Top 10 universities in the world for arts and humanities 2024
Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world for arts and humanities degrees
Deciding where to study an arts or humanities degree is not easy, with hundreds of options all over the world.
But 691 of the top universities for arts and humanities have been ranked in the Times Higher Education arts and humanities ranking 2024. So where should you go to pursue your arts or humanities major?
About a fifth of the best arts and humanities schools are in the US, but a number of European countries are also well represented in the ranking; the top 100 includes a significant number of British, German and Dutch institutions.
Best universities in Australia for arts and humanities degrees
Best universities in Canada for arts and humanities degrees
Best universities in the UK for arts and humanities degrees
Best universities in the US for arts and humanities degrees
If you’re hoping to study for a humanities degree in Canada or Australia, these countries offer a choice of 26 and 28 universities respectively, and there are more than 60 institutions across Asia.
Times Higher Education’s subject tables are based on the same 18 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings 2024. However, the methodology is carefully recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields. The full methodology can be found here.
Arts and humanities degrees covered in the ranking include history, literature, philosophy, languages and architecture (scroll down for a full list of subjects and what you can do with them).
Top 5 universities for arts and humanities degrees
5. Harvard University
The arts and humanities division at Harvard University consists of 15 departments, four interdisciplinary undergraduate degree programmes and several secondary fields.
Courses available cover a wide range of subjects, including art, music, visual studies, theatre, English and many more. It is also one of the top universities to study law in the US.
The arts and humanities student board is an opportunity for undergraduates to be involved in developing programmes and initiatives for students with the department.
The division organises a student art crawl where students can explore the art galleries on Harvard’s campus.
The humanities division at the University of Oxford includes the faculties of music, history, classics, theology and religion, and English language and literature.
There are about 20,000 students at the university, more than a third of whom are international. Students belong to a college, where undergraduates take the majority of their classes with just a few of their peers and a college tutor.
In line with the British higher education system, students entering Oxford are admitted for a specific course (in contrast to US institutions, where students can take a variety of courses before declaring their major).
It is possible for undergraduates to study joint degrees, such as philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) – a course for which Oxford is particularly well known – and combinations of arts and sciences.
Many writers, actors, composers and other prominent personalities in arts and culture dating back to the 14th century are Oxford graduates, including the novelists J. R. R. Tolkien and Graham Greene and the satirist Jonathan Swift.
The University of Cambridge is regularly ranked as a top university across a wide range of subjects.
More than 23,000 students are enrolled at the university across 31 colleges.
The School of Arts and Humanities teaches a variety of subjects, from Asian and Middle Eastern studies to the history of art. Many research projects are collaborative and inform student learning at all levels.
Recent projects have explored flamenco dance and its cultural significance, and an undergraduate scheme used architectural techniques to develop local allotments.
Notable Cambridge alumni in the arts and humanities include the philosopher Bertrand Russell, the artist Quentin Blake and the dramatist Christopher Marlowe.
What can you do with an archaeology degree?
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What can you do with an art degree?
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What can you do with a history degree?
What can you do with a linguistics degree?
What can you do with a languages degree?
What can you do with a philosophy degree?
What can you do with an English literature degree?
What can you do with an English language degree?
What can you do with a theology degree?
Although it is known as a leading university in science and technology teaching, MIT also provides courses across the arts and humanities.
These include anthropology, history, linguistics, literature, media arts and sciences, and music and theatre arts.
When the School of Architecture and Planning opened in 1868, it had the first department of architecture in the US; today, it is still known for commissioning progressive buildings on campus.
MIT has five libraries, three of which are dedicated to the arts and humanities – the Hayden Library (humanities and sciences), the Lewis Music Library, and the Rotch Library (art, architecture and planning). These libraries contain many notable collections, such as the Lewis’ resources on 20th- and 21st-century music, hip hop and electronic music.
MIT is affiliated with many thought leaders in the arts and humanities, including the linguist Noam Chomsky, who is Institute Professor and professor of linguistics (emeritus) at the university. The institution has produced six Pulitzer winners, and four current or former faculty are members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
The School of Humanities and Sciences awards 63 per cent of all Stanford undergraduate degrees and almost 40 per cent of doctorates. Stanford University is also one of the top destinations for law degrees in the US.
When the university was established, the Stanford family said that its aim was to educate “cultured and useful citizens”, and the university still counts its humanities courses as the “soul” of a Stanford education.
Recent achievements in the school include a complex study of race and ethnicity, an online course on classical music appreciation and an award-winning radio show hosted by Stanford philosophy professors.
Stanford is based near Palo Alto, known as Silicon Valley because of its density of high-tech and start-up companies. The spirit of entrepreneurship in the area was encouraged by the university itself in the early 20th century, and many Stanford students and graduates are involved at the highest levels with the world’s most influential technology companies.
Many of the students live in campus residences, near the university’s academic buildings, museums and recreation spaces.
