Program ranking · CIP 45.10 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Political Science

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Political Science (CIP 45.10) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$121,729
Highest political science earnings: 100
Colleges ranked: $70,434
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $70,434 median earnings for Political Science bachelor's (CIP 45.10) completers. Johns Hopkins University leads at $121,729.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$121,729
#1 - Johns Hopkins University: $70,434
#100 - the cutoff to make this list: 25+
completers required per school: 1,107
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Johns Hopkins University

$121,729
Dartmouth College

$106,153
Vanderbilt University

$102,789
Columbia University in t…

$100,245
Colby College

$96,621
Harvard University

$95,838
Cornell University

$95,391
Washington and Lee Unive…

$95,190
University of Notre Dame

$94,297
Trinity College

$94,097
Bucknell University

$94,028
Emory University

$94,001
Santa Clara University

$93,518
University of Pennsylvania

$93,033
Washington University in…

$90,778

What this shows Political-science medians mix government, law-school, and private-sector paths - debt still matters when public-sector pay sits below coastal private roles.

The full top 100

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
1	Johns Hopkins University	MD	$121,729	-	44
2	Dartmouth College	NH	$106,153	$17,500	153
3	Vanderbilt University	TN	$102,789	$14,000	104
4	Columbia University in the City of New York	NY	$100,245	$21,500	225
5	Colby College	ME	$96,621	$27,000	76
6	Harvard University	MA	$95,838	-	121
7	Cornell University	NY	$95,391	$14,400	132
8	Washington and Lee University	VA	$95,190	-	69
9	University of Notre Dame	IN	$94,297	$19,000	177
10	Trinity College	CT	$94,097	$25,000	84
11	Bucknell University	PA	$94,028	$25,500	97
12	Emory University	GA	$94,001	$17,500	75
13	Santa Clara University	CA	$93,518	$20,500	72
14	University of Pennsylvania	PA	$93,033	$14,250	120
15	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$90,778	$18,500	82
16	Yale University	CT	$90,764	$14,749	137
17	Lehigh University	PA	$90,302	$21,150	51
18	Elon University	NC	$89,685	$20,500	89
19	Bowdoin College	ME	$89,253	$19,634	83
20	Princeton University	NJ	$88,576	-	48
21	Duke University	NC	$88,459	$14,016	91
22	Williams College	MA	$88,339	$10,750	63
23	College of the Holy Cross	MA	$88,088	$27,000	110
24	Hamilton College	NY	$88,019	$12,500	40
25	Lafayette College	PA	$87,904	$13,640	84
26	University of Chicago	IL	$87,869	$18,500	109
27	Rice University	TX	$87,804	-	37
28	Boston College	MA	$86,537	$18,000	142
29	Wake Forest University	NC	$85,668	$22,500	133
30	Brown University	RI	$85,388	$14,481	58
31	Fairfield University	CT	$83,709	$27,000	29
32	Brigham Young University	UT	$83,209	$10,646	115
33	Colgate University	NY	$83,188	$16,250	87
34	Villanova University	PA	$83,179	$25,620	106
35	University of Maryland Global Campus	MD	$82,263	$19,910	102
36	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$81,843	$17,831	95
37	Loyola University Maryland	MD	$81,575	$27,000	38
38	American Public University System	WV	$81,056	$21,728	58
39	New York University	NY	$80,957	$20,500	191
40	Saint Anselm College	NH	$80,763	$27,000	30
41	Bates College	ME	$80,714	$11,532	57
42	Hobart William Smith Colleges	NY	$79,778	$27,000	31
43	George Washington University	DC	$79,692	$21,723	310
44	Georgetown University	DC	$79,502	$15,384	270
45	University of Virginia-Main Campus	VA	$78,310	$16,049	118
46	Tufts University	MA	$78,180	$17,850	71
47	Barnard College	NY	$77,805	$18,250	70
48	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	MI	$77,480	$17,965	239
49	Middlebury College	VT	$77,444	$18,297	46
50	Gettysburg College	PA	$76,597	$26,749	76
51	Case Western Reserve University	OH	$76,451	-	26
52	The University of Texas at Austin	TX	$75,988	$19,500	316
53	Pepperdine University	CA	$75,954	$23,625	34
54	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VA	$75,687	$23,500	185
55	Providence College	RI	$75,637	$27,000	68
56	St Lawrence University	NY	$75,486	$27,000	55
57	Texas Christian University	TX	$75,419	$22,062	89
58	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$75,374	$25,000	172
59	Syracuse University	NY	$75,239	$26,091	165
60	University of California-Berkeley	CA	$75,128	$13,000	464
61	University of Southern California	CA	$75,090	$12,000	139
62	Union College	NY	$75,005	$25,389	47
63	Franklin and Marshall College	PA	$74,822	$19,000	55
64	Furman University	SC	$74,476	$27,000	62
65	University of Maryland-College Park	MD	$74,437	$18,442	329
66	Fordham University	NY	$74,419	$23,250	156
67	Marist University	NY	$74,308	$21,199	44
68	Gonzaga University	WA	$74,303	$21,494	46
69	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$74,202	$15,000	675
70	Connecticut College	CT	$74,190	$24,425	38
71	George Mason University	VA	$74,125	$20,449	205
72	Brandeis University	MA	$74,018	$23,333	61
73	Marquette University	WI	$74,008	$21,500	95
74	The Catholic University of America	DC	$73,917	$25,000	74
75	Quinnipiac University	CT	$73,833	$27,000	28
76	Claremont McKenna College	CA	$73,826	-	46
77	American University	DC	$73,604	$23,250	192
78	Northeastern University	MA	$73,539	$21,625	139
79	Suffolk University	MA	$73,484	$26,000	62
80	James Madison University	VA	$73,326	$19,286	117
81	Northwestern University	IL	$73,231	$16,834	110
82	Binghamton University	NY	$73,044	$19,500	124
83	Wellesley College	MA	$72,830	$11,820	42
84	The University of the South	TN	$72,682	$24,267	40
85	University of Washington-Seattle Campus	WA	$72,487	$13,290	399
86	University of Washington-Bothell Campus	WA	$72,487	$13,290	68
87	Loyola Marymount University	CA	$72,375	$20,500	91
88	University of San Francisco	CA	$72,263	$23,000	37
89	William & Mary	VA	$72,173	$19,500	142
90	Rhodes College	TN	$72,062	$26,500	32
91	University of Scranton	PA	$72,038	$25,409	27
92	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	$72,001	$14,569	326
93	Purdue University-Main Campus	IN	$71,601	$19,500	107
94	Tulane University of Louisiana	LA	$71,160	$19,500	166
95	Morehouse College	GA	$71,139	$25,000	36
96	California State University-East Bay	CA	$71,022	$18,322	46
97	University of Georgia	GA	$70,877	$17,625	218
98	Utah State University	UT	$70,711	$18,241	41
99	Oberlin College	OH	$70,689	$23,250	36
100	University of Florida	FL	$70,434	$15,000	397

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Political Science (CIP 45.10) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Political Science (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Political Science and Government (CIP 45.10) bachelor's programs - public policy (CIP 44.05) and international relations (CIP 45.09) are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.