Political Science & Government is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #20 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 591 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Political Science & Government Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 47,686 degrees in political science & government to qualified students.
Gain a solid understanding of American political history, the current political landscape, and the major political parties with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Choosing a Great Political Science & Government School
The political science program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Political Science & Government rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for political science & government schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each 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.
Pick Your Political Science & Government Degree Level
The political science school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Political Science & Government Schools.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Gain a solid understanding of American political history, the current political landscape, and the major political parties with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Political Science & Government in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the political science degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Any student who is interested in political science & government needs to look into Georgetown University. Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Georgetown is a great university overall.
There were about 308 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Georgetown in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government program at Georgetown University get $19,823 more than the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Johns Hopkins University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in political science & government. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were about 159 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government major at Johns Hopkins University earn $58,731 more than the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Gain a solid understanding of American political history, the current political landscape, and the major political parties with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
University of Pennsylvania is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in political science & government. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 133 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Those political science & government students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania receive $27,898 more than the standard political science grad.
Columbia University in the City of New York is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in political science & government. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. This university ranks 2nd out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 308 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the political science & government major at Columbia University in the City of New York earn $23,502 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were roughly 133 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available. Political Science & Government degree recipients from Duke University earn a boost of approximately $17,395 above the typical earnings of political science & government graduates.
Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.
There were roughly 191 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the political science & government program at Harvard University get $23,968 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.
There were about 131 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Those political science & government students who get their degree from University of Chicago earn $18,447 more than the average political science graduate.
Located in the large city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 7 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were roughly 469 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent data year. Those political science & government students who get their degree from George Washington University earn $21,713 more than the average political science grad.
Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #12 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Dartmouth is a great college overall.
There were about 153 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Dartmouth in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the political science & government program at Dartmouth College get $35,043 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 125 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government major at Northwestern University earn $17,162 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. This university ranks 1st out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were roughly 190 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government degree program at University of Notre Dame get $17,741 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 4th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 707 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, political science degree recipients typically earn an average of $34,392 in their early careers.
Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven. This university ranks 1st out of 18 schools for overall quality in the state of Connecticut.
There were about 165 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year. Political Science & Government degree recipients from Yale University get an earnings boost of about $19,891 over the typical income of political science & government graduates.
Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were roughly 492 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government program at University of California - Berkeley earn $7,843 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison. This university ranks 1st out of 46 colleges for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were roughly 391 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Those political science & government students who get their degree from University of Wisconsin - Madison make $4,488 more than the average political science graduate.
Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were about 157 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Those political science & government students who get their degree from Cornell University make $22,717 more than the typical political science grad.
Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were roughly 254 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor get $2,127 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 7 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were approximately 246 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year. Political Science & Government degree recipients from American University earn a boost of around $10,556 over the average earnings of political science & government graduates.
Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population. This college ranks 3rd out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 173 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government degree program at Boston College earn $9,189 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 35 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were approximately 345 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. Those political science & government students who get their degree from University of Maryland - College Park earn $5,113 more than the standard political science graduate.
Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 124 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year. Political Science & Government degree recipients from Vanderbilt University receive an earnings boost of around $9,268 over the average earnings of political science & government graduates.
Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were about 99 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available. Political Science & Government degree recipients from Stanford University get an earnings boost of around $21,722 above the typical income of political science & government majors.
NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York. This university ranks 3rd out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 248 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the political science & government major at New York University earn $13,208 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 139 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the political science program make about $38,063 in their early career salary.
Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 150 political science & government students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern in the most recent year we have data available. Political Science & Government degree recipients from Northeastern University get an earnings boost of approximately $14,941 above the average earnings of political science & government graduates.
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Political Science & Government Schools badge.
Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 20% of the 591 different United States political science & government schools we analyzed.
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 & Government Schools 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).
The political science program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Political Science & Government rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for political science & government schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