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Best universities for arts and humanities 2024
Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile
Arts and humanities rank 2024 | Arts and humanities rank 2023 | University | Country/region |
1 | 1 | Stanford University | United States |
2 | 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | United States |
3 | 3 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
4 | 4 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
5 | 5 | Harvard University | United States |
6 | 6 | UCL | United Kingdom |
7 | 8 | University of California, Berkeley | United States |
8 | 7 | Princeton University | United States |
9 | 12 | Yale University | United States |
=10 | 10 | The University of Chicago | United States |
=10 | 11 | Columbia University | United States |
12 | 9 | University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
13 | 15 | University of Toronto | Canada |
14 | 14 | University of California, Los Angeles | United States |
15 | 13 | LMU Munich | Germany |
16 | =16 | New York University | United States |
17 | =16 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
18 | 20 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | United States |
19 | 24 | Humboldt University of Berlin | Germany |
20 | 23 | King’s College London | United Kingdom |
21 | 22 | KU Leuven | Belgium |
22 | 19 | Delft University of Technology | Netherlands |
23 | 21 | Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris | France |
24 | 26 | Leiden University | Netherlands |
25 | 28 | University of Amsterdam | Netherlands |
26 | 27 | National University of Singapore | Singapore |
27 | 36 | University of Vienna | Austria |
28 | 18 | Peking University | China |
29 | 51 | Sorbonne University | France |
30 | 29 | University of Tübingen | Germany |
31 | 25 | Cornell University | United States |
32 | =31 | Free University of Berlin | Germany |
33 | 34 | ETH Zurich | Switzerland |
34 | =37 | Tsinghua University | China |
=35 | =31 | Duke University | United States |
=35 | =37 | London School of Economics and Political Science | United Kingdom |
37 | 35 | Universität Heidelberg | Germany |
38 | 41 | University of Melbourne | Australia |
39 | 33 | Durham University | United Kingdom |
40 | 39 | University of Sydney | Australia |
=41 | 43 | Aarhus University | Denmark |
=41 | 45 | Johns Hopkins University | United States |
=43 | 42 | Lancaster University | United Kingdom |
=43 | 65 | Sapienza University of Rome | Italy |
45 | 46 | University of St Andrews | United Kingdom |
47 | 47 | University of Groningen | Netherlands |
48 | 44 | McGill University | Canada |
49 | =69 | University of Manchester | United Kingdom |
50 | 40 | Australian National University | Australia |
51 | 50 | University of York | United Kingdom |
52 | 54 | Monash University | Australia |
53 | 57 | University of Helsinki | Finland |
=54 | =67 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
=54 | 30 | University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
=56 | 94 | University of Bologna | Italy |
=56 | 75 | University of Copenhagen | Denmark |
=56 | =63 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus | United States |
59 | =55 | University of Texas at Austin | United States |
60 | 52 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
61 | =55 | University of Warwick | United Kingdom |
62 | 62 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
63 | 48 | Brown University | United States |
64 | 58 | Panthéon-Sorbonne University – Paris 1 | France |
65 | 77 | University of Oslo | Norway |
66 | =67 | University of Notre Dame | United States |
67 | 90 | University of Birmingham | United Kingdom |
68 | 49 | Rutgers University – New Brunswick | United States |
69 | =78 | University of Leeds | United Kingdom |
70 | 61 | Birkbeck, University of London | United Kingdom |
=70 | =69 | University of California, San Diego | United States |
=70 | 66 | University of Zurich | Switzerland |
72 | 95 | Autonomous University of Barcelona | Spain |
73 | 101–125 | University of Massachusetts | United States |
74 | 76 | University of Sheffield | United Kingdom |
75 | =83 | University of Bristol | United Kingdom |
76 | =69 | University of Freiburg | Germany |
=77 | =69 | Carnegie Mellon University | United States |
=77 | =63 | SOAS University of London | United Kingdom |
79 | =96 | Université Catholique de Louvain | Belgium |
80 | 74 | University of Washington | United States |
81 | 85 | University of Cologne | Germany |
82 | 101–125 | University of Exeter | United Kingdom |
83 | 82 | University of California, Santa Barbara | United States |
84 | 80 | Ghent University | Belgium |
85 | =92 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | United States |
86 | 88 | Politecnico di Milano | Italy |
=87 | 151–175 | University of Barcelona | Spain |
=87 | 101–125 | Trinity College Dublin | Ireland |
=89 | 73 | Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Hong Kong |
=89 | =83 | Lund University | Sweden |
=89 | 89 | Northwestern University | United States |
92 | =78 | Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
93 | 126–150 | Indiana University | United States |
94 | 101–125 | Stockholm University | Sweden |
95 | 126–150 | Complutense University of Madrid | Spain |
96 | 101–125 | University of California, Irvine | United States |
97 | =96 | Radboud University Nijmegen | Netherlands |
=98 | 101–125 | University of Geneva | Switzerland |
=98 | =92 | University of Hamburg | Germany |
=100 | 60 | Michigan State University | United States |
=100 | 87 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | Netherlands |
101–125 | 126–150 | Aalto University | Finland |
101–125 | 100 | University of Arizona | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Auckland | New Zealand |
101–125 | 126–150 | Cardiff University | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 81 | Georgetown University | United States |
101–125 | 151–175 | Goethe University Frankfurt | Germany |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of Göttingen | Germany |
101–125 | 101–125 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Israel |
