Rankings by major · 368 schools scored
Best colleges for philosophy & religion
Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for philosophy & religion. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Many philosophy & religion students go on to graduate or medical school, which early-career pay undercounts, so read this one alongside the school's overall strength.
The top philosophy & religion schools: University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, University of Notre Dame.
| Rank | School | Score (0–100) | Tier | Graduates per year in the major | Share of the class | Pay vs. national, same major | Acceptance rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA | 98 | Standout | 183 | 6.4% | 1.97× | 5% |
| 1 | Dartmouth College Hanover, NH | 98 | Standout | 44 | 4.2% | – | 6% |
| 3 | University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN | 97 | Standout | 105 | 4.9% | 1.23× | 11% |
| 4 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA | 96 | Standout | 40 | 2.4% | – | 4% |
| 4 | Princeton University Princeton, NJ | 96 | Standout | 35 | 2.8% | – | 4% |
| 6 | Yale University New Haven, CT | 95 | Standout | 32 | 2.3% | – | 5% |
| 7 | Columbia University New York, NY | 94 | Standout | 87 | 3.9% | 1.04× | 5% |
| 8 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | 93 | Standout | 77 | 4.4% | 1.32× | 4% |
| 8 | Brown University Providence, RI | 93 | Standout | 40 | 2.4% | – | 5% |
| 10 | Emory University Atlanta, GA | 92 | Standout | 64 | 3% | – | 10% |
| 10 | Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC | 92 | Standout | 40 | 3.1% | – | 22% |
| 10 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN | 92 | Standout | 31 | 1.8% | – | 6% |
| 10 | Duke University Durham, NC | 92 | Standout | 25 | 1.4% | – | 5% |
| 10 | Williams College Williamstown, MA | 92 | Standout | 22 | 4.3% | – | 9% |
| 15 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | 91 | Standout | 40 | 1.9% | – | 7% |
| 15 | Claremont McKenna College Claremont, CA | 91 | Standout | 23 | 7% | – | 9% |
| 17 | Georgetown University Washington, DC | 90 | Standout | 29 | 1.6% | – | 13% |
| 18 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA | 89 | Standout | 88 | 3.8% | 1.79× | 16% |
| 18 | Stanford University Stanford, CA | 89 | Standout | 22 | 1.4% | – | 4% |
| 18 | Amherst College Amherst, MA | 89 | Standout | 18 | 3.6% | – | 9% |
| 21 | University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA | 88 | Standout | 69 | 1.5% | 1.41× | 17% |
| 21 | Tufts University Medford, MA | 88 | Standout | 36 | 2.4% | – | 11% |
| 21 | Grinnell College Grinnell, IA | 88 | Standout | 19 | 4.7% | – | 15% |
| 24 | Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA | 87 | Standout | 49 | 2.4% | – | 14% |
| 24 | Colgate University Hamilton, NY | 87 | Standout | 41 | 5.5% | – | 14% |
| 24 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY | 87 | Standout | 28 | 0.7% | – | 9% |
| 24 | Rice University Houston, TX | 87 | Standout | 16 | 1.6% | – | 8% |
| 24 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA | 87 | Standout | 15 | 3.6% | – | 7% |
| 29 | Boston University Boston, MA | 86 | Standout | 65 | 1.4% | 1.25× | 13% |
| 29 | Smith College Northampton, MA | 86 | Standout | 19 | 3.2% | – | 21% |
| 29 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA | 86 | Standout | 18 | 3.2% | – | 14% |
| 32 | New York University New York, NY | 85 | Standout | 80 | 1.2% | 0.97× | 9% |
| 32 | University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC | 85 | Standout | 61 | 1.2% | 1.29× | 17% |
| 32 | Bates College Lewiston, ME | 85 | Standout | 18 | 3.8% | – | 13% |
| 32 | Davidson College Davidson, NC | 85 | Standout | 15 | 3.2% | – | 13% |
| 36 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA | 84 | Standout | 82 | 1.5% | 0.95× | 10% |
| 36 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA | 84 | Standout | 36 | 6.2% | – | 36% |
| 36 | University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI | 84 | Standout | 36 | 0.4% | 1.24× | 16% |
| 36 | William & Mary Williamsburg, VA | 84 | Standout | 34 | 2.1% | 1.39× | 34% |
| 36 | Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO | 84 | Standout | 19 | 1% | – | 12% |
| 36 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY | 84 | Standout | 18 | 3.7% | – | 14% |
| 36 | Colby College Waterville, ME | 84 | Standout | 15 | 2.8% | – | 7% |
| 43 | University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | 83 | Standout | 120 | 1.3% | 1.13× | 9% |
| 43 | George Washington University Washington, DC | 83 | Standout | 29 | 1% | 1.19× | 47% |
| 43 | Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY | 83 | Standout | 18 | 2.8% | – | 19% |
| 43 | Wesleyan University Middletown, CT | 83 | Standout | 17 | 2.1% | – | 16% |
| 47 | University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI | 82 | Standout | 86 | 1.2% | 1.12× | 45% |
| 48 | University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA | 81 | Standout | 99 | 1.1% | 1.16× | 11% |
| 48 | The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX | 81 | Standout | 52 | 0.5% | 1.32× | 27% |
