Specialized Study in Political Science and Government
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OverviewSalary and DebtIs a Bachelor's EnoughCareersSchoolsRelated ProgramsGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Specialized study in political science and government is an instructional program in political science and government not specifically listed by the us department of education.
Highlights
School with the highest reported median starting salary ($64K) with a Bachelor's Degree: Dartmouth College
Career with the highest median salary ($107K) where most workers have a Bachelor's Degree: Computer and Information Systems Managers
Explore Pathways
Careers for program graduates
Specialized study in political science and government majors work in these careers, which are sized by percentage of majors in the career (at least 1%) and colored by the predominant level of education.
Lawyers, and judges, magistrat...Specialized ManagersElementary and Middle School S...Chief executives and legislato...Postsecondary TeachersManagement AnalystsEducation and childcare admini...Financial ManagersParalegals and Legal Assistant...First-Line Supervisors of Reta...Wholesale and Manufacturing Sa...Customer Service Representativ...First-Line Supervisors of Non-...Labor Relations SpecialistsAccountants and AuditorsFirst-Line Supervisors of Offi...General and Operations Manager...Retail SalespersonsProject Management SpecialistsSocial and Community Service M...
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Current completions
What level of degree do most graduates achieve, and do they match what your goals?
05001K2K0-1 Year Certificate1-2 Year CertificateAssociate's DegreeBachelor's DegreePostbaccalaureate CertMaster's DegreeResearch Doctorate
SOURCES:
Completions over time
Have completions for political science and government changed over time? Increasing completions may mean you'll likely have an easier time finding a school that offers this degree, with the opposite being true as well.
Show percentages
Number of graduates
02004006008001,0001,200200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Research Doctorate
Post-master's Cert
Master's Degree
Postbaccalaureate Cert
Bachelor's Degree
Associate's Degree
2-4 Year Certificate
1-2 Year Certificate
0-1 Year Certificate
Salary and Debt
How are students who recently completed a degree in specialized study in political science and government doing?
Below is the distribution of starting salaries along with accumulated federal and private education loans across schools that offer a degree in the field politics, which includes specialized study in political science and government.
Median starting salaries
$35K$50K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KMaster'sBachelor's
Median cumulative loan amount
$23K$41K$0$20K$40K$60K$80KMaster'sBachelor's
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Context: median salaries
How does the median (middle) salary for political science and government majors compare to the median salaries for other college majors?
$69K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Distribution: political science and government majors' salaries by education level
What is the salary distribution for graduates with a bachelor's inpolitical science and government by the level of their highest degree (Graduate degrees may not be in the same field as the bachelor’s)
$59K$92K$88K$75K$0$50K$100K$150K$200KBachelor'sMaster'sDoctorateProfessional
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Is a bachelor's degree all you need?
Education level of workers with a bachelor's in political science and government
Is a bachelor's degree going to be sufficient to make you competative in the job market? We can look at the education level of workers with a bachelors in this degree to see if there is a likely need for a graduate degree. You'll also want to check out the careers section on this page to where they are employed.
This chart shows the level of education of workers with a bachelor's degree in political science and government. The worker's graduate degree may have been completed in a different field.
Education level of workers
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Context: Graduate degrees in any field by undergraduate ACS degree
About 51% of political science and government majors chose to also earn a graduate degree (possibly of a different major). The percentage of political science and government majors who also earned a graduate degree is higher than about 85% of other fields.
51%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Percentage salary boost obtained with a graduate degree
How important is a graduate degree for earning a higher salary? We can see the difference in salary of workers with a bachelors in this degree to workers with a bachelor’s AND a graduate degree.
27%50%56%0%20%40%60%80%Bachelor's to Master'sBachelor's to DoctorateBachelor's to Professional
Careers
Top careers for those with a degree in political science and government
Following are the most frequent jobs held by people who earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Government (which combines 5 programs), though may not be limited to just those with a bachelor’s.
  1. Lawyers, and judges, magistrates, and similar judicial professionals
  2. Specialized Managers
  3. Elementary and Middle School School Teachers
  4. Chief executives and legislators
  5. Postsecondary Teachers
  6. Management Analysts
  7. Education and childcare administrators
  8. Financial Managers
  9. Paralegals and Legal Assistants
  10. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
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Careers for political science and government majors
Where do political science and government majors work, and how well do those jobs pay? A ** in the job title indicates that the Department of Education recommends this job for this program.
Not so much?
The top ten careers for workers with a bachelor's in political science and government
Take a minute to interact with this sankey diagram. Follow the top ten jobs held by political science and government graduates through to their most hired majors. Learn where it may easiest to find work. Expand the careers to explore other majors that might lead to the job that excites you the most. *For many majors, the top ten jobs don't even include half of graduates!*
Expand careers
Lawyers, and judges,...Specialized ManagersElementary and Middl...Chief executives and...Postsecondary Teache...Management AnalystsEducation and childc...Financial ManagersParalegals and Legal...First-Line Superviso...All othersThis degreeTop 10 Careers
What careers hire political science and government majors as one of their top 10?
To the left of this diagram, see all careers that hire political science and government majors as one of their top 10 majors, and on the right, see what proportion of openings for the jobs on the left are filled by political science and government majors.
Political Science and Gov...All other degreesParalegals and Legal Assi...Specialized Legal Support...Public Relations Speciali...Military officer special ...Specialized Social Scient...FundraisersCommunity and Social Serv...Urban and Regional Planne...Public relations and fund...Operations Research Analy...Detectives and Criminal I...EconomistsSocial and Community Serv...Agents and Business Manag...Private Detectives and In...Budget AnalystsClerical Library Assistan...Securities, Commodities, ...Compliance OfficersSocial and Human Service ...Business Operations Speci...Claims Adjusters, Examine...Procurement ClerksNews Analysts, Reporters,...Chief executives and legi...Appraisers and Assessors ...Personal Financial Adviso...Aircraft pilots and fligh...Entertainment and Recreat...Interpreters and Translat...Management AnalystsWriters and AuthorsTax Examiners/Collectors ...First-Line Supervisors of...Proofreaders and Copy Mar...Insurance Sales AgentsPurchasing ManagersReal estate brokers and s...Insurance UnderwritersSales Representatives of ...Property, Real Estate, an...General and Operations Ma...Specialized ManagersAdministrative Services M...Meeting, Convention, and ...Compensation, Benefits, a...Financial SpecialistsLabor Relations Specialis...Project Management Specia...Government Programs Eligi...Nuclear medicine technolo...Advertising Sales AgentsFirst-Line Supervisors of...Specialized Sales and Rel...Advertising and Promotion...Marketing ManagersHuman Resources ManagersProbation Officers and Co...Sales ManagersLogisticiansEmergency Management Dire...Natural Sciences ManagersMarket Research Analysts ...Training and Development ...Education and childcare a...Producers and DirectorsWholesale and Manufacturi...Loan OfficersPostsecondary TeachersSpecialized Financial Cle...Purchasing AgentsFinancial ManagersActorsEditorsTechnical WritersLibrarians and Media Coll...Lodging ManagersMental Health and Substan...Tax PreparersFinancial and Investment ...Credit AnalystsMusic Directors and Compo...Clinical and Counseling P...Accountants and AuditorsNurse AnesthetistsAll other careersDegreeDegree in top 10 employed
Where can I complete this degree
Explore schools that offer specialized study in political science and government degrees and certificates
You can use this table to find schools that offer this program based on location and program level offered. Each entry goes to a school page similar to this one with all our information about that school.
Understanding the columns

