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The top 3 humanities and social science universities in Australia for 2017 are

  1. University of New England
  2. Charles Sturt University
  3. Australian National University

Uni Reviews ranked Australian universities by a formula using:

  • the size of the arts and humanities faculty (with extra weighting for postgraduate students)
  • course satisfaction ratings (% of students and recent graduates satisfied with their course overall)
  • graduate salaries (adjusted for unemployment and students doing advanced studies).

Note that online universities such as UNE and CSU tend to report high graduate salaries because of teaching large numbers of mature-age students.

Humanities and Social Sciences definition

Humanities and Social Sciences includes: Political Science and Policy Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, History, Archaeology, Geography, Indigenous Studies, Gender Specific Studies, Librarianship, Information Management, Curatorial Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies and Criminology, Languages, Linguistics and Literature.

University of New England

The arts and social science programs at UNE are ranked first in Australia for Humanities and Social Sciences.

UNE has the highest indicative salary for humanities and social science students ($54,011).

Charles Sturt University

The humanities, social sciences and communications programs at CSU are in the top 3 for Australia for Humanities and Social Sciences.

CSU has one of the larger programs and graduates are on relatively high salaries.

Australian National University

The College of Arts and Social Sciences at ANU tops the subject rankings for Humanities and Social Sciences for non-online universities in 2017.

The College is one of the largest (12,872 students) and graduates have a high indicative salary ($44,999).

Arts, Humanities and Social Science Rankings

Rank University Students Satisfaction Grad salary Points
1 University of New England 8130 89% $54,011 220
2 Charles Sturt University 9049 86% $51,890 205
3 Australian National University 12872 86% $44,999 203
4 Monash University 17506 87% $41,404 198
5 University of Melbourne 11798 88% $39,647 185
6 Deakin University 13802 88% $41,817 182
7 Macquarie University 19502 87% $40,337 181
8 Griffith University 9872 90% $38,885 167
9 University of Queensland 12628 86% $40,611 162
10 University of Southern Queensland 3586 89% $49,621 157
11 Edith Cowan University 4406 90% $45,498 156
12 Queensland University of Technology 7916 86% $43,052 149
13 University of Wollongong 5186 92% $39,585 148
14 University of Sydney 16074 83% $36,430 145
15 University of New South Wales 11554 82% $42,656 144
16 University of South Australia 3529 92% $41,162 143
17 University of Newcastle 5314 89% $38,058 140
18 Murdoch University 5659 85% $47,151 139
19 Flinders University 7803 85% $39,432 135
20 Bond University 1771 94% $37,723 134
21 University of Technology Sydney 4692 85% $42,751 127
22 Western Sydney University 13306 86% $37,541 123
23 University of Notre Dame Australia 2647 92% $38,540 122
24 University of Divinity 1588 90% $41,079 119
25 Curtin University 7334 81% $46,532 117
26 University of Canberra 3404 86% $41,921 109
27 Australian Catholic University 6321 81% $42,552 107
28 RMIT University 4588 85% $38,723 107
29 University of Western Australia 5007 82% $42,967 104
30 University of Tasmania 5879 85% $37,765 94
31 La Trobe University 7400 81% $36,903 78
32 Swinburne University of Technology 6778 85% $30,589 75
33 University of Adelaide 5891 85% $31,717 75
34 James Cook University 4110 84% $36,375 69
35 Southern Cross University 2584 80% $45,684 64
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Updated: 8 November 2016

Universities with small sample sizes for satisfaction or salary components are omitted from overall ranking.

1. Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Size

University Students Undergraduate Postgraduate International
Macquarie University 19502 16753 2749 2514
Monash University 17506 12499 5007 3499
University of Sydney 16074 11651 4423 2151
Deakin University 13802 11238 2564 467
Western Sydney University 13306 12744 562 275
Australian National University 12872 5827 7045 1688
University of Queensland 12628 10411 2217 1748
University of Melbourne 11798 5825 5973 2010
University of New South Wales 11554 8506 3048 1303
Griffith University 9872 8239 1633 436
Charles Sturt University 9049 5893 3156 373
University of New England 8130 6315 1815 114
Queensland University of Technology 7916 6372 1544 418
Flinders University 7803 5488 2315 1129
La Trobe University 7400 6437 963 333
Curtin University 7334 6227 1107 591
Swinburne University of Technology 6778 5805 973 334
Australian Catholic University 6321 4736 1585 286
University of Adelaide 5891 5032 859 431
University of Tasmania 5879 5276 603 439
Murdoch University 5659 4810 849 1115
University of Newcastle 5314 3498 1816 177
Victoria University 5196 4222 974 249
University of Wollongong 5186 4645 541 712
University of Western Australia 5007 3970 1037 428
University of Technology Sydney 4692 3310 1382 132
RMIT University 4588 2955 1633 292
Edith Cowan University 4406 3802 604 158
James Cook University 4110 3570 540 936
University of Southern Queensland 3586 3164 422 57
University of South Australia 3529 2967 562 254
University of Canberra 3404 2753 651 411
University of Notre Dame Australia 2647 2279 368 40
Southern Cross University 2584 2283 301 20
University of the Sunshine Coast 2286 2051 235 117
Charles Darwin University 2045 1818 227 112
CQUniversity 1942 1809 133 3
Bond University 1771 1016 755 581
University of Divinity 1588 580 1008 134
Federation University Australia 1438 1219 219 24
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Source: uCube Higher Education Statistics (Category: Society and Culture)

