• Home
• Find Philosophy Graduate Programs
• Philosophy Rankings
• Universities
• About the Guide

• Step 1: Choose field
• Step 2: Set priorities
• Step 3: Your ranking of Philosophy programs

• Choosing a program
• Your application
• Taking the GRE
• Funding / Scholarships
• Other rankings
• Should you go?
• Graduate assistantships

The rankings below have been generated just for you using the priorities you set on this page. You can change your priorities or get rankings for a different field.

How to Read Your Ranking

• Programs are ranked by their score, a weighted sum of the items you chose. (Details)
• Descriptions of each item are listed at the bottom of the page. (You can also see a description by mousing over items at the top of the table.)
• Your weight for each item is shown beneath the item at the top of the table. Weights range in magnitude from 0 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
• A positive weight means that you prefer larger values for the item. A negative weight means that you prefer smaller values for the item.
• Green values are at least one standard deviation better than the mean. Red values are at least one standard deviation worse than the mean.
• Data sources can be found below.

Do you think these rankings are useful? If so, you can help spread the word by linking to phds.org from your own site or blog.
Here is a direct link to your ranking.
Here are some other ways to help us.

Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
1.	Philosophy, Cornell University	43.9	5.9	100%	4.1	4.1	2.0	15	2.1	27%	710	675
2.	Philosophy, Princeton University	38.8	6.2	89%	4.6	4.9	7.0	16	2.1	11%	745	735
3.	Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology	38.6	5.0	64%	3.9	4.0	2.8	11	2.6	14%	770	730
4.	Philosophy, Stanford University	33.3	5.7	76%	4.0	4.2	3.6	18	2.9	12%	735	720
5.	Philosophy, Harvard University	33.1	7.3	78%	3.8	4.7	3.4	14	3.1	9%	745	745
6.	Philosophy, Brown University	27.0	6.7	67%	3.6	3.8	3.4	13	2.0	15%	725	710
7.	Philosophy, University of California-Berkeley	25.4	7.7	92%	3.7	4.7	5.2	16	2.1	25%	685	645
8.	Philosophy, Washington University in St Louis	21.8	5.5	84%	2.5	2.4	2.4	14	2.6	19%	730	710
9.	Philosophy, University of Rochester	21.3	5.1	66%*	3.0	3.0	1.6	13	2.4	46%	670	650
10.	Philosophy, University of Southern California	20.1	5.2	66%*	2.7	2.9	2.2	13	2.3	27%	690	665
11.	Philosophy, University of California-Los Angeles	17.4	8.5	75%	4.0	4.4	3.2	25	1.8	23%	665	630
12.	Philosophy, University of California-San Diego	17.2	7.2	77%	3.5	3.8	3.0	18	2.2	39%	655	605
13.	Philosophy, Duke University	17.0	6.0	71%	2.6	2.4	3.6	11	1.9	22%	725	705
14.	Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh-Main Campus	16.1	7.9	78%	4.4	4.7	3.6	30	2.0	49%	625	610
15.	Philosophy, University of Arizona	15.6	6.2	92%	3.7	4.0	4.4	19	1.9	88%	565	560
16.	Philosophy, Rice University	15.5	7.7	67%	2.8	2.7	2.6	11	1.6	25%	725	710
17.	Philosophy, Northwestern University	14.3	7.0	67%	3.0	3.2	2.8	21	1.7	30%	715	695
18.	Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania	12.2	6.9	68%	3.0	3.2	5.2	15	2.4	21%	725	705
19.	Philosophy, University of Maryland-College Park	11.4	5.9	64%	2.7	2.9	1.6	22	1.2	49%	650	625
20.	Philosophy, University of Chicago	10.8	8.2	82%	3.4	3.9	5.6	20	3.0	40%	715	725
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
21.	Philosophy, New York University	9.4	7.2*	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.2	17*	2.8*	37%	665	665
22.	Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	9.0	7.2	75%	3.4	3.7	5.4	20	2.4	36%	650	640
23.	Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University	8.7	7.2*	66%*	1.7	2.3	1.2	13	1.0	39%	720	660