The school list includes a few facts about each school that give you an idea of the educational quality each school might offer:

  • Student-Faculty Ratio: A small number of students per full-time instructor suggests individual attention for each student and an up-to-date curriculum.

  • Satisfaction Rate: A high percentage of returning first-year students should correlate with satisfaction (schools call this their retention rate).

  • Repayment Rate: A high repayment rate means most alumni earn enough to make progress repaying loans within 7 years of leaving.

We also show the total enrollment for the school as measured by full-time-equivalent (FTE) students enrolled annually.

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Offering this program at this level
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Related Programs
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Careers for political science and government majors
political science and government is part of a larger collection of programs: Politics and Geography. Is there a different program that's close to political science and government that might be a better match for your interests? You can use this table to see a little about the programs that fall under this umbrella. If you click on any of the table headers, that will sort the table by that column, or click on a row and see Ididio's profile for that program.
Gender
Gender of recent graduates
Of all people with any degree in specialized study in political science and government earned in the last academic year, 49% were women.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by gender changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
02004006008001K1KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Women
Men
Context: Gender representation
How does the gender distribution in this major compare to all other majors?
38%62%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
Context: Percentage women
This major has a lower percentage of women than 57% other programs.
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary with this degree? The closer the bar are, the less discrepancy there is.
$64K$74K$0$50K$100K$150K$200K$250KWomenMen
Context: Salary inequity
For political science and government graduates, men have a 17% higher median salary than women, This is near the middle of salary differentials within each program's graduates.
17%17%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race/Origin of recent graduates
Here is an overview of race/origin for all specialized study in political science and government graduates from this last academic year. We found a higher percentage of international graduates in this program than in 65% of other programs.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Completions over time
Have completions by race/origin changed over time, or at specific levels of education?
Award level
All levels
02004006008001K1KNumber of graduates200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019
International
Not Reported
Multiracial
American Indian
Asian
Hispanic
Pacific Islander
Black
White
Context: Percentage of Minority Graduates
Minority students comprise a lower percentage of graduates than in 39% of other programs.