberta | Canada |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Bordeaux | France |
176–200 | 151–175 | Boston College | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Campinas | Brazil |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Connecticut | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | Curtin University | Australia |
176–200 | 251–300 | Dublin City University | Republic of Ireland |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Fribourg | Switzerland |
176–200 | 101–125 | Goldsmiths, University of London | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Gothenburg | Sweden |
176–200 | 251–300 | Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz | Germany |
176–200 | 176–200 | La Trobe University | Australia |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Lausanne | Switzerland |
176–200 | 126–150 | Nanjing University | China |
176–200 | 201–250 | National Taiwan Normal University | Taiwan |
176–200 | 126–150 | University of Paris | France |
176–200 | 201–250 | Queensland University of Technology | Australia |
176–200 | 151–175 | Rice University | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | RMIT University | Australia |
176–200 | 201–250 | Ruhr University Bochum | Germany |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Sussex | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Technology Sydney | Australia |
176–200 | 201–250 | Washington University in St Louis | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | Western University | Canada |
Click here to view the full ranking for arts and humanities degrees
Read more: unsure of which subject to study at university? This comprehensive guide can help you out
Have your say