Best Universities For Masters in Social Science In World

The University of Oxford is one of the world's most notable and historical institutes. A self-governing institute, it is ranked the fourth best university in the world by QS World University Ranking 2023. On the other hand, it is ranked #1 by the Times Higher Education World Ranking list for 2022. It is a world-class university that is highly regarded for its contribution to research.

Located in the city of Oxford, the University has more than 30 colleges, all spread throughout the city. Established in the 13th century, the University, Balliol, and Merton Colleges are the oldest. Green Templeton is the University’s newest college.

The University has three societies – Kellogg College, Reuben College, and St Cross College and they are considered departments under Oxford.

Students from more than 160 countries and territories come to study at Oxford.

The California Lutheran University USA (Cal Lutheran) is a private educational institute located in the USA. Established in 1959, this university has a beautiful campus in Thousand Oaks, California.

Accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities, Cal Lutheran has become a top institute for pursuing higher academics. The official California Lutheran University ranking is a testament to its high education standards.

Moreover, the US News and World Report positions Cal Lutheran at #11 in Regional Universities West. Also, the QS Top Universities body ranks this institute in the #191 – 200 range amongst all the US UNI universities.

You can receive top-notch academic exposure at this institute. Here’s a detailed walkthrough of Cal Lutheran that can prove helpful for shortlisting your higher study options.

The University College London is a public research university and has a campus at Bloomsbury in London’s Knowledge Quarter. The University College London UK has partner organizations such as the Alan Turing Institute, Google, Wellcome Trust, and the British Museum in the zone. The University was founded in 1826 and has more than 20,000 graduate students coming from 150+ global nations, pursuing 650+ graduate degree courses. The institution was the first in England to admit students from all religions and women.

The University College London ranking is number 9th in the QS World University Rankings list for 2024. It is also ranked at 22nd position in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings tally.

The University of Pennsylvania was established in the year 1740 when a blueprint was created for developing a charity school in Philadelphia which would also be a worship destination. However, the costs overshot initial estimates, and the project remained stuck for a long duration. In the year 1749, Benjamin Franklin, the legendary inventor, printer and future founding father of the United States of America (USA), published his famous essay Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth. Benjamin Franklin circulated the essay among the citizens of Philadelphia and organized 24 trustees for setting up a higher education institution. This group bought the building, and in 1751, they opened its doors to children of the gentry and working-class called it the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania. Franklin remained president of the school till 1755 and a trustee till 1790. 

Ultimately, Penn got its own collegiate charter in 1755, a first-class graduate in 1757 and set up the first medical school in the American colonies back in 1765. It was the first American higher education institution to become a university in 1779. It expanded to another campus in 1802 and outgrew the same, leading to the establishment of another new campus in 1872 at West Philadelphia.

The University of Pennsylvania has students representing every state in the USA along with 100 other countries. It is ranked amongst the top-10 national universities while admitting 10,000 UG students and 10,000 PG and professional students annually. Financial aid is offered to several students, with the institution having disbursed $2billion in UG funding since 2004 to 22,000+ pupils. 46% of UG pupils also got financial aid via grants in 2018-19. One of the world’s biggest research institutions with an annual research budget of $1 billion and 4,000+ active members of faculty. The University of Pennsylvania acceptance rate is 9% as of 2020. 

Some famous alumni include Gloria Allred (American civil rights lawyer), Donald Trump (former US President and businessman), Anil Ambani (Indian businessman and chairman of Reliance Group), Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX and Tesla), Elizabeth Banks (actor), Warren Buffet (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway), Tory Burch (fashion designer), Bruce Dern (two-time winner of the Academy Award and noted actor), Jennifer Eagan (author and Pulitzer Prize winner), Dave Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal (co-CEOs at Warby Parker), and others. Some of them include Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple giant Steve Jobs and a successful entrepreneur, Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus at Estee Lauder; singer-songwriter John Legend, Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the popular Dr. Oz Show and Ivanka Trump, daughter of former US President Donald Trump.

Founded in 1583, the University of Edinburgh opened its doors in the quaint, hilly city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is exactly situated in Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK. 

Over the years the University of Edinburgh in the UK has nurtured some of the most renowned personalities who shaped the past and continue to change the present. 

As a public research university, it was one of the first to initiate Britain's literary awards. It was also here that the first animal, Dolly, the sheep, was cloned. Fascinatingly so, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also crafted the very famous and notorious character of Sherlock Holmes within the institution’s premises!