| 48 | The Catholic University of America Washington, DC | 81 | Standout | 38 | 4.9% | 0.98× | 83% |
| 48 | Oberlin College Oberlin, OH | 81 | Standout | 24 | 3.7% | – | 34% |
| 48 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX | 81 | Standout | 24 | 1.3% | – | 48% |
| 48 | Brandeis University Waltham, MA | 81 | Standout | 15 | 1.8% | – | 40% |
| 54 | Furman University Greenville, SC | 80 | Standout | 29 | 4.8% | – | 43% |
| 55 | University of Washington Seattle, WA | 79 | Strong | 82 | 0.9% | 1.13× | 39% |
| 55 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA | 79 | Strong | 20 | 5.9% | – | 38% |
| 57 | Baylor University Waco, TX | 78 | Strong | 64 | 2% | 1.21× | 52% |
| 57 | College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA | 78 | Strong | 24 | 3.2% | – | 18% |
| 57 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY | 78 | Strong | 24 | 0.7% | – | 46% |
| 57 | Macalester College Saint Paul, MN | 78 | Strong | 21 | 3.9% | – | 29% |
| 61 | Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO | 77 | Strong | 25 | 1.7% | – | 75% |
| 61 | Hillsdale College Hillsdale, MI | 77 | Strong | 22 | 6.9% | – | 21% |
| 61 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY | 77 | Strong | 18 | 0.9% | – | 42% |
| 64 | University of Georgia Athens, GA | 76 | Strong | 60 | 0.7% | – | 38% |
| 64 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | 76 | Strong | 19 | 1.4% | – | 48% |
| 64 | Yeshiva University New York, NY | 76 | Strong | 19 | 3.3% | – | 56% |
| 67 | Fordham University New York, NY | 75 | Strong | 52 | 2.3% | 1.40× | 59% |
| 67 | University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA | 75 | Strong | 22 | 5% | – | 72% |
| 67 | Kenyon College Gambier, OH | 75 | Strong | 15 | 3.3% | – | 31% |
| 70 | University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA | 74 | Strong | 38 | 0.8% | 0.96× | 59% |
| 70 | Marquette University Milwaukee, WI | 74 | Strong | 31 | 1.6% | – | 87% |
| 70 | St. Olaf College Northfield, MN | 74 | Strong | 25 | 3.6% | 0.90× | 43% |
| 70 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL | 74 | Strong | 17 | 0.6% | – | 19% |
| 70 | Connecticut College New London, CT | 74 | Strong | 15 | 3.6% | – | 37% |
| 75 | Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ | 73 | Strong | 42 | 0.5% | 1.08× | 58% |
| 75 | University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN | 73 | Strong | 29 | 0.4% | 0.98× | 80% |
| 75 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA | 73 | Strong | 27 | 0.5% | 1.04× | 80% |
| 78 | The College of Wooster Wooster, OH | 72 | Strong | 26 | 6.2% | – | 60% |
| 78 | North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC | 72 | Strong | 20 | 0.3% | 1.07× | 42% |
| 80 | University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA | 71 | Strong | 128 | 2% | 1.28× | 38% |
| 80 | University of California, Davis Davis, CA | 71 | Strong | 79 | 0.9% | 1.12× | 44% |
| 80 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL | 71 | Strong | 49 | 0.5% | 0.97× | 20% |
| 80 | University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA | 71 | Strong | 43 | 0.5% | – | 29% |
| 80 | The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA | 71 | Strong | 36 | 0.3% | 1.21× | 61% |
| 80 | Westmont College Santa Barbara, CA | 71 | Strong | 22 | 8.7% | – | 77% |
| 80 | Chapman University Orange, CA | 71 | Strong | 20 | 1% | – | 72% |
| 80 | Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY | 71 | Strong | 17 | 3% | – | 24% |
| 80 | Creighton University Omaha, NE | 71 | Strong | 16 | 1.3% | – | 92% |
| 89 | University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD | 70 | Strong | 52 | 0.6% | 1.19× | 45% |
| 89 | The Ohio State University Columbus, OH | 70 | Strong | 41 | 0.4% | 1.03× | 51% |
| 89 | Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN | 70 | Strong | 33 | 0.4% | – | 50% |
| 89 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA | 70 | Strong | 19 | 1.1% | – | 45% |
| 89 | Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY | 70 | Strong | 16 | 3.4% | 0.74× | 64% |
| 94 | Wheaton College (IL) Wheaton, IL | 69 | Strong | 66 | 11.1% | 0.87× | 87% |
| 94 | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA | 69 | Strong | 58 | 0.8% | – | 55% |
| 94 | Gettysburg College Gettysburg, PA | 69 | Strong | 16 | 2.5% | – | 40% |
| 97 | University of Connecticut Storrs, CT | 68 | Strong | 18 | 0.3% | – | 54% |
| 97 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA | 68 | Strong | 16 | 1.7% | – | 63% |
| 99 | University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA | 67 | Strong | 38 | 0.4% | – | 29% |
| 99 | University of Scranton Scranton, PA | 67 | Strong | 38 | 4.5% | 1.16× | 80% |
268 more schools are on the full philosophy & religion ranking.
How this ranking works
Updated October 13, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.
To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for philosophy & religion," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/philosophy-and-religion. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.
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