Best universities for social science degrees 2024

Find the best colleges for social sciences using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings data

October 28 2020
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The social sciences include a range of subjects, from international relations to politics to geography.

Graduates of social science degrees go on to a wide range of careers in the public and private sectors.

Times Higher Education has published the 2021 ranking of the 791 best schools for social sciences across the world.

Almost a fifth of the list is made up of US universities – 158 institutions in total. UK universities take 92 of the remaining spots while Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are also represented.

Rankings by subject

Best universities for arts and humanities
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 law degrees
Best universities for education degrees
Best universities for psychology degrees

Three UK institutions are in the top 10 (the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and London School of Economics and Political Science), while the rest of the top 10 is dominated by US universities. 

The social sciences ranking uses the same methodology as the World University Rankings, but with less weight given to citations and more to research and teaching metrics. The full methodology can be found here. 

Scroll down for a full list of degrees covered by the ranking and what you can do with them. 

Best universities worldwide

Best universities in the world
Best universities in the United States
Best universities in the UK
Best universities in Canada
Best universities in Australia
Best universities in Europe

Top five universities for social sciences

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers many subjects, including politics and women’s and gender studies. The school’s roots lie in the university’s founding, when courses in psychology and political science were taught. 

The school produces a magazine called Said and Done, which highlights some of the research undertaken within the faculty.

All students at MIT are expected to take social science classes to help them solve “some of the world’s most challenging problems”.

As of 2020, four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur Fellows and five Pulitzer prizewinners are faculty members.

2. University of Oxford

Perhaps the most famous social sciences degree at the University of Oxford is PPE: politics, philosophy and economics.

A number of influential politicians and public figures have earned an Oxford PPE degree, including a significant number of British prime ministers. Nobel Peace prizewinner and advocate for women’s education, Malala Yousafzai, has just completed a PPE degree at the institution. 

The social sciences division also tackles issues such as environmental change, poverty, cybercrime, political turmoil, social inequality and immigration.

Much of the social science research at Oxford is aimed at influencing policy in the UK and around the world.

Particular research strengths include big data, future cities, resource management and global economic performance.

Aside from PPE, undergraduate courses within the division include geography, archaeology and anthropology, and law and human sciences.

3. Stanford University

The social sciences department at Stanford University offers anthropology, communication, economics, political science, psychology and sociology courses.

Many programmes are interdisciplinary, including ethics in society, democracy, development and the rule of law, and urban studies.

In political science classes, undergraduates study US politics and international political systems and relate them to conflict, social activism, ideology and race issues.

The department splits studies into five disciplines: US politics, comparative politics, international relations, political methodology and political theory.

The department of anthropology is known for an innovative approach that insists the subject must be studied in relation to contemporary affairs.

Students learn research methods and theory to carry them through the course of their choice.

What can you do with a media and communications degree?
What can you do with a geography degree?
What can you do with a politics degree?
What can you do with a sociology degree?

4. Harvard University

Social sciences at Harvard University is interdisciplinary.

Fields of study include economics, government, sociology, gender studies and psychology.

For all of these subjects, both undergraduates and graduates are expected to conduct empirical research and analyse data. Senior thesis projects can involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or both.

The Regan Fund at the university is used to invite famous speakers to Harvard to give lectures on economics, government and social problems around the world. These lectures are primarily aimed at undergraduates.

The social sciences division has relationships with a number of museums and research centres, including the Harvard-MIT Data Center and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science.

5. University of California, Berkeley

Fifteen departments and programmes make up the social sciences department at the University of California, Berkeley. These include African American studies, cognitive psychology, linguistics, political economy and sociology. 

The division is the largest within the university, with 20 percent of the total faculty members and 25 percent of enrolled students.

