Is a research university right for me?–

Research universities are colleges and universities whose faculty are active in research and publishing. Research universities offer a wide array of doctoral programs, especially in the sciences. They tend to be big, with tens of thousands of students. Do you prefer a larger university setting, such as largest public university in your state? Research universities are typically big, offering degrees in many different disciplines. Is a big high-powered research environment the thing for you? If not, you should think about a liberal arts college. In deciding on an undergraduate institution, ask yourself what sort of environment will best help you to be happy and excel. Consider whether you are self motivated enough to be a face in the crowd for some classes and largely unknown on campus at a large university. Of course you can find clubs and friends at a large university, but often liberal arts colleges have a more personal quality to them. If you want the community feel, a research university may not fit you well. Are you interested in STEM fields? Research universities have that name for a reason – real research is happening there. This can create an exciting atmosphere for students interested in STEM. Attending a research university can give you a better chance of getting into better programs for graduate degrees, although a lot of that depends on your performance.

Is an online college right for me?–

Online colleges are typically the same colleges and universities you could attend in-person, but for certain degree programs the college or unviersity has made the degree programs available to be completed online. For over 5 million students, online degree programs allow students to earn their degrees in the most flexible format available. Online degrees are as respected as the on-campus degrees you could earn from the same schools. There’s usually no distinction between the two degrees, and your degree and transcript will not say that the degree was earned online. Online degree programs are offered by a vast majority of colleges and universities, and the number of offering continues to grow. Whether you are searching for an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, there’s a good chance you can earn your degree online from a respectable online college. Are you a self-driven student? Perhaps the hardest aspect of obtaining an online degree is whether you will be disciplined enough to manage your time and course demands. Many online students report that online college made them more disciplined in all areas of their lives, but the flexible, self-paced learning that makes online colleges attractive can often be the same qualities that make it difficult. If you tend to be a procrastinator, you need to be honest with yourself. You can change your habits and propensities, or you can throw money down the drain. Do you need the flexibility of an online degree program? Most online students study online because of time demands of balancing work and life, or because the online college affords them the chance to attend a better school without moving. If you are serious about earning your degree for career advancement, online colleges make it possible. The most flexible options among online degrees are those that are asynchronous, meaning you don’t have scheduled times to meet with your class online. However, many students seek synchronous online degree programs so that they have some structure – set meeting times, scheduled exams, etc. The good news is that attending an online college doesn’t mean you will miss out on getting to know your professors and classmates. In fact, many online students who have experienced both online and on-campus courses report having easier access to their professors. Since most communication with your professor is expected to be in text – via email or your class learning management system – it makes asking your questions easier. The same students also report that they got to better know the thoughts of their classmates. While in-person course conversations can be dominated by a few extroverts, online courses that require online discussions make it so that you see all of your classmates’ thoughts and questions. If you’re interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.

Best Colleges and Universities for Philosophy Degrees

Q: Is a liberal arts college right for me?–

Often referred to as “teaching colleges” liberal arts colleges put a premium on undergraduate studies and offers a broad range of subjects for students to study. A college of liberal arts typically provides smaller class sizes, more direct engagement with professors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to sample a wide range of subject areas on the way to a bachelor’s degree. Do you want your professors to know you? Liberal arts colleges strive to cultivate campus cultures that encourage tight bonds between professors and students. Professors at these schools will typically conduct original research. Yet the best of these schools offer their faculty reduced teaching loads so that they can both be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students (both in and outside the classroom). Do you want to feel like you know everybody? One of the most enticing features of a liberal arts college is that in very little time, you can feel like you know who’s who, which can create strong friendships and make walks across campus more fun. While your sports teams may never be on ESPN, it’s more likely that you’ll know the athletes as your peers. Beyond student and faculty relationships, it’s not unusual for the school president and other administrators to learn who you are. When faced with problems with your student account or the need to switch classes, this can be comforting during a stressful moment.

Badge for BEST FOR PHILOSOPHY COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

By Dr. Brian Carlson and Dr. James Barham

Published: Nov 8, 2021
Updated: Nov 27, 2023

The best philosophy degree programs are those with rich histories of influence, proven through the work produced by the program’s faculty and alumni. Beyond demonstrating scholarly impact in the field, the best philosophy degree programs maximize your opportunities to interact with outstanding philosophy faculty.

Table of Contents

A bachelor’s degree in philosophy is an excellent starting point for a career in public service, corporate governance, education, and a host of other intellectually stimulating fields. As a philosophy major, you’ll study ethics, epistemology, and rhetorical debate. Your philosophy degree will incorporate classic works by great thinkers alongside a critical analysis of relevant literature, history, and social order. The best schools for philosophy are those which are regionally accredited, which offer a full array of philosophy concentrations, and which give you the chance to work with the best and most influential professors and classmates.