24.	Philosophy, Trinity College of the Bible and Trinity Theological Seminary	7.4	7.2*	68%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.2	17*	2.8*	36%	633*	616*
25.	Philosophy, Syracuse University	7.3	7.8	71%	3.5	3.3	2.2	20	2.3	65%	620	595
26.	Philosophy, University of Illinois at Chicago	7.2	7.4	63%	3.3	3.5	2.2	17	2.2	58%	605	570
27.	Philosophy, University of Memphis	6.5	4.9	86%	2.8*	2.8*	3.4	17*	2.8*	71%	538	530
28.	Philosophy, SUNY at Albany	6.2	5.7	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.4	17*	2.8*	56%	575	555
29.	Philosophy, University of New Mexico-Main Campus	5.6	5.2	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.0	17*	2.8*	74%	535	540
30.	Philosophy, University of Virginia-Main Campus	5.4	5.7	45%*	2.4	2.4	1.8	11	3.1	38%	670	655
31.	Philosophy, University of Florida	5.3	7.2*	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.2	17*	2.8*	57%	640	620
32.	Philosophy, Rutgers University-New Brunswick/Piscataway	5.1	7.1	93%	3.4	3.8	5.8	28	2.1	61%	615	580
33.	Philosophy, University of Utah	5.0	6.9	71%	2.8*	2.8*	1.2	17*	2.8*	86%	633*	616*
34.	Philosophy, University of California-Irvine	4.5	7.0	59%	3.0	3.3	3.4	12	2.7	52%	620	580
34.	Philosophy, University of Missouri-Columbia	4.5	5.7	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	2.0	17*	2.8*	83%	595	600
36.	Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University	4.3	9.7	92%	3.0	3.0	4.8	9	4.2	35%	705	680
36.	Philosophy, University of Massachusetts-Amherst	4.3	7.7	86%	3.4	3.4	2.8	15	4.1	80%	575	565
38.	Philosophy, University of Notre Dame	3.8	6.9	74%	3.6	3.7	7.2	33	2.0	32%	700	685
39.	Philosophy, University of South Florida	3.4	6.9	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.6	17*	2.8*	28%	565	555
40.	Philosophy, University of Miami	3.3	7.9	67%	2.6	2.2	2.4	8	2.3	46%	640	620
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
41.	Philosophy, Chicago Theological Seminary	2.8	7.2*	68%*	2.8*	2.8*	2.4	17*	2.8*	54%*	633*	616*
42.	Philosophy, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	2.3	7.2*	68%*	2.8*	2.8*	2.6	17*	2.8*	54%*	633*	616*
42.	Philosophy, University of Connecticut	2.3	8.2	82%	2.8*	2.8*	2.0	17*	2.8*	51%	600	585
44.	Philosophy, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus	2.0	6.9	69%	2.8*	2.8*	2.2	17*	2.8*	86%	633*	616*
45.	Philosophy, Saint Louis University-Main Campus	1.3	6.2	75%	2.5	1.8	3.8	17	0.5	76%	610	600
46.	Philosophy, Villanova University	1.2	6.0	50%*	2.8*	2.8*	3.0	17*	2.8*	51%	645	620
47.	Philosophy, University of Dallas	1.1	7.7	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.0	17*	2.8*	81%	595	640
47.	Philosophy, University of St Thomas	1.1	7.2*	68%*	2.8*	2.8*	0.6	17*	2.8*	92%	580	585
49.	Philosophy, Columbia University in the City of New York	0.7	7.7	64%	2.9	3.2	5.6	17	4.4	13%	725	715
49.	Philosophy, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	0.7	7.9	79%	2.8*	2.8*	4.4	17*	2.8*	57%	680	640
51.	Philosophy, Vanderbilt University	0.0	6.3	56%	3.0	2.6	5.2	15	3.9	35%	695	675
51.	Philosophy, Yale University	0.0	7.5	50%	1.9	1.9	2.6	14	2.4	10%	740	740
53.	Philosophy, University of California-Davis	-0.1	7.9	70%	2.8*	2.8*	1.8	17*	2.8*	55%	615	565
54.	Philosophy, Ohio State University-Main Campus	-0.5	7.3	94%	3.1	3.2	3.4	36	1.5	73%	580	560
55.	Philosophy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	-0.6	7.2	71%	2.8	2.8	4.0	22	2.1	68%	675	615
56.	Philosophy, Georgetown University	-0.7	9.3	75%	2.8	2.5	3.0	26	1.9	21%	695	695
56.	Philosophy, University of South Carolina-Columbia	-0.7	6.6	64%	2.8*	2.8*	2.4	17*	2.8*	67%	580	570
58.	Philosophy, University of Arkansas Main Campus	-0.9	7.2*	66%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.2	17*	2.8*	87%	580	575
58.	Philosophy, University of California-Santa Barbara	-0.9	7.7	91%	2.0	2.5	2.4	11	4.0	53%	600	580