Student experience of the social sciences

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International perspective: a Filipino student in Hungary
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Considering doing a master’s? Why not do it abroad
Brits in America: social studies?
A day in the life of a student in Canada

Best universities for social science degrees 2021

Click each institution to view its World University Ranking 2021 profile

Social sciences rank 2021  Social sciences rank 2020  University Country/region
 1   1  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 2   2  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 3   4  Stanford University United States
 4   3  Harvard University United States
 5   13  University of California, Berkeley United States
 6   5  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 7   6  Princeton University United States
 8   7  London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom
 9   9  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 10   8  Yale University United States
 11   10  The University of Chicago United States
 12   12  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 13   14  University of Pennsylvania United States
 14   11  UCL United Kingdom
 15   20  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 16   17  New York University United States
 =17   15  Columbia University United States
 =17   16  Duke University United States
 =17   18  Peking University China
 20   19  Cornell University United States
 21   =23  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 22   =23  National University of Singapore Singapore
 23   32  Northwestern University United States
 24   33  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 25   21  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 26   22  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =27   =28  University of British Columbia Canada
 =27   26  University of Toronto Canada
 29   =30  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 30   34  University of Texas at Austin United States
 31   25  University of Washington United States
 32   =28  Johns Hopkins University United States
 33   =38  Utrecht University Netherlands
 34   =30  Tsinghua University China
 35   52  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
 36   27  Australian National University Australia
 37   42  Leiden University Netherlands
 =38   41  University of California, San Diego United States
 =38   35  University of Mannheim Germany
 =40   49  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
 =40   =46  KU Leuven Belgium
 42   40  University of Sussex United Kingdom
 43   37  University of Southern California United States
 =44   36  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 =44   50  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 46   =43  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 47   =43  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 48   45  The University of Tokyo Japan
 49   =46  McGill University Canada
 50   64  University of Melbourne Australia
 51   53  Indiana University United States
 =52   48  University of Essex United Kingdom
 =52   61  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 54   =38  King’s College London United Kingdom
 55   57  University of Copenhagen Denmark
 56   56  Free University of Berlin Germany
 57   60  University of Minnesota United States
 =58   71  Erasmus University Rotterdam Netherlands
 =58   65  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 60   84  Aarhus University Denmark
 61   72  University of Oslo Norway
 =62   58  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =62   =69  The University of Queensland Australia
 =64   76  Brown University United States
 =64   =73  University of Zurich Switzerland
 66   =73  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 67   62  Michigan State University United States
 68   =69  Sciences Po France
 69   98  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 70   59  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 =71   =86  University of Vienna Austria
 =71   66  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
 73   67  LMU Munich Germany
 =74   51  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
 =74   101–125  Loughborough University United Kingdom
 76   97  University of Sydney Australia
 77   54  Georgetown University United States
 78   =81  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 =79   75  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 =79   80  Uppsala University Sweden
 81   =81  Lund University Sweden
 =82   96  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
 =82   =88  Stockholm University Sweden
 84   55  Carnegie Mellon University United States
 85   63  Durham University United Kingdom
 86   =78  Delft University of Technology Netherlands
 87   =99  UNSW Sydney Australia
 88   =88  University of Konstanz Germany
 89   91  Washington University in St Louis United States
 =90   101–125  Boston University United States
 =90   85  Kyoto University Japan
 92   101–125  University of Groningen Netherlands
 =93   101–125  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =93   95  University of York United Kingdom
 95   =86  Syracuse University United States
 =96   68  University of Arizona United States
 =96   =93  Lancaster University United Kingdom
 =96   101–125  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 99   126–150  Monash University Australia
 100   90  Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey United States
 101–125   126–150  University of Antwerp Belgium
 101–125   151–175  University of Auckland New Zealand
 101–125   101–125  Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