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Philosophy Bachelor’s Degrees

Earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy can open numerous professionals doors. As a philosophy major, you’ll spend a great deal of your time poring over compelling historical texts, exploring complex ideas, and engaging discourse over subjects like ethics, religion, and politics. This education will provide you with valuable skills of debate, communication, and persuasion. Moreover, areas of consideration such as morality, behavior, and the human condition have historically factored into the way we understand entities such as national governments, religious organizations, and communities. Philosophy majors must build a strong background in these dimensions of human life in order to contextualize much of the literature they’ll be required to read. As such, philosophy majors are uniquely positioned to understand history, participate in the political process, analyze policy impacts, and even to serve in public office.

Philosophy is a great major because it is interdisciplinary in nature. This means you’ll gain various practical skills. The skills of communication, research, and critical analysis that you’ll develop as a philosophy major are highly transferable to a wide range of workplace settings. Increasingly, progressive companies in the tech, marketing, and retail industries have recruited professionals with a background in philosophy to help attack challenges and seize opportunities with creativity, critical thinking, and a strong grounding in ethics.

This makes the work of today’s leading thinkers extremely consequential. Today, top influencers in philosophy are breaking new ground in feminist theory, the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and much more.

Once you’ve declared your major in philosophy, you will likely be required to complete a set of core courses in a number of humanities-related subject areas. While your concentration will give you a chance to choose from a wide range of highly-specialized philosophy electives, there are several common courses that most philosophy majors will be required to take, including:

Social and Political Philosophy
Critical Thinking
Philosophy and Globalization
Topics in Feminist Ethics
Philosophy and Literature
General Ethics
Biomedical Ethics
Philosophy of Knowledge
Environmental Philosophy

Philosophy is not an inherently career-oriented major, insofar as this degree may not necessarily lead you down a specific career path. Instead, majoring in philosophy will arm you with an array of 21st Century workplace skills that are applicable in a wide range of fields from education, marketing and government to healthcare, information security, and corporate ethics. This means that your philosophy major can lead to a wide range of career opportunities, including these top jobs:

Frequently Asked Questions About Research Universities, Liberal Arts Colleges, Online Colleges

In pursuing a bachelor’s degree, you will need to choose between three kinds of schools: research universities, liberal arts colleges, and online colleges.

Research universities are colleges and universities whose faculty are active in research and publishing. Research universities offer a wide array of doctoral programs, especially in the sciences. They tend to be big, with tens of thousands of students.

Do you prefer a larger university setting, such as largest public university in your state? Research universities are typically big, offering degrees in many different disciplines.

Is a big high-powered research environment the thing for you? If not, you should think about a liberal arts college. In deciding on an undergraduate institution, ask yourself what sort of environment will best help you to be happy and excel.

Consider whether you are self motivated enough to be a face in the crowd for some classes and largely unknown on campus at a large university. Of course you can find clubs and friends at a large university, but often liberal arts colleges have a more personal quality to them. If you want the community feel, a research university may not fit you well.
Are you interested in STEM fields? Research universities have that name for a reason – real research is happening there. This can create an exciting atmosphere for students interested in STEM. Attending a research university can give you a better chance of getting into better programs for graduate degrees, although a lot of that depends on your performance.

Learn more about research universities by reading about the best research universities in the US.

Often referred to as “teaching colleges” liberal arts colleges put a premium on undergraduate studies and offers a broad range of subjects for students to study. A college of liberal arts typically provides smaller class sizes, more direct engagement with professors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to sample a wide range of subject areas on the way to a bachelor’s degree.

Do you want your professors to know you? Liberal arts colleges strive to cultivate campus cultures that encourage tight bonds between professors and students.

Professors at these schools will typically conduct original research. Yet the best of these schools offer their faculty reduced teaching loads so that they can both be productive researchers and still have plenty of time for students (both in and outside the classroom).

Do you want to feel like you know everybody? One of the most enticing features of a liberal arts college is that in very little time, you can feel like you know who’s who, which can create strong friendships and make walks across campus more fun. While your sports teams may never be on ESPN, it’s more likely that you’ll know the athletes as your peers.

Beyond student and faculty relationships, it’s not unusual for the school president and other administrators to learn who you are. When faced with problems with your student account or the need to switch classes, this can be comforting during a stressful moment.

Learn more about liberal arts colleges by reading about the best liberal arts colleges in the US.

Online colleges are typically the same colleges and universities you could attend in-person, but for certain degree programs the college or unviersity has made the degree programs available to be completed online. For over 5 million students, online degree programs allow students to earn their degrees in the most flexible format available.

Online degrees are as respected as the on-campus degrees you could earn from the same schools. There’s usually no distinction between the two degrees, and your degree and transcript will not say that the degree was earned online.

Online degree programs are offered by a vast majority of colleges and universities, and the number of offering continues to grow. Whether you are searching for an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, there’s a good chance you can earn your degree online from a respectable online college.

Are you a self-driven student? Perhaps the hardest aspect of obtaining an online degree is whether you will be disciplined enough to manage your time and course demands.

