The College of Social Science had its start on April 13th 1954 as the College of Political Science and Law, when it took charge of the newly established Department of Law and the Department of Political Science and International Studies (PSIS). PSIS had previously been subordinate to the Munhakwon (now the College of Liberal Arts) since its foundation concurrent with the promotion of Yonhee Professional College to Yonhee University in August of 1946 until the time of Munhakwon’s restructuring as the College of Liberal Arts in 1954.

Later, the College of Political Science and Law established the Department of Public Administration in 1958 and the Department of Newspaper & Broadcasting in 1972. In accordance with Yonsei University's long-term development plan, in March 1981, the Department of Law was split off to the College of Law, and the College of Political Science and Law was reorganized into the College of Social Science. In September 1995, the Department of Social Welfare moved from College of Theology to the College of Social Science, and in March 2004, the Department of Sociology, which was established under the College of Liberal Arts in 1972, was moved to the College of Social Science. In addition, the Department of Mass Communication & Broadcasting has taken the name Department of Communication since January 2006. In March 2008, the Department of Cultural Anthropology was newly founded, leading to the College of Social Science’s current composition of six departments.