Major Rankings

Best Colleges for Sociology

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard — updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 414

Avg grad salary: $43,822

Total graduates: 27,208

Top Colleges for Sociology — Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	$71,802	$64,377	34	$19,250	6.2%
2	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	$71,102	$35,915	29	$19,800	12.4%
3	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	$70,722	$48,091	42	$19,000	15.7%
4	Barnard College New York, NY	$68,952	$48,215	21	$15,899	8.0%
5	Cal Poly SLO San Luis Obispo, CA	$67,872	$30,401	45	$16,750	29.8%
6	Columbia University New York, NY	$66,948	$58,541	27	$31,000	4.2%
7	American University Washington, DC	$65,245	$40,119	16	N/A	47.4%
8	UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA	$64,119	$40,774	269	$13,131	11.7%
9	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	$62,009	$53,612	17	N/A	43.8%
10	NYU New York, NY	$61,935	$22,697	23	$18,875	9.4%
11	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	$61,096	$36,183	43	$25,000	50.8%
12	Manhattanville University Purchase, NY	$60,202	$31,551	19	$26,000	84.7%
13	Providence College Providence, RI	$58,988	$35,983	17	$27,000	48.7%
14	University of Washington Seattle, WA	$58,517	$40,062	93	$19,286	42.5%
15	Fordham University Bronx, NY	$57,799	$32,511	54	$25,000	56.3%
16	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	$57,671	$46,257	26	$23,000	21.6%
17	Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles, CA	$57,398	$40,451	34	$29,250	68.7%
18	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	$57,078	$36,583	34	$26,449	21.1%
19	USC Los Angeles, CA	$57,043	$35,580	61	$10,324	10.0%
20	Emory University Atlanta, GA	$56,032	$30,516	32	$20,500	11.1%
21	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	$56,011	$45,786	53	$20,500	16.9%
22	Boston University Boston, MA	$55,876	$38,457	37	$26,750	10.8%
23	Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PA	$54,897	$31,444	21	$19,000	31.8%
24	University of Delaware Newark, DE	$54,885	$29,714	46	$24,661	65.1%
25	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	$54,677	$37,896	147	$18,000	94.7%
26	Connecticut College New London, CT	$54,667	$22,636	20	$20,670	38.3%
27	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ	$54,599	$46,953	16	$24,208	62.1%
28	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	$54,562	$34,121	592	$14,500	8.7%
29	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	$53,785	$35,993	49	$19,500	40.3%
30	Michigan State East Lansing, MI	$53,766	$35,055	119	$26,985	83.9%
31	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	$53,721	$31,686	39	$25,000	57.8%
32	Duke University Durham, NC	$53,607	$45,551	23	N/A	6.8%
33	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA	$53,597	$35,932	23	$27,000	92.9%
34	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	$53,446	$40,763	161	$15,000	96.2%
35	McDaniel College Westminster, MD	$53,319	$37,728	27	$25,000	83.6%
36	University of Maryland College Park, MD	$53,258	$34,150	58	$20,460	44.8%
37	UT Austin Austin, TX	$53,118	$39,621	140	$23,000	29.1%
38	Bowie State University Bowie, MD	$53,090	$38,893	35	$30,835	83.5%
39	Georgetown University Washington, DC	$52,967	$40,079	26	$13,266	13.1%
40	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	$52,918	$38,632	43	$24,750	41.7%
41	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY	$52,894	$34,832	28	$25,968	70.6%
42	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	$52,892	$35,889	57	$17,802	43.4%
43	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	$52,572	$30,246	244	$10,750	54.0%
44	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO	$52,565	$42,022	23	$26,000	99.1%
45	UC San Diego La Jolla, CA	$52,444	$36,464	145	$14,413	24.5%
46	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	$52,425	$28,368	18	N/A	10.4%
47	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$52,288	$33,832	124	$18,568	17.9%
48	Suffolk University Boston, MA	$52,264	$37,802	61	$27,000	84.7%
49	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	$52,185	$42,703	22	$23,001	88.2%
50	Auburn University Auburn, AL	$51,971	$35,378	19	$22,250	50.5%
51	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	$51,950	$39,378	200	$18,654	96.8%
52	Frostburg State University Frostburg, MD	$51,888	$32,165	37	$27,000	89.4%
53	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	N/A	$51,788	16	N/A	11.9%
54	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	$51,739	$37,338	36	$30,941	81.3%
55	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	$51,590	$34,004	31	$22,250	81.4%
56	UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	$51,279	$30,623	91	$14,925	18.7%
57	St. John's University-New York Queens, NY	$51,258	$38,216	16	$27,000	79.7%
58	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	$51,246	$37,958	77	$17,819	83.3%
59	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	$51,165	$32,912	86	$21,250	49.0%
60	Shepherd University Shepherdstown, WV	$51,084	$33,190	17	$20,030	95.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best Sociology Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

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