Best Colleges for Sociology 2021

Illustration for Top 20 Sociology Department Ranking; Best Colleges for Sociology

This is the Brook Report ranking of the best colleges for sociology majors for 2021 and for 2022, go to the updated 2022 Ranking of the Best Colleges for Sociology. This RealRankTM analysis is intended to factor in the most important criteria for grading academic programs, from traditional academic excellence, to real career and resume value-added. The listing of the top 20 sociology colleges can be found below.

Sociology is a social science focusing on the social structures of society and on human social behavior.  On the macro level, sociology may study issues of the society as a whole, such as welfare, the impact of economic strata, social mobility, religion, gender, orientation and race. On a micro level, sociologists may study how people interact among themselves and in groups.

In one sense the study of sociology may serve to help societies become more cohesive enabling diverse groups to figure out how to thrive with one another in a diverse and complex societal structure. In other ways, sociology can serve to exacerbate problems of silo stratifications, and a good sociology university program will provide students with tools to improve society as a whole.


Economic Value of A Sociology Degree

Sociology careers include:

  • Counselors, such as guidance, substance abuse and homeless counselors.
  • Academics and teaching.
  • Social workers.
  • Special education.
  • Public relations and marketing.
  • Welfare advisors and other Government jobs.

Sociology is a Relatively Low Paying Career

Sociology, like many social sciences, is a relatively low paying career path. Of course, it is possible to move into high paying positions with hard work, skill, and even some luck. Because of the comparatively low earnings potential for sociology career paths in general, my recommendation is that you avoid incurring a lot of college debt, if sociology is your passion. College can be very expensive, and pursuing a potentially lower paying career path can make repaying the college debt difficult.


Minimize Sociology College Debt

To minimize potential college debt in a lower paying career path like Sociology may provide for many people, my recommendation is that you select one of the outstanding sociology schools that provide an excellent education but still has a lower tuition cost and expense profile. You can determine that by looking at the tuition and cost estimators that many college websites provide. If the college you are interested in lacks an estimator on their site, a general rule is that sociology departments in public universities are less expensive. The public universities on our top 20 list below all provide real resume value and academics comparable to, if not better than, those in some of the more expensive universities.

20 Best Colleges for Sociology Majors

This is our RealRank list of the best colleges for sociology. If you want to visit any of the listed university’s websites, there are links on the list. You can search around those websites to find out more about their sociology programs, and the fee/cost estimators, if they have one. (Independence Note: We do not earn any commissions from the links!)



RankCollegeCityState
1University of MichiganAnn ArborMI
2University of California Los AngelesLos AngelesCA
3Harvard UniversityCambridgeMA
4Stanford UniversityPalo AltoCA
5University of California - BerkeleyBerkeleyCA
6University of TexasAustinTX
7Princeton UniversityPrinceton NJ
8University Of WisconsinMadisonWI
9Duke UniversityDurhamNC
10University of ChicagoChicagoIL
11Columbia UniversityNew YorkNY
12University of North CarolinaChapel HillNC
13Northwestern UniversityEvanstonIL
14Yale UniversityNew HavenCT
15The Ohio State UniversityColumbusOH
16University of FloridaGainesvilleFL
17Cornell UniversityIthacaNY
18University of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVA
19University of WashingtonSeattleWA
20Indiana UniversityBloomingtonIN




Was your favorite on the list, or do you think we have missed any colleges that should be ranked, or should be moved up or down in the ranking?

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