Want to study a social sciences or management subject at one of the world’s leading universities in the field? The QS World University Rankings by Faculty highlights the world’s top universities in five major subject areas: arts & humanities, engineering & technology, life sciences & medicine, natural sciences, and social sciences & management. These rankings are compiled using data on research citations, as well as the results of QS’s global surveys of academics and employers.
Read on to discover the top 10 universities this year in the faculty of social sciences & management.
1. Harvard University Harvard University
The oldest institution of higher learning in the US, Harvard ranks second in the overall QS World University Rankings® this year. Notable initiatives at Harvard’s social sciences division include the BLISS (behavioral laboratory in the social sciences) program, a summer residential scheme designed to inspire community and creativity among a varied group of undergraduate researchers.
2. London School of Economics & Political Science
As well as retaining second place in the social sciences and management ranking this year, the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) has also jumped from 71st to 35th in the overall world rankings this year. It is the UK’s leading university specializing in the social sciences, and to date, over a quarter of all the Nobel Prizes in Economics have been awarded to LSE alumni or current/former staff.
3. University of Oxford University of Oxford, UK
Ranked 6th in the world overall, the University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. As one of the major providers of social science research in the UK, the university is one of 21 centers of postgraduate excellence accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as a Doctoral Training Centre. Its Saïd Business School tackles global-scale problems in a world-class business school community.
4. University of Cambridge
Ranked joint third in the world this year alongside Stanford University, Cambridge’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), created in 2001, “supports, promotes and conducts interdisciplinary research of the highest order”. Cambridge Judge Business School has been consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers competitive Master of Business Administration (MBA) courses including an Executive MBA, which was developed in 2008.
5. Stanford University Stanford University
Stanford University is likewise well-known for its MBA program, which is highly selective and ranked number one in the US by several sources. Its faculty is at the forefront of new business ideas and practices in business. The Californian institution is also highly regarded for its Graduate School of Education, which consistently ranks among the top five in the US.
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is currently ranked first in the overall world rankings, for the fourth year running. Its business school, MIT Sloan School of Management, is highly prestigious and selective, with an emphasis on innovation in practice and research. Many influential ideas in management and finance have originated at the school, and among its faculty are numerous Nobel Prize winners.
7. National University of Singapore (NUS) NUS
The National University of Singapore (NUS), ranked 12th in the overall world rankings is another university known for promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, with a world-renowned business school which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Its Faculty of Law is also widely regarded as Asia’s leading law school, while the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is one of the largest at the university.
8. University of Chicago
The University of Chicago’s Department of Sociology, founded in 1892 as the first sociology department in the US, is now considered one of the best sociology departments in the world. The university’s economics department in particular is considered one of the world's leading, and it claims more Nobel Prize Winners and John Bates Clark Medalists in Economics than any other university.
9. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) UC Berkeley
Currently ranked 26th in the world overall, the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) is known for producing a high number of entrepreneurs. Its law school is consistently ranked highly, and is particularly distinguished in the field of environmental law. Sociology is another subject for which UCB is highly regarded, having been ranked first in the US for this discipline in 2013.
10. Yale University
Founded in 1701, Yale University is ranked 15th in the overall world rankings this year. Its law school has been ranked the number one in the country by US News and World Report every year since the magazine began publishing law school rankings. Among Yale’s notable alumni are five US presidents, including Bill Clinton; 19 US Supreme Court Justices; and 13 living billionaires.
