Top 10 universities for social science degrees 2025

Insights into the top 10 universities in the world for social sciences 2025

Explore the full table for the best universities for social science here 

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

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

Times Higher Education has published the 2025 ranking of the 1,093 best schools for social sciences across the world.

A sixth of the list is made up of US universities – 160 institutions in total. UK universities take 100 of the remaining spots, while Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan are also represented.

Three UK institutions are in the top 10 (the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the 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.

Top 10 universities for social sciences

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a wide selection of 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 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”.

Current faculty members include four Nobel laureates, seven MacArthur fellows and five Pulitzer prizewinners.

2. University of Oxford

Perhaps the most famous social sciences degree at the University of Oxford is philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). The social sciences division also tackles issues such as environmental change, poverty, cybercrime, political turmoil, social inequality and immigration.

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

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 curriculum covers five subject areas: US politics, comparative politics, international relations, political methodology, and political theory.

The department of anthropology is known for an innovative approach that insists that 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.

4. Harvard University

Social sciences at Harvard University are taught through interdisciplinary programmes. Fields of study include economics, government, sociology, gender studies and psychology.

For all these subjects, both undergraduates and postgraduates 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 deliver 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. Princeton University

There are both undergraduate and graduate degree programmes available in the social sciences at Princeton University. Students can choose to study courses from a range of disciplines such as American studies, economics, European cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, and health policy.

Princeton has a number of institutes, centres and schools that facilitate research into society and politics, including the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science and Public Policy.

6. University of Cambridge

The School of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge includes a wide range of disciplines.

The geographical range of study is broad with Centres of African, Latin American and South Asian Studies at the university, all of which have developed their own research profile and have their own specialised members of staff. They also work across other departments in research initiatives and courses.

The School also participates in university-wide research initiatives such as public health, global food security and energy and conservation.

There are a range of undergraduate options for students to study as well as postgraduate and research posts. 

7. 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.

8. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

The undergraduate programme for social sciences at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor takes more of a liberal arts approach. There are over 3,000 courses that a student can choose from within the department of literature and sciences including African studies, anthropology and the comparitive study of cultures. 

The department offers postgraduate in 40 different courses. These cover a range of subjects including history, sociology and American culture. 

9. London School of Economics and Political Science

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is one of the foremost social science universities in the world, specialising in a wide range of social science disciplines, including economics, politics, sociology, law and anthropology.

There are over 40 undergraduate programmes in the social sciences including sociology, anthropology and georgraphy. The university also offers a variety of postgraduate programmes. 

10. University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences covers a range of departments including anthropology, political science, sociology and criminology. 

The schools offers an undergraduate programme in arts and sciences and liberal arts. There are also master's and doctoral programmes available.