Best universities in the US for arts and humanities degrees 2024

Explore the best universities in the US for arts and humanities degrees, using data from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings

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November 29 2023

best universities in the United States for arts and humanities degrees

Top 10 universities in the US for arts and humanities degrees

Scroll down for the full list of best universities for arts and humanities in the US

US arts and humanities rank 2024	Arts and humanities rank 2024	University	State
1	1	Stanford University	California
2	2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts
3	5	Harvard University	Massachusetts
4	7	University of California, Berkeley	California
5	8	Princeton University	New Jersey
6	9	Yale University	Connecticut
=7	=10	The University of Chicago	Illinois
=7	=10	Columbia University	New York
9	14	University of California, Los Angeles	California
10	16	New York University	New York

Arts and humanities subjects include history, English literature, philosophy, languages and architecture (scroll down for a full list of subjects and what you can do with them).

As home to four of the top six universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, the US is a top destination for many students looking to study arts and humanities subjects.

Universities in the US allow students flexibility when it comes to their studies, in the form of majors and minors. Students might choose to major in a specialist subject, but minor in another discipline, or take a range of elective courses across the arts and humanities in order to graduate with a liberal arts degree.

Below are the top US universities for arts and humanities degrees.

Best universities for arts and humanities degrees
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5. Princeton University

Princeton University offers a liberal arts education to all undergraduate students, encouraging students to take courses across the arts, humanities, natural sciences engineering and social sciences.

At Princeton University all arts and humanities courses sit within the faculty of humanities. There is a wide range of courses that students can choose from including comparative literature, history, linguistics, musicology and visual arts among many others.

The university offers the Humanities Sequence, which is a year-long introduction to Western history, philosophy, and literature from antiquity to the 20th century. This course is taught through a range of lectures and seminars as well as trips to museums, plays and art galleries.

4. University of California, Berkeley

The school of arts and humanities at University of California, Berkeley is split into 19 departments and 14 research units, including art history, languages, classics, comparative literature, music and philosophy.

The university offers programmes for both undergraduate and postgraduate students, maintaining smaller class sizes than average in the arts and humanities department.

Notable alumni graduating from the University of California, Berkeley school of arts and humanities includes author and 2016 Pulitzer Prize winner, Viet Thanh Nguyen and actor Chris Pine.

3. Harvard University

The Division of Arts and Humanities at Harvard University is organised into 15 departments, which include classics, comparative literature, folklore and mythology, history of art and architecture and history and literature.

Each department offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programmes. There are also four interdisciplinary undergraduate degree programmes for students looking to combine the arts and humanities with another discipline.

There are a number of world-class research centres and museums within the division. These include the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, the Mahindra Humanities Center, and the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. There is also the Semitic Museum, which is home to rare manuscripts, artefacts and documents that are available to arts and humanities students.

Arts and humanities students are offered various international experiences. Those studying classics or history of art and architecture are given the opportunity to travel abroad with their professors. Other departments such as romance languages and literatures offer faculty-led summer programmes that enable students to study overseas for an extended period of time.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences is one of five schools at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

There are 16 disciplines within the school including global languages, economics, history, literature, music, philosophy and theatre arts. Each discipline offers a range of both undergraduate and graduate courses, and students can combine modules across disciplines to build a broad academic foundation across arts and humanities subjects.

Areas of research include improving health policy, understanding human language, alleviating poverty, safeguarding elections, planning space policy and assessing the impact of new technology.

1. Stanford University

The School of Humanities and Sciences is the largest school at Stanford University and has become a centre of liberal arts teaching and research.

There are 23 departments within the school including art and art history, biology, economics, English, history and mathematics.

The school offers a range of undergraduate majors and minors, joint majors, and honours programmes. There are also 44 masters and 33 doctoral degree programmes available as well as 25 interdisciplinary programmes.

The Humanities and Sciences Summer Research Programmes are fully funded by the school and designed to encourage students from underrepresented groups in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to consider studying for a doctoral programme. The school is home to a number of centres, institutes and affiliates that facilitate research projects throughout the year. These include the Archaeology Centre, the Centre for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and the Patrick Suppes Centre for History and Philosophy of Science.

