Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Political Science degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $33,993 two years after finishing, more than 35% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 1,130 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

C

The verdict on the money

It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.

Median earnings $33,993 2 years after finishing
Typical range $29,751–$37,896 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree — vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 41,107 1,130 programmes

Where a Political Science degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 Dartmouth College cost & debt at this university → $57,095 $62,192 $75,463 182
2 Harvard University cost & debt at this university → $58,808 $57,017 $64,803 164
3 Columbia University in the City of New York $52,096 $56,415 $61,253 232
4 Duke University cost & debt at this university → $43,130 $54,463 $68,481 111
5 American Public University System cost & debt at this university → $46,663 $54,109 $54,342 68
6 Hamilton College cost & debt at this university → $48,577 $53,894 $56,960 30
7 Colgate University cost & debt at this university → $42,813 $53,358 $60,399 76
8 Brown University cost & debt at this university → $50,186 $53,108 $62,581 58
9 Southern Methodist University cost & debt at this university → $34,053 $52,941 $54,488 62
10 Bucknell University cost & debt at this university → $49,507 $52,941 $57,352 87
11 Georgetown University $51,297 $52,524 $60,548 272
12 Cornell University cost & debt at this university → $51,469 $52,107 $40,155 116

What this figure does and does not tell you

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $37,705, so Political Science sits below the middle by $3,712.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Political Science at other levels

Master's — $46,283 (D)

Scholarships for Political Science students

Whatever the subject pays, the money you do not borrow is the money you keep.

2017 CBS Ph.D. Scholarship in Political Science and Public Man... 20 College of Social Sciences Scholarships at University of Gl... PhD Scholarships in Political Science at Stockholm University... MA Scholarship,Political Science and International Relations a... Harvard South Asia Institute Raghunathan Family PhD Fellowship... UCC Department of Government PhD Studentship for EU and Non-EU...
See all Political Science scholarships →

Study Political Science Programmes listed on ScholarshipsAds.

M.A. in Political Science — Bilkent University Political Science — Bilkent University Africana Studies and Political Science — Northeastern University Biology and Political Science — Northeastern University Criminal Justice and Political Science — Northeastern University Communication and Political Science (Hons) — University of Ottawa

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Microbiology — $34,207 Criminal Justice — $34,420 Geography — $35,420 Teaching — $35,605 Hospitality Management — $36,497 Special Education — $37,568

Funding the degree Lenders that fund US and international students — compare the rate before you sign.

MPOWER Financing
No-cosigner, no-collateral loans for international and DACA students in the US a...
· no co-signer
See MPOWER Financing →
Prodigy Finance
Cosigner-free loans for international postgraduate students at top global univer...
· no co-signer
See Prodigy Finance →
Sallie Mae
One of the largest US private student loan lenders, with international options v...
See Sallie Mae →

We may earn a commission if you take a loan through a provider here. It never changes the earnings figures on this page — those come from the US Department of Education.

Political Science: the questions people ask

How much do Political Science graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $33,993 two years after finishing, across 547 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $33,135.
Is a Political Science degree worth it?
It pays around the middle. What you earn will depend more on where you study and what you do with it than on the subject label.
What is the salary range for Political Science?
Half of US programmes report medians between $29,751 and $37,896. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Political Science each year?
About 41,107 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 1,130 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
All degree grades Highest paying majors Most popular majors University costs & payback

Classified by the Department of Education as Political Science and Government (CIP 4510). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.