Best Sociology Programs in California for 2027

Berkeley's sociology major culminates in a small topical seminar that you can take before your final semester. Accepted honors students can use the thesis sequence toward that requirement. Earlier study combines evaluating evidence, classical and contemporary theory, and surveys in different subject areas. The statistics-or-logic choice deserves attention: students pursuing the Research Methods Concentration must choose statistics and take it for a letter grade. The department also requires an information session before you declare the major.

Capstone Seminar

Sociology 190 is a small seminar with changing topics; an approved honors-thesis course can also meet the capstone requirement.

Methods Planning

The Research Methods Concentration requires letter-graded statistics instead of the general major’s logic option.

Declaration

Attend a Sociology Information Session before declaring the major.

Program Sources: Major Requirements | UC Berkeley Sociology Department25867U Program | UC Berkeley Catalog

UCLA divides its sociology core into interactions, institutions and social processes, and power and inequality. You'll take a course in each area alongside methods and a theory sequence that must be completed in order. Course location matters for transfer and study-abroad planning: the theory, methods and core courses, plus an elective, must be taken at UCLA. Introductory sociology, research methods and statistics prepare you to declare the major, so completing that preparation early can also help with access to restricted upper-division courses.

Core Breadth

Take one course in each of three areas: interactions, institutions and social processes, and power and inequality.

Theory Sequence

Development of Sociological Theory must precede Contemporary Sociological Theory; they cannot be taken together.

Campus Coursework

At least seven of the eleven upper-division major courses must be completed at UCLA.

Program Sources: Requirements for the Major - UCLA SociologyUndergraduate Majors and Pre-majors | Registrar’s Office

Cal Poly's San Luis Obispo sociology degree gives you a choice of concentrations in criminal justice, organizations, social justice or social services, or an adviser-approved individual course plan. The shared curriculum includes a writing-intensive sociology elective and a senior project spread across two courses. Professional Development for Sociologists is also required. Internships are encouraged and can earn course credit, but the current catalog does not make an internship compulsory. Your concentration choice determines which advanced subjects fill that part of the degree.

Concentration Choices

Criminal Justice, Organizations, Social Justice, Social Services or an approved Individualized Course of Study; other approved options are available.

Senior Work

Senior Project I and Senior Project II are both required.

Writing and Practice

Complete a writing-intensive sociology elective and Professional Development for Sociologists; an internship is optional.

Program Sources: Sociology (BA) | Cal Poly Academic Catalog

UCSB admits you to the sociology major in two steps. First you finish the pre-major courses, including Sociology 1, statistics, and history, with a 2.3 UC GPA, and then you petition for full major status. Upper-division requirements cover methods and research, theory, and social inequality and stratification. After that, you take two courses from one of nine subject areas, such as Culture, Language Use and Social Interaction, or Social Movements and Social Change, plus two more from the remaining areas. If you qualify, the two-quarter Honors Research Practicum has you plan and design a senior thesis project in fall, then carry out the research and write it up in winter.

Admission Path

Pre-major courses with a 2.3 UC GPA, then a full-major petition

Subject Areas

Nine areas, from culture to social movements and social change

Honors Research

Two-quarter practicum ending in a senior honors thesis

Program Sources: BA SOC Program | University of California Santa Barbara CatalogHonors Program | Department of Sociology

UC Davis has you choose one of five emphases inside the sociology major: General Sociology, Law & Society, Social Services, Global & International Sociology, or Race, Ethnicity, & Immigration. Each emphasis carries its own unit total, from 72 to 78. All five share Introduction to Social Research Methods, Introduction to Social Statistics, and Origins of Modern Sociological Theory. In the General Sociology emphasis, preparatory courses also reach into cultural anthropology, history, and philosophy. If you hold a 3.5 GPA in the major and have a faculty sponsor's recommendation, the honors program lets you write a thesis across SOC 194HA and SOC 194HB in your senior year.

Emphasis Options

Five, including Law & Society and Social Services

Shared Core

Research methods, social statistics, and sociological theory

Honors Thesis

SOC 194HA and 194HB in the senior year

Program Sources: General Catalog - Sociology, Bachelor of Arts

San Diego State’s sociology major asks students to take both classical and contemporary social theory, then choose an advanced methods course in intermediate statistics, survey and experimental research, or qualitative research. It also requires separate choices in social inequality and social movements. That structure makes the upper-division plan more directed than a free elective menu: a student interested in protests, for example, can take a social movements course while still building research skills. The department requires a 2.5 GPA in sociology and overall, so sequencing and grade planning matter.

