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 University of Cambridge was founded in 1209 and is a public research university in the United Kingdom (UK). University of Cambridge, UK, is known as the fourth-oldest university that survives in the world today and is also the second-oldest university in the entire English-speaking world. The university has more than 20,000 students from varied disciplines and above 11,000 staff members along with 31 colleges, 150 departments, schools, faculties, and institutions. It has been ranked in the top 3 in the 2022 Guardian University Guide and Complete University Guide. It is one of the foremost educational and research institutions in the world offering more than 700 clubs and societies for students.

The University of Cambridge ranking is 3 in the QS World University Rankings and 5 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for 2022.

The University of Cambridge is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the G5, the League of European Research Universities, and the International Alliance of Research Universities.

Harvard University is one of the top 5 universities in the world. Its highly competitive acceptance rate of just 3.64% makes it especially selective in programs like engineering and medicine. Harvard, being one of the oldest universities in the US, combines rich history with academic excellence.

Renowned for its academic excellence, Harvard has produced notable individuals, including former U.S. President Barack Obama and industry leaders like Bill Gates. Harvard alumni have had a massive impact globally, creating 20.4 million jobs and founding organizations with combined revenues exceeding $3.9 trillion.

Harvard University offers courses, numbering around 3700, across its schools, including Harvard College, Business, Law, Medical, and Engineering Schools. Harvard is also recognized for its research and innovation in medicine, technology, social sciences, and environmental studies.

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.

Penn's innate culture and innovation ecosystem support the university's academic program. Faculty and students at the university are involved in everything that is cutting edge. With a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences and enhanced by the combined resources of four undergraduate and twelve graduate schools, Penn provides students with an unmatched education shaped by intellectual rigor, research, inclusivity, and the drive to generate new knowledge that will benefit people and communities everywhere.

Latest About University of Pennsylvania  

An enthusiastic On Thursday, August 22, the Class of 2028 convened at The Palestra for the "Building the Penn Community" event of New Student Orientation. During this event, first-year students were introduced to Penn's civic engagement resources and cultural centers, and they participated in talks about intercultural dialogue given by faculty, staff, and students. Penn Spirit Day included a mid-afternoon program. 

Highlights of University of Pennsylvania

History of University of Pennsylvania

Penn was founded in 1740 when an idea to construct a charity school and house of worship in Philadelphia first surfaced. Benjamin Franklin penned his well-known essay, "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth," published it in 1749, distributed it to prominent Philadelphians, and gathered 24 trustees to establish a school of higher education based on his ideas. After purchasing the building, the organization established the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania, welcoming students from both the working class and the gentry. This was done in 1751. Franklin presided over the organization as president until 1755 and remained a trustee until his passing in 1790.

In the years that followed, Penn established the first medical school in the American colonies (1765), graduated its first class (1757), applied for a collegiate charter (1755), and was later recognized as the first university in the country (1779). The University moved to a new campus in 1802, but by the 1860s had outgrown even that location. As a result, the trustees constructed a new campus in West Philadelphia, a streetcar suburb, in 1872.

Mission: The pursuit, advancement, and diffusion of knowledge as well as the unrestricted interchange of ideas required to achieve this aim constitute the core missions of the University of Pennsylvania.

Vision: From now on, Penn's only goal will be to support academic and research achievement.

Core values: The core values of Penn establishes their organization's principles and guide the way they do everything, including their culture and procedures.

• Excellence: This is what they will aim for, and they will do it by being inventive and creative.
• Integrity: They pledge to uphold truthfulness, equity, and intellectual honesty.
• Diversity: They will promote ethnic, social, cultural, and intellectual diversity.

Popular Courses

At the University of Pennsylvania, the most popular programs are: engineering; computer and information sciences and support services; multi/interdisciplinary studies; physical sciences; biology and biomedical sciences; health professions and related programs; business, management, marketing, and related support services; social sciences; and philosophy and religious studies. 

University of Pennsylvania Placements

For its 2022 graduating class, the University of Pennsylvania, or UPenn, reports an overall employment rate of 78%. The consulting industry saw the highest recruitments, placing over 100 students, while the overall median income was reported at USD 80,000. About 38 pupils participated in the administration industry in terms of function. In 2022, the University of Pennsylvania's placement rate was 94.1%. This year, the Upenn starting pay for Financial Services was $85,000 USD.

University of Pennsylvania Campus Life

Enjoy a stroll along Locust Walk, have a conversation with Ben while sitting on the Bench, support the Quakers, and immerse yourself in Penn's numerous distinctive and age-old customs. You can take part in multicultural, artistic, political, and social activities that apply what you've learned. Culture and the arts are deeply ingrained in Penn life, from the unique museums on campus to the outstanding student performances in theater, dance, and music. 

University of Pennsylvania Alumni

The notable alumni of the University of Pennsylvania are Donald Trump, Elon Musk, John Legend, Beau Biden, and many more. 

