People who understand the social fabric of our world are often the most successful in life. Join the ranks of the best and brightest with an online Master’s in Sociology.
We may not realize it on a day-to-day basis, but there are certain codes to social life that we all seem to follow. For instance, we assign the color blue to boys and pink to girls. Have you ever wondered why? Or consider traffic laws. As a society, we all just agree (for the most part) to stop when we see a stop sign. No one really questions it.
Sociology gets to the heart of all that holds a society together — religion, politics, culture, and ecology. This degree will make you question everything . . . and then help you put the pieces back together.
What is a Sociology degree?
A sociology degree is far-reaching in the sense that it intermingles with lots of other disciplines — anthropology, psychology, history, political science, and more. Your classes will include not only social theory concepts but also research methodologies and data analysis.
This means that your degree in sociology will make you highly marketable. You can take this degree in lots of different directions: public research, academia, journalism, human resources, social work, criminology, and beyond.
How much can you earn with a Sociology degree?
Since you’re completing an advanced degree with your online Master’s in Sociology, you can expect to earn a significant paycheck. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for sociologists is around $82k.
This salary figure is sociology graduates who go on to jobs in research. That might not be your thing! For folks who pursue work in areas like criminology, education, or journalism, your income might be different. But for the most part, you can count on a comfortable salary.
What is required for a Sociology degree?
Most of the sociology programs below require 30-36 total credit hours. One thing they all share in common is that they can be completed fully online (with perhaps a few campus visits for special events). Your coursework will likely include a handful of core classes followed by elective classes. The degrees culminate in either a capstone project, a cumulative exam, or a thesis.
The admissions process for each program is unique. However, most do not require you to take the GRE. It is crucial that you have completed an undergraduate degree, but students will be admitted from a wide variety of academic backgrounds.
What are the best online Sociology degrees?
OSR uses six data points: three school-wide and three program specific. For school-wide, OSR uses Student Satisfaction, Admission Rates, and the number of programs the school offers online. For program specific, OSR checks the Median Debt of graduates from that program, how many degrees are offered within that program’s umbrella department, and what percentage of students at that school graduated from that department.
The six statistics are displayed by each school. The sliding bar under each statistic represents how that school compares to other US institutions. “Not reported” means a school did not release that information to the US Department of Education. A more detailed description of the OSR process can be found on the methodology page.