Advanced Methods Choice

Intermediate statistics, survey and experimental methods, or qualitative methods

Thematic Core

One inequality course and one social movements course

Program Sources: SDSU Sociology: Major Requirements

UC Irvine’s sociology BA is twelve courses, or 48 units, with one introductory course, one methods course (SOCIOL 110), one theory course (SOCIOL 120) and a Sociology Majors Seminar where you handle research design and implementation. Seven more sociology courses and three School of Social Sciences courses complete the major. Outstanding juniors and seniors can join the Honors Program, which has you write a thesis under faculty supervision in a two-quarter seminar. With 194 degrees awarded in 2023–24, it is one of the larger sociology programs on the California page.

Methods and Theory

SOCIOL 110 Research Methods and SOCIOL 120 Sociological Theory

Seminar

SOCIOL 180A Sociology Majors Seminar

Honors Program

Faculty-supervised thesis across a two-quarter seminar

Program Sources: Sociology, B.A. < University of California Irvine

UC San Diego asks sociology majors for four lower-division and twelve upper-division courses. Lower division is SOCI 1, 2 and 60, with 1 and 2 taken in sequence, plus one of six topic courses. SOCI 60 is the gateway to the methods courses, and upper division requires SOCI 100 and one methods course. Ten more upper-division classes let you go general or build one of seven concentrations. The department also offers independent research and an Honors Program, and it encourages study abroad. Degrees awarded in 2023–24 reached 138.

Course Load

Four lower-division and twelve upper-division sociology courses

Concentrations

Seven options, each built from at least five upper-division classes

Honors and Research

Honors Program and independent research opportunities

Program Sources: Sociology at UC San Diego | UC San Diego CatalogSociology at UC San Diego | UC San Diego Catalog

San Diego State organizes its Sociology MA as a two-year series of theory and methods courses plus rotating seminars on subjects such as race, immigration, demography, and media. Students choose between a thesis and a comprehensive-exam plan when they submit their formal program of study. The current admissions process asks for a statement identifying faculty members whose interests fit the applicant’s own, along with a writing sample. That makes research fit an early decision, even for a student who may ultimately choose the examination plan.

Final Plan

Thesis or comprehensive examination

Application Focus

Statement names relevant faculty and includes a writing sample

Program Sources: SDSU Sociology: Graduate ProgramSDSU Sociology: Steps Toward the MASDSU Sociology: Application Process

Cal State LA’s Sociology MA has an unusually broad choice of culminating work: a thesis, comprehensive examinations, or a portfolio project. New students start on the exam option and can change after reaching candidacy. The shared core includes qualitative and quantitative research methods, advanced statistics, and classical theory; seminars range from gender and labor to secondary data analysis. The department also points to directed research, a student journal, and teaching assistant work as opportunities students may pursue. Evening and hybrid classes can matter to applicants who need a workable schedule.

Final Choice

Thesis, comprehensive examinations, or portfolio project

Methods Core

Qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and advanced statistics

Program Sources: Cal State LA Sociology: Graduate Program

Berkeley's sociology doctorate combines methods and theory sequences with an empirical master's paper and later qualifying work. The paper is reviewed by faculty and followed by an advising meeting about preparing it for journal submission. For the qualifying exam, most students take an oral route covering theory and two substantive subfields; a tutorial route uses papers across three fields and requires discussion with the graduate director. Advanced methods and subfield courses also form part of the curriculum. Berkeley admits students to the PhD rather than a standalone sociology master's degree.

Research Paper

An empirical master's paper leads to a faculty advising meeting about publication and the remaining program.

Qualifying Routes

An oral examination in theory and two substantive fields, or a tutorial route using papers across three fields.

Methods Training

A methods sequence plus an advanced methods course; approved substitutions are possible.

Program Sources: UC Berkeley Sociology 2025–2026 Graduate Student Academic Handbook, October 21 RevisionUC Berkeley Sociology Graduate Admissions

UCLA's Sociology PhD spans methods from ethnography and conversation analysis to large-scale surveys and mathematical sociology. Its graduate page points to a Concentration in Social Statistics for students who want a formal quantitative signal beyond the department's broad methods training. Faculty research also uses archives, observation, experiments, and recorded interaction. This range makes faculty fit especially important: a prospective student can pursue quite different evidence styles within the same department. UCLA describes moving graduate students into research early rather than postponing it until the dissertation.

