Best universities for arts and humanities degrees 2024

By seeta.bhardwa@…, 26 October, 2023

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

 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

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. 

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.

4. University of Oxford

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.

3. University of Cambridge

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.


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2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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.

1. Stanford University

The School of Humanities and Sciences awards 63 per cent of all Stanford undergraduate degrees and almost 40 per cent of doctorates.

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 UniversityParis 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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