Best Sociology Programs in New Jersey for 2027

At TCNJ, you can shape the sociology major around health and environmental questions or nonprofit and community development. Field experience includes credit-bearing internships and research with community partners. If you want a longer research project, a two-semester senior thesis is one option for the major’s capstone. The college also offers a sociology and inclusive education dual major, so teaching and community research lead to different course-planning choices within the same department.

Specializations

Health and Environment; Nonprofit and Community Development

Research Option

A two-semester thesis can serve as the capstone

Program Sources: Sociology Program | TCNJ

Rutgers–New Brunswick organizes sociology electives by theme. You must study across different themes before using your remaining electives to concentrate on a particular interest, such as health, organizations, or gender. The core includes a reading-based introduction to sociological scholarship alongside statistics, research methods, and theory. An approved internship can count toward the major, while honors students can write a thesis. Transfer students must complete a substantial portion of the major at New Brunswick itself.

Major Structure

36 credits, including six elective courses

Transfer Planning

At least 21 major credits must be completed at New Brunswick

Program Sources: Major or Minor in Sociology

Montclair puts practical research tools near the center of its sociology BA. You learn to build surveys, interview people, run focus groups, and investigate social life through ethnography. The program also teaches statistical and computational analysis using tools including R, SPSS, and Qualtrics. Topics extend to environmental justice, social media, and artificial intelligence. If you want to teach, elementary and social studies certification require a separate application to teacher education and an additional education major.

Research Software

R, SPSS, and Qualtrics

Teacher Preparation

Separate teacher-education admission and an education second major

Program Sources: BA In Sociology (Major,Minor,Teacher Certification) - Academics - Montclair State University

Ramapo’s sociology courses connect the study of inequality with questions about crime, public life, and culture. You can study how media represent crime, examine racial relations, or learn to work with research data on a computer. The department describes applied research as part of its public sociology work and offers a criminology concentration. Sociology majors have also completed placements with courts and government or nonprofit organizations in northern New Jersey, which the college presents as examples of past internships.

Course Choices

Crime and Media; Public Sociologies

Research Training

Social Research With Computers is a listed course

Program Sources: Sociology - Majors/Minors & Concentrations

Rutgers–Newark makes both classical and contemporary theory part of the required sociology curriculum. Its research sequence spans methods and statistics, with practice collecting and interpreting quantitative and qualitative evidence. If you’re combining sociology with psychology or criminal justice, the department allows the relevant methods sequence to satisfy both majors when required by the other program. Some electives can also come from neighboring social sciences, leaving room to connect sociology with a second academic interest.

Required Theory

Separate classical and contemporary theory courses

Double-Major Planning

Approved psychology or criminal justice methods sequences can also satisfy sociology

Program Sources: Sociology | B.A. in Sociology | Rutgers SAS-Newark

Rowan’s sociology BA pairs theory, research methods, and statistics with a senior seminar. You also choose an experiential course, with options including field research, a sociology field seminar, and approved internships. The applied sociology concentration at Glassboro includes coursework about social problems and sociological practice, plus a required field-experience seminar. The current catalog also lists anthropology and medical social science concentrations. The general BA is offered at Camden and Glassboro.

Required Research

Methods, statistics, and a senior seminar

Applied Concentration

Glassboro coursework includes a required field-experience seminar

Program Sources: Bachelor of Arts in SociologyUndergraduate Concentration in Applied Sociology

William Paterson offers an online sociology BA with seven-week courses. The research sequence moves from designing a study to analyzing data in SPSS or Excel, and the senior seminar requires an independent project and presentation. The program is designed around an adult-admissions route, so check its time-since-high-school rules before applying. Transfer students must still earn 30 credits through William Paterson. The online curriculum includes sociology electives as well as options examining crime and inequality.

Online Schedule

Seven-week courses

Research Capstone

An original project with a presentation of findings

Program Sources: Online Sociology Bachelor's Degree – William Paterson University

Kean’s sociology program asks you to investigate how laws, public policy, and institutions affect different groups of people. Research training covers quantitative findings and qualitative approaches, connecting the design of a study to the policy questions it addresses. You can complete the degree at Kean Ocean in Toms River. For students interested in public-sector administration, Kean also publishes a combined sociology BA and public administration master’s plan.

Location Option

Degree completion at Kean Ocean in Toms River

Combined Study

A five-year sociology BA and MPA plan

Program Sources: Sociology | Kean University

Rutgers–New Brunswick's Sociology PhD expects students to produce two qualifying papers before dissertation candidacy. Its graduate page describes specialty areas as intellectual communities rather than formal tracks with separate course requirements. That gives a student room to combine themes while the papers provide concrete evidence of independent research. An MA is earned along the way for students entering the doctoral program. Rutgers also permits some credit from a prior master's, subject to its degree rules, so applicants with graduate work should review the department's transfer-credit policy.

Research Milestones

Two qualifying papers

Specialty Model

Areas of interest without formal track requirements

Program Sources: Rutgers Sociology Graduate ProgramRutgers Sociology Graduate Handbook

Princeton begins doctoral research training with faculty apprenticeships during the first and second years. You pair those collaborations with statistics, theory, methods, and shorter seminars, then write an empirical paper in the second year. The qualifying examination covers theory and selected specialty fields before you move toward the dissertation. Students can pursue joint training in social policy or demography. The program does not transfer in previous graduate credits, an important distinction if you’re arriving with a master’s.

Early Research

Four semesters of faculty research apprenticeship

Dissertation Option

A three-paper dissertation is possible with committee agreement

Program Sources: Sociology | Graduate School