World University Rankings 2022 by subject: social sciences

The social sciences subject table uses the same trusted and rigorous performance indicators as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022, but the methodology has been recalibrated to suit the individual fields.

It highlights the universities that are leading across the following disciplines: communication and media studies, politics and international studies (including development studies), sociology and geography.

This year’s table includes 870 universities, up from 791 last year.

View the World University Rankings 2022 by subject: social sciences methodology

The University of Oxford tops the ranking for the first time since 2019, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology drops one place to second.

The top university outside the US and UK is the University of Amsterdam at 17th, up from 21st.

Three universities are ranked in the top 175 in their debut year: the University of Cologne and Jacobs University in Germany and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

View the full results of the overall World University Rankings 2022

To raise your university’s global profile with Times Higher Education, contact branding@timeshighereducation.com

To unlock the data behind THE’s rankings and access a range of analytical and benchmarking tools, click here