2024 Best Political Science Schools in the Southeast Region
128Colleges in the Southeast Region
10,978Poly Sci Degrees Awarded
Political Science is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #13 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 128 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for political science students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 10,978 degrees in political science to qualified students.
Your choice of political science school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Political Science School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Political Science Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
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Best Schools for Political Science in the Southeast Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the poly sci degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Duke University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in political science. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were approximately 132 political science students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available.
Vanderbilt University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in political science. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were about 98 political science students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year.
It is difficult to beat University of Virginia - Main Campus if you wish to pursue a degree in political science. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #33 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were about 114 political science students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent year we have data available.
Emory University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in political science. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.
There were roughly 121 political science students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #43 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UNC Chapel Hill is a great university overall.
There were approximately 360 political science students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year.
Washington and Lee is a small private not-for-profit university located in the distant town of Lexington. A Best Colleges rank of #83 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Washington and Lee is a great university overall.
There were roughly 59 political science students who graduated with this degree at Washington and Lee in the most recent year we have data available.
UF is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Gainesville. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were roughly 407 political science students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available.
Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.
There were approximately 200 political science students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of New Orleans, Tulane is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #78 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Tulane is a great university overall.
There were approximately 154 political science students who graduated with this degree at Tulane in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 4th out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were about 125 political science students who graduated with this degree at Wake Forest University in the most recent year we have data available.
UGA is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #72 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UGA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 242 political science students who graduated with this degree at UGA in the most recent year we have data available.
William & Mary is a medium-sized public school located in the small suburb of Williamsburg. This school ranks 4th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were approximately 170 political science students who graduated with this degree at William & Mary in the most recent year we have data available.
Florida State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee. This university ranks 3rd out of 77 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were approximately 513 political science students who graduated with this degree at Florida State in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Columbia, UofSC is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 44 schools for overall quality in the state of South Carolina.
There were about 200 political science students who graduated with this degree at UofSC in the most recent year we have data available.
UA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Tuscaloosa. This university ranks 2nd out of 40 schools for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were about 217 political science students who graduated with this degree at UA in the most recent year we have data available.
UT Knoxville is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville. This university ranks 2nd out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 184 political science students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent year we have data available.
U Miami is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Coral Gables. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U Miami is a great university overall.
There were approximately 100 political science students who graduated with this degree at U Miami in the most recent data year.
Located in the large suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 77 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were about 345 political science students who graduated with this degree at FIU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Harrisonburg, JMU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 130 political science students who graduated with this degree at JMU in the most recent data year.
Rest of the Top Best Political Science Schools in the Southeast Region
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Political Science Schools in the Southeast Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
college factual
Your choice of political science school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Political Science School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