 101–125   101–125  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 101–125   =81  University of California, Irvine United States
 101–125   92  University of Cape Town South Africa
 101–125   101–125  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 101–125   151–175  City, University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Copenhagen Business School Denmark
 101–125   101–125  Dartmouth College United States
 101–125   101–125  University of East Anglia United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Fudan University China
 101–125   101–125  George Washington University United States
 101–125   77  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
 101–125   101–125  Ghent University Belgium
 101–125   101–125  Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Gothenburg Sweden
 101–125   101–125  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 101–125   101–125  University of Montreal Canada
 101–125   101–125  University of Notre Dame United States
 101–125   126–150  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Tilburg University Netherlands
 101–125   =93  University of Twente Netherlands
 126–150   101–125  University of Bern Switzerland
 126–150   151–175  Clark University United States
 126–150   101–125  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 126–150   176–200  Drexel University United States
 126–150   126–150  Emory University United States
 126–150   151–175  University of Florida United States
 126–150   101–125  University of Georgia United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 126–150   =99  Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel
 126–150   126–150  University of Helsinki Finland
 126–150   176–200  University of Klagenfurt Austria
 126–150   151–175  Maastricht University Netherlands
 126–150   151–175  Nanjing University China
 126–150   151–175  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Pompeu Fabra University Spain
 126–150   201–250  University of São Paulo Brazil
 126–150   101–125  Seoul National University South Korea
 126–150   126–150  Simon Fraser University Canada
 126–150   126–150  SOAS University of London United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Texas A&M University United States
 126–150   126–150  Trinity College Dublin Republic of Ireland
 126–150   101–125  Vanderbilt University United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Virginia (Main campus) United States
 126–150   126–150  Vrije Universiteit Brussel Belgium
 126–150   151–175  University of the Witwatersrand South Africa
 151–175   176–200  University of Bath United Kingdom
 151–175   176–200  University of Bergen Norway
 151–175   151–175  University of Bologna Italy
 151–175   =78  University of California, Davis United States
 151–175   126–150  University of California, Santa Cruz United States
 151–175   201–250  Curtin University Australia
 151–175   176–200  Florida State University United States
 151–175   126–150  University of Geneva Switzerland
 151–175   176–200  Griffith University Australia
 151–175   151–175  University of Hawai’i at Mānoa United States
 151–175   126–150  University of Illinois at Chicago United States
 151–175   151–175  University of Lausanne Switzerland
 151–175   176–200  Université libre de Bruxelles Belgium
 151–175   176–200  University of Massachusetts United States
 151–175   126–150  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
 151–175   176–200  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  University of Otago New Zealand
 151–175   176–200  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  Rice University United States
 151–175   151–175  Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Italy
 151–175   126–150  University of St Andrews United Kingdom
 151–175   126–150  Technical University of Berlin Germany
 151–175   176–200  University College Dublin Republic of Ireland
 151–175   126–150  The University of Western Australia Australia
 151–175   151–175  Zhejiang University China
 176–200   176–200  Aberystwyth University United Kingdom
 176–200   401–500  Auckland University of Technology New Zealand
 176–200   151–175  Beijing Normal University China
 176–200   201–250  Boston College United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Canberra Australia
 176–200   401–500  Chulalongkorn University Thailand
 176–200   176–200  École des Ponts ParisTech France
 176–200   151–175  University of Freiburg Germany
 176–200   201–250  George Mason University United States
 176–200   151–175  University of Göttingen Germany
 176–200   151–175  HSE University Russian Federation
 176–200   176–200  University of Kent United Kingdom
 176–200   126–150  University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus United States
 176–200   NR  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 176–200   176–200  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
 176–200   NR  Sejong University South Korea
 176–200   176–200  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
 176–200   126–150  Sorbonne University France
 176–200   251–300  State University of New York Albany United States
 176–200   176–200  Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Sweden
 176–200   201–250  Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Malaysia
 176–200   176–200  Tel Aviv University Israel
 176–200   201–250  Temple University United States
 176–200   151–175  University of Waterloo Canada
 176–200   176–200  Wuhan University China

Click here to view the full ranking for for social science degrees

Read more: The most detailed subject guide you will ever see to help you pick your degree 

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