60.	Philosophy, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	-2.9	8.2	71%	3.0	3.0	3.8	22	1.9	70%	630	600
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
61.	Philosophy, Tulane University of Louisiana	-3.2	6.5	45%	2.1	1.9	1.6	11	3.7	45%	680	670
62.	Philosophy, Florida State University	-3.9	6.1	60%	1.9	2.0	2.0	10	2.8	62%	585	575
63.	Philosophy, Indiana University-Bloomington	-4.3	6.9	67%	3.1	3.1	4.0	17	3.0	85%	560	550
64.	Philosophy, University of Cincinnati-Main Campus	-4.7	7.2*	66%*	2.0	1.6	0.8	10	1.7	77%	565	545
65.	Philosophy, University of Georgia	-5.0	7.2*	66%*	1.8	1.9	2.0	14	1.9	62%	615	610
66.	Philosophy, DePaul University	-5.4	7.7	67%	2.8*	2.8*	2.6	17*	2.8*	69%	555	566
67.	Philosophy, Emory University	-5.8	7.1	58%	3.0	2.5	7.4	14	3.3	39%	700	680
68.	Philosophy, University of Nebraska at Lincoln	-7.0	7.2	55%*	2.4	2.1	2.0	10	3.3	75%	605	595
69.	Philosophy, University of Iowa	-7.2	8.2	73%	2.7	2.2	2.2	11	4.0	84%	600	585
70.	Philosophy, University of Washington-Seattle Campus	-7.9	10.0	78%	2.8*	2.8*	2.6	17*	2.8*	67%	610	590
71.	Philosophy, University of Colorado at Boulder	-8.5	6.9	72%	2.8*	2.8*	5.8	17*	2.8*	88%	600	580
72.	Philosophy, SUNY at Binghamton	-8.8	6.3	45%	2.8*	2.8*	6.4	17*	2.8*	43%	650	615
73.	Philosophy, University of California-Riverside	-9.8	8.0	67%	2.6	2.6	2.6	19	2.1	74%	565	510
74.	Philosophy, Purdue University-Main Campus	-11.0	6.3	59%	2.8*	2.8*	5.8	17*	2.8*	85%	590	555
75.	Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus	-11.2	6.2	66%	2.2	2.1	6.2	14	2.7	58%	610	580
76.	Philosophy, Michigan State University	-11.7	6.8	67%	2.2	1.9	3.2	25	1.0	76%	585	555
77.	Philosophy, Marquette University	-12.2	6.7	50%	2.8*	2.8*	5.8	17*	2.8*	70%	600	595
78.	Philosophy, Boston College	-12.4	7.7	61%	2.4	2.1	4.8	22	3.3	31%	680	655
79.	Philosophy, Boston University	-13.1	7.3	57%	2.9	3.1	8.2	22	2.6	55%	655	645
80.	Philosophy, Stony Brook University	-13.6	6.7	52%	2.4	2.3	4.0	24	2.3	51%	610	570
Rank	Department	Your Score	Yrs (-4)	Job (4)	Ed Eff (5)	Fac Qual (5)	Deg / Yr (-5)	# Fac (-4)	Stu / Fac (-5)	UG Acc (-2)	SAT-M (2)	SAT-V (2)
Adjust your weights →			-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+	-+
81.	Philosophy, Wayne State University	-14.0	8.2	14%*	2.8*	2.8*	1.0	17*	2.8*	63%	633*	616*
82.	Philosophy, University of Kansas Main Campus	-16.4	8.2	38%	2.7	2.1	3.8	16	2.3	69%	633*	616*
83.	Philosophy, Temple University	-17.0	7.4	53%	2.4	2.3	4.0	14	3.3	63%	550	540
84.	Philosophy, The University of Texas at Austin	-18.0	8.2	57%	3.0	3.2	6.2	37	1.6	51%	630	605
85.	Philosophy, CUNY Graduate School and University Center	-18.4	8.5	67%	2.8	3.5	6.4	32	3.4	54%*	633*	616*
86.	Philosophy, The University of Tennessee	-18.6	7.7	69%	1.1	1.3	3.2	11	2.4	44%	555	555
87.	Philosophy, SUNY at Buffalo	-20.9	7.0	56%	2.2	2.2	6.4	19	2.8	56%	595	565
88.	Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison	-22.4	7.7	51%	3.1	3.3	7.2	26	4.8	71%	650	615
89.	Philosophy, University of Kentucky	-23.2	7.7	36%*	1.7	1.6	2.2	16	1.7	79%	575	565
90.	Philosophy, Catholic University of America	-24.9	8.7	57%	2.6	2.2	4.6	15	4.4	82%	565	580
91.	Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago	-27.6	8.0	40%	2.5	2.3	4.2	29	2.6	74%	585	590
92.	Philosophy, University of Hawaii at Manoa	-29.3	8.2	53%	1.1	1.8	4.4	13	2.6	65%	570	535
93.	Philosophy, University of Oregon	-30.7	7.5	40%	1.3	1.5	4.0	9	3.1	91%	560	555
94.	Philosophy, Southern Illinois University Carbondale	-31.2	6.9	33%*	1.2	1.4	4.6	13	1.1	77%	520	520
95.	Philosophy, Fordham University	-32.2	6.8	63%	2.2	1.8	5.6	13	9.5	50%	590	600
96.	Philosophy, The New School	-39.6	8.7	49%	2.8*	2.8*	13.6	17*	2.8*	51%	560	565
97.	Philosophy, Duquesne University	-40.5	9.5	60%	1.7	1.3	5.2	9	6.0	80%	565	560
98.	Philosophy, Claremont Graduate University	-42.0	9.7	73%	1.6	1.1	2.0	3	13.3	54%*	633*	616*

