2025 Best Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

If you plan on getting your master's degree in social sciences, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #9 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 8 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 560 master's degrees in social sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

The social sciences master'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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 - The number of social sciences students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• 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 master'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 full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for social sciences students working on their master'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 Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Social Sciences in Pennsylvania

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in social sciences.

Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Master's in Social Sciences

1

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

74 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of Pennsylvania if you wish to pursue a master's degree in social sciences. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from University of Pennsylvania

2

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Villanova University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in social sciences. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Villanova University

3

Saint Joseph's University
Philadelphia, PA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

61 Annual Graduates

Saint Joseph's University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in social sciences. St. Joe's is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Saint Joseph’s University

4

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

77 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus if you want to pursue a master's degree in social sciences. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

5

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Drexel University

6

Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

26 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Bethlehem, Lehigh is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Lehigh University

7

Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus
Indiana, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

23 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Indiana, IUP is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus

8

Cabrini University
Radnor, PA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

Cabrini University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Radnor.More information about a master’s in social sciences from Cabrini University

Best Social Sciences Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Social Sciences Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	35	1,883
New Jersey	32	239
Maryland	32	1,133
District of Columbia	32	1,512
Delaware	24	73

View All Rankings >

Social Sciences Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Geography & Cartography	108
Economics	96
International Relations & National Security	74
Other Social Sciences	53
Political Science & Government	47
Anthropology	34
Sociology	15
Archeology	8
Urban Studies	5
General Social Sciences	4

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Theology & Religious Vocations	578
English Language & Literature	320
Communication & Journalism	297
History	195
Foreign Languages & Linguistics	128
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences	79
Philosophy & Religious Studies	69
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities	35
Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies	7

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.