According to the QS World University Ranking 2024, the University of Edinburgh ranking stands at 27th position, and on the World University Rankings list 2024, it ranks 30th. 

A renowned public institution in New Paltz, New York, is called the State Institution of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz). SUNY New Paltz has for some time been a prominent decision for students searching for first-class schooling because of its standing for scholastic brightness and its dynamic campus life. This establishment gives students extraordinary instructive involvement in a wide assortment of programs, state-of-the-art facilities, and a welcoming community. The primary aspects of SUNY New Paltz, such as its admissions procedure, courses, scholarships, and State University of New York at New Paltz campus, will be covered in this article. You will find the University of New York at New Paltz address on its website. 

Let's investigate the important factors distinguishing a remarkable selection for University of New York at New Paltz Notable alumni seeking a transformative academic encounter.

State University of New York at New Paltz Ranking and other information:

The Johns Hopkins University takes its name after the exemplary man, John Hopkins, who pushed the boundaries of education and public health in Baltimore and, since its establishment in 1876, has ensured to further his life's cause. 

The university runs with the simple motto of spreading the light of knowledge, original research, and independent thinking across the world. It’s also America’s first research university. 

This private research university has earned #32 position worldwide in the QS World University Rankings 2024. On the other hand, THE Times Higher Education places the university at #15 rank in the US College Rankings 2024. 

King’s College London is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. It is renowned for its academic and research excellence and commitment to sustainable societal change. It is ranked 37 (2023) and 35 (2022) in the QS and THE World University Rankings lists, respectively. The institution was founded in 1829. 

The University of London came up in 1836, with the King’s College being one of its founding colleges. It has witnessed several other mergers, especially with the Chelsea and Queen Elizabeth Colleges (1985), Institute of Psychiatry (1997), and the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals (1998). The institution has achieved prestigious accreditations, including EQUIS and AACSB. It has 33,000+ students from 150+ countries with 185,000+ global alumni. It also has 14 Nobel Laureates to its credit. 

The institution has Denmark Hill, Strand, Guy’s, St Thomas’, and Waterloo campuses. Some of its research centers include the Academic Centre of Reconstructive Science, ADHD Remote Technology, Aerospace Medicine & Physiology Research Group, Centre for Attention Studies at King’s, and many others. 

The institution offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and short courses for aspirants. The study faculties include Business, Arts & Humanities, Life Sciences & Medicine, Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Law, and Social Science & Public Policy. There is also the King’s Business School for students. 

Famous alumni at the institution include athlete Dina Asher-Smith, author-philosopher Alain de Botton, science fiction writer, author Virginia Woolf, Sir Arthur C Clarke, poet-novelist Thomas Hardy, and biophysicist Rosalind Franklin. Poet John Keats studied here, as did social reformer-nurse Florence Nightingale and politician Sarojini Naidu. 

King’s CareerConnect is a platform for finding new employment opportunities and events and booking appointments. KEATS takes care of resources, career information, case studies, online workshops, and more. Students can also access the King’s Careers Blog for information, along with Academic & Professional Services Support. King’s CareerConnect helps with vacancies, placements, internships, graduate career opportunities, reminders, alerts, career goals, and career lounges. It also helps access career fairs, panels, workshops, masterclasses, presentations, and varied career pathways.

Western Illinois University is a public institution at Macomb, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1899 as the Western Illinois State Normal School. It was founded for catering to the needs for preparing teachers to work at the grammar schools throughout the State. 

The name of the college became the Western Illinois University in 1967. The institution gradually included several majors for high-school teacher preparation. It then came up with the graduate school, and a college for Arts and Sciences, in tandem with a liberal arts curriculum. It also set up institutions for Education and Human Services, Business and Technology, and Fine Arts and Communication. It has accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. The student to faculty ratio stands at 12:1 while 88% of students are transfers at the institution. 

The University Campus is located at Macomb, Illinois, within the Quad Cities. It lies on the banks of the Mississippi River as well. It has several research and study centers including the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, Central Illinois Adult Education Service Center, Children's Literature Examination Center, COEHS Advising, Infant and Preschool Center, Center for Applied Criminal Justice, Maurice G. Kellogg Science Education Center, Reading Center, and the Center for Social Studies Education. 

There are 47 degree programs encompassing master, bachelor, certificate, and doctoral programs along with four degrees which are exclusively for the WIU Quad Cities campus, namely engineering, counseling, museum studies, and environmental science. 

