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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.

$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.

Top 15 political science programs by median completer earnings

Political Science bachelor's (CIP 45.10) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

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.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
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.