Many online students report that online college made them more disciplined in all areas of their lives, but the flexible, self-paced learning that makes online colleges attractive can often be the same qualities that make it difficult. If you tend to be a procrastinator, you need to be honest with yourself. You can change your habits and propensities, or you can throw money down the drain.

Do you need the flexibility of an online degree program? Most online students study online because of time demands of balancing work and life, or because the online college affords them the chance to attend a better school without moving.

If you are serious about earning your degree for career advancement, online colleges make it possible. The most flexible options among online degrees are those that are asynchronous, meaning you don’t have scheduled times to meet with your class online. However, many students seek synchronous online degree programs so that they have some structure – set meeting times, scheduled exams, etc.

The good news is that attending an online college doesn’t mean you will miss out on getting to know your professors and classmates. In fact, many online students who have experienced both online and on-campus courses report having easier access to their professors.

Since most communication with your professor is expected to be in text – via email or your class learning management system – it makes asking your questions easier. The same students also report that they got to better know the thoughts of their classmates. While in-person course conversations can be dominated by a few extroverts, online courses that require online discussions make it so that you see all of your classmates’ thoughts and questions.

If you’re interested in an online bachelor’s degree, check out what the best online colleges offer, or search our online degrees for the exact program that interests you. In either case, you will find well respected colleges and universities that offer online degrees.

The Best Colleges and Universities for Philosophy Degrees

Harvard University
Yale University
Princeton University
Columbia University
University of Chicago

Go to The Best Philosophy Major Research Universities

Wesleyan University
Swarthmore College
Wellesley College
Amherst College
Williams College

Go to The Best Philosophy Major Liberal Arts Colleges

University of Arizona
University of Memphis
Portland State University
University of Southern Mississippi
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Go to The Best Philosophy Online Colleges

Career Outlook for Students with Philosophy Degree

Go to Degree Finder tool

Philosophy And Religious Studies

Degree Level: Bachelor's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary	2.75%	$76,104

Average Career Salaries

Bottom 10%	Median	Top 10%
$46,769	$75,035	$123,451

Promising Job Markets

State	Cost of Living	Avg. Salary
#2 Ohio	14% higher than average	$80,060
#3 Georgia	13% higher than average	$80,350
#4 Texas	10% higher than average	$81,680
#5 New York	5% higher than average	$94,880
#6 Vermont	13% higher than average	$101,990
#7 Missouri	16% higher than average	$75,360
#8 Utah	4% higher than average	$84,750
#9 Michigan	15% higher than average	$74,320
#10 Illinois	7% higher than average	$80,920
#11 Indiana	11% higher than average	$76,100
#12 Rhode Island	20% higher than average	$102,200
#13 New Mexico	7% higher than average	$79,230
#14 Kentucky	14% higher than average	$72,210
#15 Maryland	18% higher than average	$99,180
#16 Virginia	5% higher than average	$79,120
#17 Minnesota	4% higher than average	$78,750
#18 Massachusetts	24% higher than average	$101,250
#19 Pennsylvania	5% higher than average	$76,040
#20 Arizona	5% higher than average	$76,020
#21 Arkansas	16% higher than average	$66,000
#22 West Virginia	11% higher than average	$69,490
#23 Nebraska	6% higher than average	$72,970
#24 North Carolina	11% higher than average	$68,220
#25 Tennessee	14% higher than average	$64,940
#26 Louisiana	9% higher than average	$67,980
#27 Mississippi	18% higher than average	$61,810
#28 Wisconsin	7% higher than average	$70,160
#29 California	26% higher than average	$94,120
#30 New Jersey	13% higher than average	$82,930
#31 Alabama	13% higher than average	$63,030
#32 Idaho	7% higher than average	$66,540
#33 Iowa	9% higher than average	$64,870
#34 Maine	9% higher than average	$77,580
#35 Oregon	11% higher than average	$77,930
#36 South Carolina	8% higher than average	$64,290
#37 Oklahoma	13% higher than average	$60,110
#38 New Hampshire	13% higher than average	$76,600
#39 Colorado	3% higher than average	$69,870
#40 Florida	6% higher than average	$61,800
#41 Connecticut	18% higher than average	$77,300
#42 Kansas	9% higher than average	$56,390
#43 Washington	7% higher than average	$60,060
#44 District of Columbia	49% higher than average	$76,560
#45 Alaska	23% higher than average	$59,990
#46 Hawaii	40% higher than average	$50,620

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary	$76,104

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

The Best Philosophy Schools in Your State

Learn More About Philosophy

If you want to know more about philosophy, then check out our related content:

Learn how to major in philosophy
Think about your next step and what you can do with a master’s degree in philosophy
Learn more about philosophy from our interviews with influential philosophers
Find out who are the most influential philosophers today

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here

Best Colleges and Universities for Philosophy Degrees

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Philosophy Bachelor’s Degrees

What can I do with a philosophy major?

Is philosophy a good major?

What courses will I take as a philosophy major?

What jobs can I do with a philosophy major?