University of Pennsylvania Faculty

The approximately 5,000 faculties at UPenn are visible, friendly, and easily accessible on campus. Some of them have made the decision to live in the College Houses with undergraduates, demonstrating their dedication to our students beyond the classroom.

Founded by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University is one of the most prestigious Ivy League institutions in Ithaca, New York. It stands out not only for its academic excellence but also for its comprehensive approach to higher education, offering over 100 fields of study across 14 colleges and schools. 

Cornell's acceptance rate is 8%, with an enrollment of more than 16,000 undergraduate students and a diverse international presence. The university has a student-to-faculty ratio 9:1, ensuring a highly personalized learning experience.

Cornell is also one of the wealthiest universities in the U.S., with an endowment surpassing $10.7 billion. This financial strength supports modern research, world-class faculty, and extensive scholarship opportunities for students.

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. 

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is one of the oldest and most respected public universities in the UK. Ranked #27 in the QS World Rankings 2025, it welcomes over 51% international students. Edinburgh offers more than 700 programs across undergraduate and postgraduate levels. 

With an average graduate salary of £49,500 (INR 55.9L) and a placement rate of 86%, the university stands out for its academic strength and global student support.

Founded in 1946, Australian National University (ANU) is a leading public university situated in Canberra, Australia. With more than 350 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees, the university has seven colleges that offer courses in various disciplines. Consistent higher rankings, cutting-edge curriculum, and modern pedagogy with a vision to uplift society are the features that make Australian National University one of the sought-after study abroad destinations. 

McGill University is one of the reputed and leading public universities in Montreal, Canada. The university is well established and offers state-of-art and world-class education and research facilities for postgraduate, undergraduate, and doctoral programs. The excellent education system makes McGill University a ranked university with a competitive acceptance rate of 47% (as per EduRank). To be a part of McGill University, international students need to meet the admission requirements and eligibility criteria completely. 

https://www.mcgill.ca/about/#:~:text=McGill%20University%20is%20one%20of,of%20any%20Canadian%20research%20university.

The University of Manchester in the UK is located towards the southern end of the city center in Manchester, encompassing Oxford Road and Sackville Street, the earlier homes of the Victoria University and UMIST respectively. The University of Manchester is a public research university known for its checkered history. Around 25 Nobel Prize winners have studied or worked at the institution while the atom was first split here by Ernest Rutherford. Alan Turing invented artificial intelligence here while the first stored-program computer in the world was made at the university. The university is known for its Square Kilometer Array, the biggest radio telescope in the world, and also the Jodrell Bank observatory with its Lovell Telescope. 

The University was founded in its current avatar in 2004 through the fusion of the UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology) and the Victoria University of Manchester. After collaborating for 100 years, the institutions merged on 22nd October 2004, creating the biggest single-site UK University. 

The University of Manchester ranking is 1 in THE (Times Higher Education) University Impact Rankings and 27 (World) in the QS World University Rankings for 2021. It is ranked at 35 in the World in the Academic Rankings of World Universities (2021). THE has ranked it at 50 (World) in its 2022 rankings. 

The University of Toronto was founded in 1827. It is considered one of the world’s top research-intensive universities. It is a public research institution located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university presumed its present name in 1850 after becoming a secular institution. The university comprises eleven colleges and operates three campuses: St. George, Mississauga (in the West), and Scarborough (in the East).

Over the years, the school has progressed into Canada’s paramount institution of learning, discovery, and innovation. It has a significant footprint both in Canada and around the world. It hosts the idea of bringing together top minds from every plausible background and discipline to collaborate on the world’s most dire challenges. 

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. 

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.

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

Established in 1949, the University of New South Wales is a prestigious member of Australia's Group of Eight, renowned for its academic excellence and strong industry connections. The university offers over 400 undergraduate and postgraduate programs, attracting more than 70,238 students, including approximately 24,852 international students from over 130 countries.

It consistently ranks among the top 20 universities globally for employer reputation (QS), with alumni such as Scott Farquhar (Atlassian co-founder) and Clover Moore (Lord Mayor of Sydney). This blog provides an overview of 2025 admissions, application deadlines, tuition, scholarships, and placement opportunities.

But before going into specifics, let’s explore what sets the University of New South Wales apart:

Note: The tuition fee is calculated as the average for top courses.

Exploring your options at UNSW? If you’re unsure where to begin, book a free 1:1 session for support, and upGrad’s advisors will guide you through courses, admissions, tuition, and scholarships.

Having covered a brief overview of UNSW, it’s time to go through its global rankings. This will give you a clearer picture of how the university stands internationally and its recognition in key academic areas.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a leading public research university consistently ranked among the top 40 globally and 3rd in Canada (QS World Rankings 2024). Established in 1908, UBC boasts a diverse student population of over 65,000, comprising more than 20,000 international students from 160 countries. The university offers 200+ undergraduate and 300+ graduate programs across disciplines such as STEM, business, arts, and health sciences.