Unranked Philosophy Graduate Schools

Item Descriptions

Your Score

Your customized program score is a weighted sum of points for each item. The weights were selected on this page. For an item with importance weight W, a program receives W × S points for being S standard deviations above average. Larger values are better.

Years to Degree (Yrs)

Median time lapse from entering graduate school at the doctorate-granting institution to receipt of doctorate in years. Note that time spent obtaining a master's degree at a different institution is not counted. Your weight = -4. Smaller values are better. (SED, 2000-2004)

Placement Rate (Job)

Percentage of doctorate recipients from the program with definite plans at graduation (either a job or a postdoctoral position). Your weight = 4. Larger values are better. (SED, 2000-2004)

Educational Effectiveness (Ed Eff)

Program effectiveness in educating research scholars and scientists, 1993. Scale of 0 to 5, with 0 denoting "Not Effective" and 5 denoting "Extremely Effective." Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Faculty Quality (Fac Qual)

Scholarly quality of program faculty, 1993. Scale of 0 to 5, with 0 denoting "Not sufficient for doctoral education" and 5 denoting "Distinguished." Your weight = 5. Larger values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Doctorates Granted per Year (Deg / Yr)

The average number of doctorates granted by the program per year between 2001 and 2005. Your weight = -5. Smaller values are better. (IPEDS, 2001-2005)

Number of Faculty (# Fac)

Total number of faculty participating in the program. Your weight = -4. Smaller values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Grad Student / Faculty Ratio (Stu / Fac)

The number of graduate students per faculty member. Your weight = -5. Smaller values are better. (NRC, 1995)

Undergraduate Acceptance Rate (UG Acc)

The percentage of applicants the institution accepts into its undergraduate programs. Your weight = -2. Smaller values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Math SAT Score (SAT-M)

The average of the 25th and 75th percentile mathematics SAT scores for undergraduates at the institution. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Verbal SAT Score (SAT-V)

The average of the 25th and 75th percentile verbal SAT scores for undergraduates at the institution. Your weight = 2. Larger values are better. (IPEDS, 2005)

Missing Values

Missing values have been replaced with the average value for all programs in the field.

Data Sources

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

IPEDS is an annual, comprehensive set of surveys of all colleges and universities in the United States. The surveys are conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.  Learn more

National Research Council

The National Research Council conducts assessments of doctoral programs in the United States every 10 to 15 years). The data we use are from the most recent assessment, the 1995 study Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change. Learn more about the NRC study's methods here; order a copy here. The next NRC assessment is scheduled for release in Summer 2009.  Learn more

Survey of Earned Doctorates

The NSF/NIH/NEH/USED/USDA/NASA Survey of Earned Doctorates is an annual survey of all new recipients of doctorates from US universities at graduation. The average of the response rates for the 2000–2004 surveys was 92%.  Learn more

Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering

The Survey is an annual assessment of the number and characteristics of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in science, engineering, and health-related fields. It is conducted by the National Science Foundation.  Learn more