Top universities in the US for arts and humanities degrees 2024

Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile

US arts and humanities rank 2024	Arts and humanities rank 2024	University	State
1	1	Stanford University	California
2	2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts
3	5	Harvard University	Massachusetts
4	7	University of California, Berkeley	California
5	8	Princeton University	New Jersey
6	9	Yale University	Connecticut
=7	=10	The University of Chicago	Illinois
=7	=10	Columbia University	New York
9	14	University of California, Los Angeles	California
10	16	New York University	New York
11	17	University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania
12	18	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	Michigan
13	31	Cornell University	New York
14	=35	Duke University	North Carolina
15	=41	Johns Hopkins University	Maryland
16	=56	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus	Pennsylvania
17	59	University of Texas at Austin	Texas
18	63	Brown University	Rhode Island
19	66	University of Notre Dame	Indiana
20	68	Rutgers University – New Brunswick	New Jersey
21	=70	University of California, San Diego	California
22	73	University of Massachusetts	Massachusetts
23	=77	Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania
24	80	University of Washington	Washington
25	83	University of California, Santa Barbara	California
26	85	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Wisconsin
27	=89	Northwestern University	Illinois
28	93	Indiana University	Indiana
29	96	University of California, Irvine	California
30	=100	Michigan State University	Michigan
=31	101–125	University of Arizona	Arizona
=31	101–125	Georgetown University	Washington DC
=31	101–125	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Illinois
=31	101–125	University of Minnesota	Minnesota
=31	101–125	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina
=31	101–125	Ohio State University (Main campus)	Ohio
=31	101–125	University of Southern California	California
=31	101–125	University of Virginia (Main campus)	Virginia
=39	126–150	Boston University	Massachusetts
=39	126–150	Emory University	Georgia
=39	126–150	University of Maryland, College Park	Maryland
=39	126–150	Penn State (Main campus)	Pennsylvania
=43	151–175	Arizona State University (Tempe)	Arizona
=43	151–175	University of California, Davis	California
=43	151–175	University of California, Santa Cruz	California
=46	176–200	University of Colorado Boulder	Colorado
=46	176–200	Georgia Institute of Technology	Georgia
=46	176–200	University of Hawai’i at Mānoa	Hawai'i
=46	176–200	Washington University in St Louis	Missouri
=50	201–250	Boston College	Massachusetts
=50	201–250	University of Connecticut	Connecticut
=50	201–250	Dartmouth College	New Hampshire
=50	201–250	Purdue University West Lafayette	Indiana
=50	201–250	Rice University	Texas
=50	201–250	Stony Brook University	New York
=50	201–250	Texas A&M University	Texas
=50	201–250	Vanderbilt University	Tennessee
=58	251–300	University at Buffalo	New York
=58	251–300	University of Florida	Florida
=58	251–300	Florida State University	Florida
=58	251–300	Northeastern University, US	Illinois
=58	251–300	University of Oregon	Oregon
=63	301–400	Baylor University	Texas
=63	301–400	Brandeis University	Massachusetts
=63	301–400	University of California, Riverside	California
=63	301–400	Case Western Reserve University	Ohio
=63	301–400	The Catholic University of America	Washington DC
=63	301–400	George Washington University	Washington DC
=63	301–400	University of Georgia	Georgia
=63	301–400	University of Illinois Chicago	Illinois
=63	301–400	University of Kansas	Kansas
=63	301–400	University of Miami	Florida
=63	301–400	Mizzou - University of Missouri	Missouri
=63	301–400	North Carolina State University	North Carolina
=63	301–400	University of Rochester	New York
=63	301–400	Tufts University	Massachusetts
=63	301–400	University of Utah	Utah
=63	301–400	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Virginia
=63	301–400	Washington State University	Washington
=80	401–500	University of Delaware	Delaware
=80	401–500	George Mason University	Virginia
=80	401–500	Georgia State University	Georgia
=80	401–500	University of Houston	Texas
=80	401–500	University of Iowa	Iowa
=80	401–500	Iowa State University	Iowa
=80	401–500	University of Kentucky	Kentucky
=80	401–500	University of Memphis	Tennessee
=80	401–500	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	Nebraska
=80	401–500	The New School	New York
=80	401–500	Saint Louis University	Missouri
=80	401–500	University of South Carolina-Columbia	South Carolina
=80	401–500	University of South Florida	Florida
=80	401–500	Syracuse University	New York
=80	401–500	Temple University	Pennsylvania
=80	401–500	Tulane University	Louisiana
=80	401–500	Wake Forest University	North Carolina
=80	401–500	William & Mary	Virginia
=80	401–500	University of Wyoming	Wyoming
=99	501–600	University of Alabama	Alabama
=99	501–600	University of Arkansas	Arkansas
=99	501–600	Auburn University	Alabama
=99	501–600	Bowling Green State University	Ohio
=99	501–600	University of Central Florida	Florida
=99	501–600	Colorado State University, Fort Collins	Colorado
=99	501–600	University of Denver	Colorado
=99	501–600	Drexel University	Pennsylvania
=99	501–600	Florida International University	Florida
=99	501–600	Lehigh University	Pennsylvania
=99	501–600	Louisiana State University	Louisiana
=99	501–600	Marquette University	Wisconsin
=99	501–600	Mississippi State University	Mississippi
=99	501–600	University of Nevada, Las Vegas	Nevada
=99	501–600	University of North Carolina at Charlotte	North Carolina
=99	501–600	Northern Illinois University	Illinois
=99	501–600	Ohio University (Main campus)	Ohio
=99	501–600	Oklahoma State University	Oklahoma
=99	501–600	SUNY Binghamton University	New York
=99	501–600	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	Tennessee
=99	501–600	University of Texas at Arlington	Texas
=99	501–600	University of Texas at Dallas	Texas
=99	501–600	University of Texas at El Paso	Texas
=99	501–600	The University of Texas at San Antonio	Texas
=99	501–600	Texas Tech University	Texas
=99	501–600	Virginia Commonwealth University	Virginia
=99	501–600	Western Michigan University	Michigan
=126	601+	American University	Washington
=126	601+	College of Charleston	South Carolina
=126	601+	University of Colorado Denver /Anschutz Medical Campus	Colorado
=126	601+	Florida Atlantic University	Florida
=126	601+	Kansas State University	Kansas
=126	601+	Portland State University	Oregon
=126	601+	Rochester Institute of Technology	New York
=126	601+	San Diego State University	California
=126	601+	Texas State University	Texas
=126	601+	Wayne State University	Michigan