Best Sociology Programs in New York for 2027

Binghamton's sociology BA examines social change through inequalities that cross national boundaries. Your studies connect political life, social movements, and conflict with economic, racial, and gender inequalities. Beyond the curriculum, you can arrange independent research or a community project with a faculty member. Internship credit is available through an asynchronous course that also develops career skills. An accelerated BA/MA option is open to qualifying students who are ready for graduate study during their undergraduate years.

Independent Work

Faculty-guided research and community projects are available as options.

Applied Learning

An asynchronous internship course combines upper-level credit with career preparation.

Program Sources: Sociology BA Requirements

Stony Brook's sociology major leads to a Bachelor of Arts and runs 39 credits, with 27 to 30 of them in sociology. You take Introduction to Sociology, SOC 201 Research Methods, SOC 202 Statistical Methods in Sociology (or another allowed statistics course), and SOC 361, the theory course that also covers your upper-division writing requirement. Then you choose 18 elective credits, 15 of them at the 300 level or above, and three courses in one related field such as economics, linguistics, or psychology. Internships through SOC 488 carry up to six credits with department approval. Honors students propose a senior paper or research project and complete it across SOC 495 and SOC 496.

Required Core

Introductory sociology, research methods, statistics, and SOC 361 theory

Related Area

Three courses in one allied social science

Honors Project

SOC 495 and 496, reviewed by a three-person committee

Program Sources: MajorHonors ProgramInternships & Research Opportunities

Hunter puts statistics in the middle of the sociology major rather than at the end. Alongside Introduction to Sociology and Sociological Theory, you take Research Methods (SOC 240) and Statistics (SOC 241), then finish in a capstone course where you apply theory to a research topic. Honors graduates need a 3.0 overall GPA, a 3.5 in sociology and an honors-level course. A limited number of qualified students can also enter an accelerated five-year track that adds an MS in applied digital sociology, for 130 credits in all. Hunter awarded 166 sociology bachelor’s degrees in 2023–24.

Methods Sequence

Research Methods (SOC 240) and Statistics (SOC 241)

Capstone

Sociology Capstone course

Accelerated Option

Five-year BA and MS in Applied Digital Sociology

Program Sources: Department of Sociology Undergraduate Program | Hunter College

Buffalo keeps the sociology BA compact at 37 credits. The 13-credit core is Introduction to Sociology, Social Research Methods, a 4-credit Basic Statistics for Social Sciences course and Classical Social Theory. After that you choose eight sociology electives, and seven of them must be at the 300 or 400 level. If you’ve taken methods or statistics in another department, listed alternatives in psychology, economics, statistics and a few other fields can stand in, as long as you add 3 credit hours of sociology electives. Buffalo awarded 125 sociology bachelor’s degrees in 2023–24.

Required Core

Introduction to Sociology, Social Research Methods, Basic Statistics and Classical Social Theory

Electives

Eight sociology courses, seven at the 300 or 400 level

Major Size

37 credits

Program Sources: Sociology BA | University at Buffalo Undergraduate Catalog

Columbia's Sociology PhD makes professional research outputs part of its M.Phil. stage. Beyond theory, a two-term social data sequence, research design, and a required paper, students must submit a grant application, prepare a field statement, submit a conference paper, and submit a paper to a scholarly journal by the end of year four. The department's weekly first-year proseminar adds early professional context. This is a notably explicit publication-and-grant training structure, with the dissertation proposal defense following the M.Phil. award.

M.Phil. Tasks

Grant, field statement, conference paper, journal paper

First-Year Core

Theory, data analysis, research design

Program Sources: Columbia Sociology PhD Curriculum

NYU's Sociology PhD requires 72 graduate credits, including a two-semester Research and Writing Seminar that produces a faculty-reviewed pre-dissertation paper. A written comprehensive exam in one broad area comes by the end of the second year; an additional methods course adds depth beyond the introductory methods and statistics core. NYU also lists an optional Sociology PhD/Law JD dual degree, a separate route for research questions at the law-society boundary. The dissertation proposal and final work each have formal committee defenses.

Methods Depth

An additional methods course builds on the introductory methods and statistics core.

Early Paper

Two-semester Research and Writing Seminar

Program Sources: NYU Sociology PhD Bulletin

CUNY Graduate Center's Sociology PhD requires 60 graduate credits and stages its research training through a two-semester writing seminar, a first exam, and later oral exams. The orals test teaching-level command of at least three sociological areas, not only the future dissertation topic. Core courses include classical and contemporary theory plus two statistics courses. That breadth suits a doctoral student who wants to build a wider teaching and research repertoire while working in CUNY's urban academic network. Dissertation proposal and defense follow the exams.

Qualifying Paper

A two-semester second-year seminar develops original research into a publishable article.

Oral Exam Breadth

At least three sociology areas

Program Sources: CUNY Graduate Center Sociology Curriculum Requirements

Two concentration exams and a Qualifying Paper sit at the center of Cornell’s sociology PhD. The paper is meant to be a publishable-quality piece of empirical research, and you defend it at the oral A exam that admits you to candidacy. Coursework is lean: six courses beyond the first-year proseminar, with statistics, intermediate statistics and a logics-and-methods course among the required ones. You’re also required to serve at least one semester as a teaching assistant. The handbook timeline ends with the dissertation defense, the B exam, in year six. Cornell awarded 3 sociology doctorates in 2023–24.

Exams

Two concentration exams, then the A exam defending the Qualifying Paper

Teaching

At least one semester as a teaching assistant

Dissertation

Oral B exam defending the dissertation

Program Sources: Graduate Student Handbook | Department of Sociology, Cornell University

BMCC's sociology AA ends with a four-credit capstone built around independent research. You'll produce a paper or project and present your work to the class after completing introductory sociology and the required preparatory electives. The curriculum also sets aside a course in ethnic and race studies and lets you choose social-science electives beyond sociology. That combination brings a focused research assignment into a transfer degree, before you enter an upper-division sociology major.

Research Capstone

An independent paper or project with a class presentation.

Curriculum Breadth

An ethnic and race studies elective plus electives in other social sciences.

Program Sources: Sociology AA Requirements

Suffolk's sociology AA pairs introductory sociology with Modern Social Problems, Marriage and the Family, and statistics. The broader plan includes government, history, ethics, and a restricted social-science elective for which the college recommends sociology. It follows the SUNY Sociology Transfer Path. The college lists the program at Ammerman, Eastern, and Michael J. Grant, with all credits available online. If you plan to transfer, check your target university's requirements while choosing electives and confirm the grades required for transfer.

Sociology Sequence

Introduction to Sociology, Modern Social Problems, and Marriage and the Family.

Quantitative Preparation

Statistics I appears in the first-semester plan alongside introductory sociology.

Program Sources: Sociology AA Requirements