Notable alumni include commentator, editor, and television producer, Mary Matalin, actor, journalist and voice actor, John Mahoney, and businessperson Robert Nardelli. 

Students have an opportunity to get practical experience across the spectrum, including gaining work experience at smaller businesses, various companies, and leading Fortune 500 entities, such as John Deere. There is a Center for Career Preparation and Employer Engagement which links students to companies for projects, internships, and career related prospects. The Center also offers career appointments, along with Handshake activities, resume development, cover letter development and review, personal statement building, mock interviews and support, searching for internships and jobs, navigating careers, and a lot more.  It also helps with choosing future graduate study programs along with career planning, and career fairs. Students can also access varied career tools and resources. 

The University of Sydney is one of the top comprehensive research and teaching universities globally. The university offers a range of disciplines, with over 400 study areas and more than 70,000 students. The University of Sydney has its main campus named Camperdown in Australia. 

The University of Sydney (USYD) or the Sydney University, located in Sydney, Australia, is a public research university. The USYD comprises eight university schools and academic faculties, offering masters, baccalaureate and doctoral degrees. The ranking of the University has been consistently high both internationally and nationally. It is among the world’s first universities to have admitted students entirely on the basis of academic merit. 

The University of California, Los Angeles was founded in 1919 and shifted its location in 1929 to Westwood. It has a 419-acre campus. The rate at UCLA is just 14%, as per U.S. News, indicating that it is highly selective about the skills and qualities of its students. California Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 in 1919, setting up the southern branch of the institution. The campus on Vermont Avenue opened on 15th September, offering undergraduate courses for two years to students along with a Teachers Training program.  Presently, there are 31,600 UG and 14,300 PG students per the university site, 5,400 international students, and 7,790 faculty personnel. UCLA also has 118 countries represented by its students and various schools for management, dentistry, law, arts and architecture, education and information studies, medicine, engineering and applied sciences, theatre, film and television, public health, nursing, and more.  The institution has nine winners of the National Medal of Science, several Nobel Laureates, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, three winners of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and other acclaimed individuals as part of its faculty. It is one of the leading research universities with 5,500 ongoing initiatives. 

As of 2021, 28 Nobel laureates have been associated with UCLA: 12 professors, 8 alumni, and 10 researchers. Two alumni have won the Nobel in economics: William Sharpe in 1990 and Elinor Ostrom in 2009.

Some of the University of California Los Angeles notable alumni include the following names: 

• Rob Reiner (actor and movie director)
• David Silverman (producer/director/animator of The Simpsons and more)
• Paul Bloch (Rogers & Cowan Chairman)
• Nobel Laureates Richard F. Heck, Ralph Bunche, Elinor Ostrom, Robert Bruce Merrifield, William F. Sharpe, Glenn T. Seaborg, Randy Schekman, and Ardem Patapoutian. 
• Rachel Ames (Actress)
• Jack Black (Actor)
• Michael Burns (Historian and Actor)
• Nicolas Cage (Actor)
• Nancy Cartwright (Actress)
• Francis Ford Coppola (movie director and screenwriter)
• Robb Cullen (Writer and screenwriter)
• Mark Cullen (Writer and screenwriter)
• James Dean (Actor)
• Sean Astin, actor
• James Franco, Academy Award-nominated actor
• Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors
• H.R. Haldeman, former White House Chief of Staff

The University of British Columbia, with its establishment as McGill BC in 1908, is the oldest university and one of the top three universities of Canada. Since 1915, after being renowned as the University of British Columbia, it has become the world-leading center in terms of education and research, with its outstanding and innovative form of teaching, nurturing, and inspiring the students. The University of British Columbia, Canada, has two major campuses in Vancouver and Okanagan

The University of British Columbia is a global center for teaching, learning, and research, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world. Having more than 80 training sites across British Columbia for medical students, the University is also known as the center of clinical education and research. 

Arcadia University is generally a private university which is established in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Arcadia University was founded in the year 1853 and the names of the founders of this famous university were Sylvania Jones and Juliet A. Poundstone. They left their family home which was in Lafayette Country just to pursue an education. Arcadia University is one of the finest universities in the country and students from different places come to be a part of this reputed university to gather various knowledge which will aid them to shine in future. 

Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university located in Charleston, United States of America (USA), offering over 80 undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business, arts, science, humanities, and education. Students are guided by a faculty known for their excellence in teaching, creative activity, research, and free and rigorous inquiry. Eastern Illinois University is consistently ranked amongst the top third Midwest universities by US News and World Report, thereby earning its reputation of offering a wide variety of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. The university has a mission to enrich the social, educational, cultural, and personal development of the students by offering exhilarating co-curricular experiences

Leading Australian public research university Monash University is located in Melbourne. Since its founding in 1958, the school has expanded to become a vibrant and multifaceted one with campuses in Australia, Malaysia, China, India, and Italy. Monash University has 10 faculties, including Arts, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Information Technology, Law, Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Science. 

The University of Warwick in the UK was founded in 1965 after receiving its Royal Charter of Incorporation. The University of Warwick got approval in 1961 from the government and has four campuses: Central Campus, Lakeside & Cryfield, Westwood & Science Park, and Gibbet Hill Campus.

The City and County together worked to make a 400-acre university campus a reality. It has 29 departments and 50+ research centers and institutions across the Science, Arts, Medicine, Entertainment, and Social Sciences faculties. It is a public research institution.

The University of Warwick's ranking is #106 (globally) for 2024 as per the Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings tally and #20 in the UK. It is also ranked at #172 in the list of global universities according to US News rankings.

Minnesota State University was established as Mankato Normal School in 1868. Initially, the school started with 27 students. In 1921, it became Mankato State Teachers College. The institution was renamed as Mankato State College in 1957 and again to Mankato State University in 1975. It was given its existing name in 1998. Currently, the university holds the accreditation of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and many of its programs are approved by various relevant accrediting agencies.

Situated in Mankato, Minnesota, the university campus is sprawled across 303 acres and consists of numerous buildings. These buildings include several academic buildings, a huge library, research stations, a music library, a recreation center, two astronomy observatories, a student center, an athletics complex, and an administration center. The campus houses excellent residential facilities with spacious dorms that come with a capacity to accommodate over 2,900 people. It also features athletic fields stretched across 50 acres including Blakeslee Stadium for playing football. Edina campus, located in Edina, Minnesota, is one of the university's satellite campuses. It offers a range of academic programs, from professional certifications to undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system. This university is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the country. The former names of the university are Illinois Industrial University and the University of Illinois. The motto of this university is ' Learning and Labor' and it is a public land-grant research university. The parent institution of this university is the University of Illinois System. The academic affiliations are AAU, URA, Sea-grant and Space-grant. This university offers undergraduate, postgraduate and many certification programmes. It is located at Urbana and Champaign in Illinois, US. The newspaper of this university is The Daily Illini and the colours are orange and blue. The nickname of this university is Fighting Illini and the sporting affiliations are NCAA Division I FBS- Big Ten. This university is a member of the Association of American Universities. The university contains 16 schools and colleges and holds 651 buildings with educational and administration buildings. The mission of this university enhances the lives of citizens in Illinois across the nation and around the world through our leadership in learning, engagement, discovery and economic development. 

Durham University is a public university in the United Kingdom. The university was established through an Act of Parliament in 1832. Further, in 1837, this public research university was incorporated by the Royal Charter.

Since then, the University and its 17 colleges have strived to put out world-leading research and ensure the highest degree of academic excellence. As such, it offers its students the means and measures to build up incredible skills for their careers like communication, team-working, leadership, and problem-solving.

The university is situated in North-east England, in the picturesque city of Durham. The exact location is:

The Palatine Centre, Durham University, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LE

QS World University Rankings 2022 ranked Durham University at the 82nd spot. Additionally, 9 of its subjects are ranked in the top 50 QS World University Ranking.

Sheffield is a research university located in Southern Yorkshire, England. It has around 50 academic research departments that are categorized into five different faculties. It is one of the top 10 best universities in the UK when research grant funding is considered. 

The University of Sheffield UK is not a campus university, even though most of its 430 buildings are within walking distance. Some of the buildings located in the area are in the following places:
 

1. 9 Mappin street

2. 38 Mappin street

3. 45 Victoria Street

4. 301 Glossop Road, Student Skills and Development Centre

5. 34 Endscliffe crescent, Accommodation, and Commercial Services

6. 12 Bolsover St, Arts Tower, Admissions Service

7. 241 Glossop Rd, Edgar Allen House, Careers Service

8. Clarkson St, Octagon, Convocation Hall

9. 36 Wilkinson St, Counselling Service

10. 44 Leavygreave Rd, Information Commons (IC)

Rankings: 

The University of Sheffield is ranked #160 in the world's best universities, #59 in Europe's best universities, and #19 in the United Kingdom's best universities, by USnews.com. The University of Sheffield is ranked #105 by QS World University Rankings.