Top 5 US Universities to Study Humanities

A Humanities degree is highly versatile and can lay the foundation for a broad range of careers and post-graduate opportunities. Perfect for students hoping to pursue a career in communication, the arts, or history — as well as students whose path isn’t as defined yet — the Humanities offer a well-rounded, interdisciplinary education.

The information in this blog comes from our Top 5 US and UK University Rankings eBook, which explores some of the world’s top-ranking universities in five popular subject areas including medicine, law and more. Download the eBook to read fast facts, admissions stats, and interesting tidbits about each university!

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The Humanities include languages, literature, history, the arts, and many other disciplines pertaining to human existence and the human condition. Majors in the Humanities typically encourage critical thinking and cultural understanding, with a broad approach to the subject matter they cover and a wide variety of courses on offer. Often students with a knack for reading and writing find themselves studying the Humanities.

On the flip side, for many students heading to US universities, post-graduation plans are far from the top of mind. At 18 years old, it’s not uncommon to be undecided on the career path you’ll want to pursue after finishing your degree! The Humanities can also be a great choice for this type of student, as they offer a more expansive path of study for people whose interests are too broad to decide on a specific trajectory just yet.

The following five universities are known all over the world for their undergraduate Humanities programs, with renowned professors, expansive literary and artistic resources, and an unmatched appreciation for cultural influence. Read on to learn more about the five highest ranking universities the US for studying the Humanities:

1. Stanford University
2. Harvard University
3. Princeton University
4. Yale University
5. University of California, Los Angeles

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Stanford University

Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences offers a whopping 48 undergraduate majors and 59 undergraduate minors from Art History and Film and Media Studies to Comparative Literature and Music, Science and Technology.

Did you know? Stanford Humanities graduates over the last 20 years have since assumed roles as CEOs, Chiefs of Staff, TV Directors and Producers, and countless others!

Harvard University

Harvard’s Arts and Humanities division contains 21 departments dedicated to exploring every aspect of human culture, from literature, philosophy, and religion, to architecture, languages, and music.

Did you know? Harvard, founded in 1635, is the oldest university in the US and has educated seven US presidents!

Princeton University

Princeton’s Humanities department, like Stanford’s, encompasses 48 areas of study from straightforward topics like Journalism and Philosophy to more obscure ones like Musicology and Values and Public Life.

Did you know? At Princeton, every class has a reunion every year — and 26,000 alumni, family and friends attend reunions each year!

Yale University

The Humanities Program at Yale offers a Humanities Major which allows students to integrate courses from across humanistic disciplines. After exposure to a wide range of such disciplines, each student devises a unique concentration to develop into an original senior thesis.

Did you know? 21% of Yale students are international, representing 120 countries. The most-represented countries are China, Canada, India, South Korea, UK and Germany!

University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA’s College of Humanities offers 46 majors including 15 languages and 11 Linguistics variations. It also has 34 minors and 33 graduate programs, with 2,828 students enrolled in Humanities alone.

Did you know? UCLA’s award-winning newspaper, the Daily Bruin, is the third most circulated newspaper in Los Angeles and has been consistently ranked as the top college newspaper in the country!

Are you interested in studying the Humanities at a leading US university? Crimson is the world’s leading university admissions support company specializing in helping students gain entry to the most competitive universities in the US and UK, starting with identifying the best-fit universities for each student’s goals, interests and priorities. To learn how Crimson can help you explore opportunities at top universities, schedule a free consultation with one of our expert academic advisors today.