Best Sociology Programs in Virginia for 2027

At Virginia you declare sociology after two courses with a C or better, then complete 30 credits, usually ten courses. Four are required: an introductory course, Introduction to Social Theory, the four-credit Sociology Research Workshop in the fall of third year, and Introduction to Social Statistics that spring. Optional concentrations in Crime, Law, and Power; Global Economy, Organizations, and Work; or Health and Medicine take three courses each and show up on your transcript. With a 3.4 GPA you can apply during third year for the Distinguished Majors Program, a two-semester original research project that ends in an honors thesis graded by your advisor and a second faculty member.

Methods Sequence

Research Workshop in fall, Social Statistics in spring of third year

Concentrations

Crime, Law, and Power; Global Economy, Organizations, and Work; Health and Medicine

Honors Thesis

Distinguished Majors Program, SOC 4980 and SOC 4981

Program Sources: The Sociology Major | Department of SociologyThe Sociology Major | Department of SociologyWelcome to Sociology | Department of Sociology

Virginia Tech's sociology major leads to a Bachelor of Science and adds up to 43 credits. The catalog sets the core in order: Introductory Sociology, a quantitative course (Quantitative Approaches to Community Research or Statistics for Social Science), Sociological Theory, Social Research Methods, Social Inequality, and Senior Seminar. You also pick an introductory Africana, American Indian, or women's and gender studies course, plus 18 sociology elective credits with at least nine at the 4000 level. In the senior seminar, you complete a needs assessment in a work setting, a social policy analysis, and a written critique of a sociological publication. Up to three credits can come from an internship, field study, or independent study.

Core Sequence

Six courses, from Introductory Sociology through Senior Seminar

Elective Levels

18 credits, with at least 9 at the 4000 level

Senior Seminar

Needs assessment, policy analysis, and publication critique

Program Sources: Sociology Major | Virginia Tech Academic CatalogSociology | Virginia Tech Academic Catalog

Four methods and theory courses sit at the center of this major: Sociological Theory, Research Design, Quantitative Research Methods and Qualitative Sociology. A Senior Capstone closes it out. You can then point your electives toward one of four concentrations, which cover Globalization, Health, Medicine, and Well-Being, Crime, Law, and Power, or Social Justice and Policy. Each concentration names a specific set of courses, so choosing early shapes your schedule. With 36 degrees awarded in 2023–24, William & Mary sits third among the sociology programs on its Virginia state page.

Methods Sequence

Research Design, Quantitative Research Methods and Qualitative Sociology

Concentrations

Globalization; Health, Medicine, and Well-Being; Crime, Law, and Power; Social Justice and Policy

Capstone

SOCI 494W Senior Capstone

Program Sources: Majoring in Sociology | Sociology | College of Arts & Sciences | William & MaryMajoring in Sociology | Sociology | College of Arts & Sciences | William & Mary

Mason’s sociology major puts statistics for the behavioral sciences, a methods of logic and inquiry course and sociological theory in the middle years, then asks for a capstone: either an internship in sociology or a research course called Sociological Analysis and Practice. You can add a concentration in Childhood and Youth, Deviance, Crime and Social Control, Global Sociology, or Inequality and Social Change. The Washington, D.C. area shapes the extras, from the Social Sciences Research Lab to internship fairs and events at the American Sociological Association’s headquarters. A bachelor-to-accelerated-master’s route is open, and 34 degrees were awarded in 2023–24.

Core Courses

Statistics for Behavioral Sciences, Methods of Logic and Inquiry, and Sociological Theory

Capstone

Internship in Sociology or a research course in Sociological Analysis and Practice

Concentrations

Childhood and Youth; Deviance, Crime and Social Control; Global Sociology; Inequality and Social Change

Program Sources: Sociology and Anthropology | Programs: BA in SociologySociology and Anthropology | Programs: BA in Sociology

Electives are where JMU’s sociology major gets personal. The department suggests four or more courses from one of five groupings: Communities, Inequalities and Public Policy; Environments, Technologies and Innovation; Health, Medicine and Society; Markets and Cultures; or Political and Global Analysis. Coursework can include immersion in the daily life of groups, interview methodology and analyzing large national surveys. Majors are encouraged to run an independent research project with a professor (SOCI 490) or take an internship for credit (SOCI 492), and a senior honors project is available. JMU awarded 54 degrees here in 2023–24.