Methods Range

Ethnography to mathematical sociology

Optional Concentration

Social Statistics

Program Sources: UCLA Sociology Graduate Study

Stanford's Sociology PhD requires three quarters of supervised research experience and at least three quarters of teaching apprenticeship. The first two years also carry substantial sociology coursework, with theory, a first-year proseminar, and regular research colloquia. That combination makes research collaboration and teaching practice formal parts of training rather than optional extras. Stanford describes a five-to-seven-year full-time route, with later years focused chiefly on the dissertation. Applicants should look for faculty whose research can support an early supervised project as well as the eventual thesis.

Research Apprenticeship

Three quarters

Teaching Apprenticeship

At least three quarters

Program Sources: Stanford Sociology PhD Program

UC Irvine's Sociology PhD requires three quarters of statistics, a research-design course, theory, an advanced methods elective, and nine sociology seminars. The second-year paper is developed in a proseminar, presented orally, and intended as a step toward publication. Students later take field exams in two broad areas before defending a dissertation prospectus. This arrangement puts an independently executed paper early in the degree and still requires breadth across multiple specialties; it is useful to compare with departments whose first major project comes later.

Early Research Milestone

Second-year paper and oral presentation

Methods Core

Three quarters of statistics plus research design

Program Sources: UC Irvine Sociology PhD Requirements

UC Santa Barbara's Sociology doctorate is a combined MA/PhD route in which the MA stage ends with a thesis. Before PhD candidacy, students add seminars in a major sociological area, a Logics of Inquiry course, and a professional-development seminar. The MA core itself includes a three-part theory sequence, qualitative methods, and quantitative methods. That staged design makes an early thesis the bridge into specialized doctoral work. Applicants should assess both the likely thesis adviser and the later area seminars, because each shapes the route to dissertation research.

MA Milestone

Thesis before doctoral candidacy

Doctoral Preparation

Major-area seminars and Logics of Inquiry

Program Sources: UC Santa Barbara Sociology Graduate Guidelines

UC Davis places a substantial research paper before the dissertation stage of its sociology doctorate. You'll analyze new data or develop a new analysis of existing data, then submit the article-length work to a faculty committee. A portfolio review after the first year assesses theory, methods and substantive coursework and helps shape your next research steps. After coursework and the paper, you prepare a dissertation prospectus and take a qualifying examination covering two broad fields. The dissertation committee must include a member from outside sociology.

Research Paper

Complete an article-length paper using new data or a new analysis of existing data, reviewed by a three-person faculty committee.

First-Year Review

Submit coursework, graded work, faculty feedback and a personal statement for portfolio review.

Doctoral Milestones

The qualifying exam covers two broad fields; the dissertation committee includes an outside-department member.

Program Sources: Ph.D. Degree Requirements | UC Davis Sociology

UC San Diego requires sociology doctoral students to learn quantitative methods and choose qualitative training from fieldwork, text analysis, comparative history or ethnographic film. Research Practicum I and II provide a separate sequence alongside theory and substantive seminars. You'll also complete field examinations and a dissertation prospectus hearing before the dissertation. The program requires full-time enrollment. Its research strengths include international migration, political sociology, social inequality and the sociology of science, knowledge and medicine, giving applicants several directions for faculty fit.

Qualitative Choices

Choose two courses from field methods, text discourse analysis, comparative-historical methods and ethnographic film.

Research Training

Research Practicum I and II are required alongside quantitative methods and classical and contemporary theory.

Program Commitment

Full-time study, two field examinations, a dissertation prospectus hearing and a dissertation are required.

Program Sources: PhD requirementsAdmissionsSociology

UCSF centers its sociology doctorate on health, illness, medicine and health-care systems. Its social theory sequence includes symbolic interactionism, while the medical sociology sequence examines health policy and how illness is understood in social life. Training and qualifying work cover both qualitative and quantitative methods. The first two years require in-person classes, so this is a program to plan around living within reach of campus. After qualifying examinations, students develop and defend a dissertation proposal before carrying out the dissertation.

Research Focus

Specializations include race, class, gender and health; social and health policy; and social determinants of health.

Methods Breadth

Complete qualitative and quantitative methods sequences and qualifying work.

Attendance

The first two years require in-person classes; remote classrooms are not offered.

Program Sources: Sociology (PhD) | UC San Francisco General CatalogCurriculum | Sociology Doctoral ProgramFAQ for Potential Applicants | Sociology Doctoral Program

El Camino frames its Sociology AA-T around transfer into a California State University sociology major. The department emphasizes research methods and data analysis alongside study of social inequality and institutions, so the two-year plan reaches beyond an introductory survey. Students can also join the Sociology Club and attend department workshops and speakers. Those activities are useful for testing an interest in sociological research before choosing a bachelor's program; the AA-T itself is the college's transfer credential, not a research degree.