101–125 | 151–175 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Kyoto University | Japan |
101–125 | 101–125 | Macquarie University | Australia |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of Minnesota | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Montreal | Canada |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Münster | Germany |
101–125 | 101–125 | Nanyang Technological University, Singapore | Singapore |
101–125 | 126–150 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Queen Mary University of London | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Reading | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of São Paulo | Brazil |
101–125 | 101–125 | University of Southampton | United Kingdom |
101–125 | 98 | University of Southern California | United States |
101–125 | 101–125 | Tongji University | China |
101–125 | 99 | UNSW Sydney | Australia |
101–125 | 101–125 | Uppsala University | Sweden |
101–125 | 126–150 | University of Virginia (Main campus) | United States |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Basel | Switzerland |
126–150 | 101–125 | University of Bern | Switzerland |
126–150 | 126–150 | Boston University | United States |
126–150 | 176–200 | University of Campinas | Brazil |
126–150 | 126–150 | City University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong |
126–150 | 126–150 | Eindhoven University of Technology | Netherlands |
126–150 | 126–150 | Emory University | United States |
126–150 | 101–125 | Goldsmiths, University of London | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Konstanz | Germany |
126–150 | 86 | University of Maryland, College Park | United States |
126–150 | 101–125 | University of Nottingham | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 151–175 | University of Padua | Italy |
126–150 | 101–125 | Université Paris Cité | France |
126–150 | 151–175 | Penn State (Main campus) | United States |
126–150 | 176–200 | Pompeu Fabra University | Spain |
126–150 | 126–150 | University of Potsdam | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | Queen’s University Belfast | United Kingdom |
126–150 | 91 | The University of Queensland | Australia |
126–150 | 126–150 | Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa | Italy |
126–150 | 101–125 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | China |
126–150 | NR | Technical University of Munich | Germany |
126–150 | 126–150 | Tilburg University | Netherlands |
151–175 | 201–250 | Aix-Marseille University | France |
151–175 | 201–250 | University of Alberta | Canada |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Antwerp | Belgium |
151–175 | 126–150 | Arizona State University (Tempe) | United States |
151–175 | 201–250 | University of Bonn | Germany |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Bordeaux | France |
151–175 | 201–250 | Ca’ Foscari University of Venice | Italy |
151–175 | 126–150 | University of California, Davis | United States |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of California, Santa Cruz | United States |
151–175 | 201–250 | Charles University | Czech Republic |
151–175 | 251–300 | University of Coimbra | Portugal |
151–175 | 176–200 | École Normale Supérieure de Lyon | France |
151–175 | 201–250 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands |
151–175 | 101–125 | Fudan University | China |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Gothenburg | Sweden |
151–175 | 176–200 | Heriot-Watt University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Lausanne | Switzerland |
151–175 | 151–175 | University of Leicester | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 151–175 | Université Libre de Bruxelles | Belgium |
151–175 | 176–200 | University of Liverpool | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 176–200 | Loughborough University | United Kingdom |
151–175 | 126–150 | Nanjing University | China |
151–175 | 126–150 | National Autonomous University of Mexico | Mexico |
151–175 | 176–200 | RMIT University | Australia |
151–175 | 176–200 | Technical University of Berlin | Germany |
151–175 | 151–175 | Western University | Canada |
151–175 | 176–200 | Zhejiang University | China |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Adelaide | Australia |
176–200 | 201–250 | Autonomous University of Madrid | Spain |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Cape Town | South Africa |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Colorado Boulder | United States |
176–200 | 251–300 | University of East Anglia | United Kingdom |
176–200 | 176–200 | University of Erlangen-Nuremberg | Germany |
176–200 | 151–175 | Georgia Institute of Technology | United States |
176–200 | 251–300 | University of Granada | Spain |
176–200 | 151–175 | University of Hawai’i at Mānoa | United States |
176–200 | 176–200 | Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) | South Korea |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Lisbon | Portugal |
176–200 | 201–250 | NOVA University of Lisbon | Portugal |
176–200 | 201–250 | Université Paris-Saclay | France |
176–200 | 176–200 | Queensland University of Technology | Australia |
176–200 | 176–200 | Ruhr University Bochum | Germany |
176–200 | 201–250 | University of Salamanca | Spain |
176–200 | 151–175 | Seoul National University | South Korea |
176–200 | 151–175 | Simon Fraser University | Canada |
176–200 | 151–175 | University College Dublin | Ireland |
176–200 | 151–175 | Victoria University of Wellington | New Zealand |
176–200 | 176–200 | Vrije Universiteit Brussel | Belgium |
176–200 | 176–200 | Washington University in St Louis | United States |
176–200 | 201–250 | Yonsei University (Seoul campus) | South Korea |
Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.
This table was updated in December 2023 to retroactively include Birkbeck, University of London based on their provided data submission. More information on the university's inclusion can be found here
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Find the best universities for arts and humanities using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data
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