Elective Groupings

Five clusters, each built from four or more courses

Independent Research

SOCI 490 project with a faculty member

Internship

SOCI 492 internship and a senior honors project option

Program Sources: Sociology Major - JMUSociology Major - JMU

Christopher Newport builds its sociology BA around a math course, two introductory SOCL courses and a four-course sequence (340, 390W, 470W and 490W) that must be taken on campus in the department and passed with a C- or better. Four more SOCL courses at the 300 to 400 level follow, plus two electives that can come from anthropology, criminology, geography or sociology. Majors also complete departmental qualifying examinations. The program graduated 48 students in 2023–24, sixth on its Virginia page.

Required Sequence

SOCL 340, 390W, 470W and 490W, completed in the department

Cross-Discipline Electives

Two courses from ANTH, CRIM, GEOG or SOCL

Qualifying Exams

Departmental qualifying examinations are part of the major

Program Sources: Sociology | Christopher Newport UniversitySociology | Christopher Newport University

If you’d rather learn sociology by doing it around Richmond, VCU gives you plenty to choose from. Students have restored neglected cemeteries, run community gardens, designed murals and produced neighborhood documentaries. The department also runs a Digital Sociology Lab, and medical sociology research placements through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program reach faculty labs, the VCU Medical Center and the School of Medicine. The B.S. curriculum is flexible and encourages credit from related subjects in other programs, and an internship program is part of the picture. Fifty-eight degrees were awarded in 2023–24.

Community Projects

Cemetery restoration, community gardens, murals and documentaries

Medical Sociology Research

Placements through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program

Digital Sociology Lab

Digital tools, training and research for students and community groups

Program Sources: Real-World Learning - Sociology - Virginia Commonwealth UniversityB.S. in Sociology - Sociology - Virginia Commonwealth University

UVA admits cohorts of about six students a year, so seminars stay small and faculty time is real. Your first year is on fellowship with no teaching, and teaching assistantships begin in year two, with teaching-free semesters in year three and year four set aside for research. The milestones run from a first-year exam to a special fields paper and a qualifying research paper, then the dissertation prospectus defense and the dissertation itself. Beyond required theory and methods courses, seminars rotate through areas such as economic sociology, the sociology of culture and comparative-historical sociology. Seven doctorates were awarded in 2023–24.

Milestones

First-year exam, special fields paper, qualifying research paper, prospectus defense and dissertation defense

Cohort Size

About six students admitted per year

Teaching Structure

Fellowship in year one, then eight semesters as a teaching assistant

Program Sources: About the Program | Department of SociologyAbout the Program | Department of Sociology

Mason’s doctorate in sociology is built around public and applied research. The 72-credit plan opens with a proseminar in Public and Applied Sociology, classical and contemporary theory, Methods and Logic of Social Inquiry and Statistical Reasoning for Applied Research. You then add three methods electives such as survey research, ethnography or community-based research, and pick a concentration in either Institutions and Inequalities or Sociology of Globalization. A comprehensive exam leads to candidacy, and the dissertation is an original, independent research project. The department points to career settings in the Washington, D.C. area, and the program awarded 3 doctorates in 2023–24.

Foundation Courses

Public and Applied Sociology proseminar, two theory courses, and required methods and statistics

Concentrations

Institutions and Inequalities, or Sociology of Globalization

Candidacy

Comprehensive exam, then an original dissertation, 72 credits total

Program Sources: Sociology, PhD | George Mason University CatalogSociology, PhD | George Mason University Catalog

Virginia Tech’s doctorate asks for 48 graded credits. The core series covers theory, qualitative and quantitative methods, research design and a foundations course on inequalities, followed by 15 credits of sociology electives and 3 credits of advanced methods. Free electives can be used to concentrate in Women and Gender Studies or Africana Studies. Students who arrive without a written master’s thesis are usually admitted to the M.S. first. After that you sit a Qualifying Exam in a primary and a secondary substantive area, write a dissertation proposal and defend it, then defend the dissertation. Students holding a sociology master’s can finish in about four years. Two doctorates were awarded in 2023–24.

Core Series

Theory, qualitative and quantitative methods, research design and inequalities

Qualifying Exam

Primary and secondary substantive areas, then proposal and dissertation defenses

Concentrations

Women and Gender Studies or Africana Studies through free electives

Program Sources: Sociology (Ph.D.) | College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences | Virginia TechSociology (Ph.D.) | College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences | Virginia Tech