2025 Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Social Sciences is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #10 most popular doctor's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 3 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of social sciences. Combined, these schools handed out 228 doctor's degrees in social sciences to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Social Sciences School for Your Doctor's Degree

The social sciences doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social sciences program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to social sciences students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other social sciences students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt social sciences students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized social sciences related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for social sciences students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Social Sciences Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Social Sciences in Illinois

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for social sciences students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Doctorate in Social Sciences

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

61 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in social sciences. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.More information about a doctorate in social sciences from Northwestern University

2

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

89 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in social sciences has to look into University of Chicago. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in social sciences from University of Chicago

3

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

45 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful option for students interested in a doctor's degree in social sciences. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in social sciences from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Indiana	29	85
Michigan	29	110
Ohio	29	87
Wisconsin	27	84

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Social Sciences Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Economics	117
Anthropology	34
Sociology	34
Political Science & Government	33
General Social Sciences	6
Geography & Cartography	2

Majors Similar to Social Sciences

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Theology & Religious Vocations	137
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	73
History	62
English Language & Literature	50
Philosophy & Religious Studies	45
Communication & Journalism	30
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies	18
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	8
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	2

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to AndrГ© KГјnzelmann. More about our data sources and methodologies.