2. Student Course Satisfaction

Rank University Graduates Students Overall
1 Bond University 97% 88% 94%
2 University of Wollongong 95% 88% 92%
3 University of Notre Dame Australia 91% 90% 92%
4 University of South Australia 91% 90% 92%
5 Griffith University 91% 87% 90%
6 Edith Cowan University 90% 87% 90%
7 University of the Sunshine Coast 90% 88% 90%
8 University of Divinity 94% 84% 90%
9 University of Newcastle 92% 85% 89%
10 University of New England 90% 86% 89%
11 University of Southern Queensland 94% 85% 89%
12 Federation University Australia 83% 88% 88%
13 University of Melbourne 88% 86% 88%
14 Deakin University 90% 85% 88%
15 Monash University 90% 83% 87%
16 Macquarie University 89% 83% 87%
17 University of Queensland 88% 84% 86%
18 Charles Sturt University 87% 84% 86%
19 Australian National University 89% 83% 86%
20 University of Canberra 91% 82% 86%
21 Queensland University of Technology 86% 86%
22 Western Sydney University 88% 81% 86%
23 University of Technology Sydney 86% 83% 85%
24 Flinders University 87% 82% 85%
25 University of Adelaide 86% 82% 85%
26 Swinburne University of Technology 85% 83% 85%
27 Murdoch University 88% 81% 85%
28 RMIT University 80% 84% 85%
29 University of Tasmania 90% 80% 85%
30 James Cook University 90% 79% 84%
31 University of Sydney 85% 80% 83%
32 Victoria University 77% 81% 82%
33 University of Western Australia 85% 79% 82%
34 University of New South Wales 86% 78% 82%
35 Charles Darwin University 88% 74% 81%
36 Australian Catholic University 79% 82% 81%
37 La Trobe University 85% 77% 81%
38 CQUniversity 82% 78% 81%
39 Curtin University 79% 79% 81%
40 Southern Cross University 84% 74% 80%
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Sources: Course Experience Questionnaire (2014-2015), University Experience Survey (2014-2015)

Universities are ranked by student and graduate satisfaction. For further details, see Course Ratings by Students.

3. Indicative Graduate Salaries

Rank University Employed Studying Other Salary
1 University of New England 59% 17% 24% $54,011
2 Charles Sturt University 73% 10% 17% $51,890
3 University of Southern Queensland 47% 37% 16% $49,621
4 Murdoch University 51% 21% 28% $47,151
5 Curtin University 47% 28% 25% $46,532
6 Southern Cross University 56% 15% 29% $45,684
7 Edith Cowan University 47% 24% 29% $45,498
8 Australian National University 42% 34% 24% $44,999
9 Queensland University of Technology 53% 21% 26% $43,052
10 University of Western Australia 38% 37% 24% $42,967
11 University of Technology Sydney 65% 9% 26% $42,751
12 University of New South Wales 51% 26% 23% $42,656
13 Australian Catholic University 37% 35% 28% $42,552
14 University of Canberra 49% 18% 34% $41,921
15 Deakin University 39% 35% 26% $41,817
16 Monash University 34% 41% 25% $41,404
17 University of South Australia 41% 33% 26% $41,162
18 University of Divinity 71% 17% 12% $41,079
19 University of Queensland 41% 31% 28% $40,611
20 Macquarie University 50% 21% 29% $40,337
21 University of Melbourne 25% 57% 18% $39,647
22 University of Wollongong 26% 56% 18% $39,585
23 Flinders University 35% 31% 34% $39,432
24 Griffith University 38% 30% 33% $38,885
25 RMIT University 36% 37% 27% $38,723
26 University of Notre Dame Australia 39% 26% 35% $38,540
27 University of Newcastle 28% 42% 29% $38,058
28 University of Tasmania 27% 45% 28% $37,765
29 Bond University 41% 22% 36% $37,723
30 Western Sydney University 23% 55% 22% $37,541
31 La Trobe University 30% 47% 23% $36,903
32 University of Sydney 30% 41% 29% $36,430
33 James Cook University 36% 32% 31% $36,375
34 University of Adelaide 19% 47% 34% $31,717
35 Swinburne University of Technology 36% 29% 35% $30,589
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Source: Graduate Destinations Survey (2013-2015)

The indicative graduate salary accounts for:

  1. low incomes of unemployed graduates
  2. earnings potential of graduates doing advanced studies.

For further details, see Graduate Salaries by University.

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