Degree Format

Associate in Arts for Transfer

Department Experience

Sociology Club and workshops

Program Sources: El Camino College Sociology

Pasadena City College's Sociology AA-T requires introductory sociology, contemporary social problems, and statistics, then opens a substantial set of sociology electives. Students can choose Social Sciences Research Methods or focus on ethnic studies, crime and delinquency, family, or gender; a further list includes Urban Sociology, Sociology of Aging, and LGBTQ Sociology. The 2026–27 catalog lists 19–20 major units within the transfer-degree structure. This is a flexible way to discover a topic, but the receiving university still determines which electives satisfy its major preparation.

Major Units

19–20

Distinctive Electives

Urban Sociology and Sociology of Aging

Program Sources: Pasadena City College 2026–27 Sociology AA-T

Mt. San Antonio College's Sociology AA-T offers unusually wide choices in the social questions a student can pursue before transfer. Its catalog lists a social-science research methods option and courses in criminology, religion and social change, childhood, Pacific Islander and Asian American communities, and LGBTQ studies. The department also runs an annual Sociology Research Showcase and Competition, giving students a place to present work beyond class. The degree is a CSU transfer path; these electives should be selected with the intended university's major preparation in mind.

Research Opportunity

Annual Sociology Research Showcase

Elective Example

Pacific Islands' and Asian American Communities

Program Sources: Mt. SAC Sociology AA-T CatalogMt. SAC Sociology Degrees and Certificates

College of the Canyons distinguishes its Sociology AA-T from a separate local Sociology AA. The transfer pathway has four suggested areas of focus (Criminology, Family, General, and Social Justice), so students can choose courses around an emerging interest without treating those maps as separate degrees. Department offerings include Introduction to Research Methods, Social Statistics, Inequalities and Equity, and Society and the Environment. A prospective transfer student should use the AA-T map and then test those electives against the receiving university's sociology requirements.

Transfer Maps

Criminology, Family, General, Social Justice

Methods Options

Research Methods and Social Statistics

Program Sources: College of the Canyons Sociology DegreesCollege of the Canyons Social Sciences Pathways

De Anza's Sociology for Transfer degree is built for students heading into a sociology bachelor's at a CSU campus. You'll start with Introduction to Sociology and Social Problems, then cover statistics through either Statistics and Research Methods in Social Science or Introduction to Statistics. Three more courses come from a list that includes The Process of Social Research, Sociology of Gender, Introduction to Social Psychology, and Marriage, Family, and Intimate Relationships. One more comes from a wider list with options like Crime and Criminology and Sociology of Globalization and Social Change. The major runs 28 to 29 quarter units inside a 90-unit degree built on the Cal-GETC pattern. Completing it guarantees admission to the CSU system, though not to a particular campus or major.

Statistics Option

PSYC/SOC 15 or STATC 1000

Major Units

28 to 29 quarter units

Residency

At least 18 units completed at De Anza

Program Sources: Sociology for Transfer - Associate in Arts for Transfer (A.A.-T.) Degree

Citrus College's Sociology transfer degree lets students choose two of three early tools: a psychology research-methods course, contemporary social problems, and statistics. The next group includes marriage and family, race and ethnicity, gender, social psychology, and a cross-cultural anthropology course on sex and gender. That construction gives students a real choice between more methods work and a broader topic survey before transfer. The department also lists an honors Introduction to Sociology, so students seeking an honors section have a direct route into the major.

Methods Choice

Psychology Research Methods or Statistics

Honors Option

Introduction to Sociology - Honors

Program Sources: Citrus College ADT in Sociology

Orange Coast College's Sociology AA-T packs theory, methods and social issues into a 19-unit major. Your required courses are Introduction to Sociology, Analysis of Social Problems, and statistics through either Introduction to Statistics or Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, and the first two come in honors versions. From List A you choose two courses, such as Introduction to Research Methods, Introduction to Race and Ethnicity, or Social Psychology. A final course comes from List A or a second list that includes Cultural Anthropology and The Ethnic Family. Twelve major units double count toward Cal-GETC, and the degree totals 60 semester units. The CSU guarantee covers admission to the system, not to a specific campus or major.

Statistics Choice

STAT C1000 or PSYC A160

Elective Lists

Two List A courses plus one from List A or List B

Residency

12 units within the Coast Colleges

Program Sources: Sociology, Associate in Arts Degree for Transfer (AA-T) < Orange Coast College