Majors

Best Colleges for Political Science, by Earnings

1,029 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Political Science, about 40,640 degrees a year. Across the 547 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $61,915 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Johns Hopkins University	MD	$121,729	36	6.4%
2	Dartmouth College	NH	$106,153	182	5.4%
3	Vanderbilt University	TN	$102,789	130	5.9%
4	Columbia University	NY	$100,245	232	4%
5	Colby College	ME	$96,621	66	7.1%
6	Harvard University	MA	$95,838	164	3.6%
7	Cornell University	NY	$95,391	116	8.8%
8	Washington and Lee University	VA	$95,190	70	14%
9	University of Notre Dame	IN	$94,297	175	11.3%
10	Trinity College	CT	$94,097	77	29.3%
11	Bucknell University	PA	$94,028	87	28.9%
12	Emory University	GA	$94,001	87	10.7%
13	Santa Clara University	CA	$93,518	96	48%
14	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$93,033	112	5.4%
15	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$90,778	75	12.1%
16	Yale University	CT	$90,764	107	3.9%
17	Lehigh University	PA	$90,302	36	25.9%
18	Elon University	NC	$89,685	76	66.4%
19	Bowdoin College	ME	$89,253	77	7.1%
20	Princeton University	NJ	$88,576	57	4.6%
21	Duke University	NC	$88,459	111	5.7%
22	Williams College	MA	$88,339	46	8.3%
23	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$88,088	129	17.6%
24	Hamilton College	NY	$88,019	30	13.6%
25	Lafayette College	PA	$87,904	71	31.5%
26	University of Chicago	IL	$87,869	111	4.5%
27	Rice University	TX	$87,804	28	8%
28	Boston College	MA	$86,537	158	16.4%
29	Wake Forest University	NC	$85,668	119	21.7%
30	Brown University	RI	$85,388	58	5.4%
31	Fairfield University	CT	$83,709	30	33.3%
32	Brigham Young University	UT	$83,209	146	67.8%
33	Colgate University	NY	$83,188	76	13.9%
34	Villanova University	PA	$83,179	115	27%
35	University of Maryland Global Campus	MD	$82,263	89
36	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$81,843	85	31.3%
37	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$81,575	44	75.5%
38	New York University	NY	$80,957	183	7.7%
39	Saint Anselm College	NH	$80,763	18	78.1%
40	Bates College	ME	$80,714	54	13.3%
41	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$79,778	17	64%
42	George Washington University	DC	$79,692	305	47.1%
43	Georgetown University	DC	$79,502	272	12.9%
44	DePauw University	IN	$79,117	15	57.2%
45	Bryant University	RI	$78,579	13	65.5%
46	University of Virginia	VA	$78,310	127	16.8%
47	Tufts University	MA	$78,180	81	11.5%
48	Barnard College	NY	$77,805	70	8.8%
49	University of Michigan	MI	$77,480	247	15.6%
50	Middlebury College	VT	$77,444	48	10.8%
51	Rollins College	FL	$76,600	26	47.5%
52	Gettysburg College	PA	$76,597	76	38.9%
53	Case Western Reserve University	OH	$76,451	29	36.5%
54	Mercyhurst University	PA	$76,154	8	81%
55	Stonehill College	MA	$76,123	15	66.3%
56	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$75,988	340	26.6%
57	Pepperdine University	CA	$75,954	38	62.9%
58	Virginia Tech	VA	$75,687	200	54.8%
59	Providence College	RI	$75,637	69	50.9%
60	St Lawrence University	NY	$75,486	50	54.3%
61	Texas Christian University	TX	$75,419	91	44.5%
62	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$75,374	160	75.4%
63	Syracuse University	NY	$75,239	141	45.9%
64	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$75,128	418	11%
65	University of Southern California	CA	$75,090	132	9.8%
66	Union College	NY	$75,005	32	43.9%
67	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	$74,822	41	28.2%
68	Saint Mary's College	IN	$74,623	7	76%
69	Furman University	SC	$74,476	58	43%
70	University of Maryland	MD	$74,437	321	44.8%
71	Fordham University	NY	$74,419	152	59.3%
72	Marist University	NY	$74,308	35	56.5%
73	Gonzaga University	WA	$74,303	55	81.7%
74	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$74,202	653	9%
75	Connecticut College	CT	$74,190	43	37%
76	George Mason University	VA	$74,125	180	87.5%
77	Wabash College	IN	$74,061	20	63.3%
78	Brandeis University	MA	$74,018	60	40.5%
79	Marquette University	WI	$74,008	96	81.3%
80	The Catholic University of America	DC	$73,917	64	82.8%
81	Quinnipiac University	CT	$73,833	29	72.2%
82	Claremont McKenna College	CA	$73,826	34	9.6%
83	American University	DC	$73,604	216	62%
84	Northeastern University	MA	$73,539	123	5.2%
85	Northeastern University Professional Programs	MA	$73,539	1
86	Suffolk University	MA	$73,484	58	82.3%
87	James Madison University	VA	$73,326	110	71.5%
88	Northwestern University	IL	$73,231	106	7.7%
89	Binghamton University	NY	$73,044	118	38.6%
90	Wellesley College	MA	$72,830	45	14.1%
91	The University of the South	TN	$72,682	38	56.9%
92	High Point University	NC	$72,564	18	75.3%
93	University of Washington	WA	$72,487	389	39.1%
94	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	$72,487	47	90.6%
95	Occidental College	CA	$72,441	18	44.2%
96	St. Mary's College of Maryland	MD	$72,397	18	68.6%
97	Fort Hays State University	KS	$72,384	13	90.3%
98	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$72,375	85	45.1%
99	University of San Francisco	CA	$72,263	36	61.7%
100	College of William & Mary	VA	$72,173	190	34.1%

Showing the top 100 of 547 colleges that report earnings. 482 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Political Science graduates?

Johns Hopkins University ($121,729), Dartmouth College ($106,153), Vanderbilt University ($102,789), Columbia University ($100,245), Colby College ($96,621) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Political Science majors make?

The median across 547 colleges is $61,915 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $26,696 to $121,729.

Which colleges have the biggest Political Science programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: University of California-Los Angeles (653), Florida State University (421), University of California-Berkeley (418), University of Washington (389), University of Wisconsin-Madison (384).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Political Science and Government". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.