2025 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

a master's degree in political science & government is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #71 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 18 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 681 master's degrees in political science & government to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Political Science & Government School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of political science & government for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality political science program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to political science & government students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of political science & government students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for political science & government to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized political science & government related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for political science & government students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Political Science & Government in the Middle Atlantic Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in political science & government.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Master's in Political Science

1

Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

108 Annual Graduates

$96,306 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in political science & government has to check out Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore.

Political Science & Government master's degree recipients from Johns Hopkins University get an earnings boost of about $32,865 over the average income of political science & government majors.

More information about a master’s in political science & government from Johns Hopkins University

2

Georgetown University
Washington, DC

31 Annual Graduates

$73,347 Median Starting Salary

Georgetown University is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in political science & government. Located in the city of Washington, Georgetown is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Political Science & Government master's degree recipients from Georgetown University earn a boost of about $9,906 over the typical earnings of political science & government graduates.

More information about a master’s in political science & government from Georgetown University

3

George Washington University
Washington, DC

147 Annual Graduates

$72,470 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat George Washington University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in political science & government. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.

Political Science & Government master's degree recipients from George Washington University earn a boost of around $9,029 above the average income of political science & government graduates.

More information about a master’s in political science & government from George Washington University

4

Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY

50 Annual Graduates

Columbia University in the City of New York is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in political science & government. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in political science & government from Columbia University in the City of New York

5

Cornell University
Ithaca, NY

14 Annual Graduates

Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca.More information about a master’s in political science & government from Cornell University

6

American University
Washington, DC

19 Annual Graduates

$60,976 Median Starting Salary

The American University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.

After graduation, political science master's recipients usually earn an average of $60,976 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in political science & government from American University

7

University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD

10 Annual Graduates

UMCP is a very large public university located in the large suburb of College Park.More information about a master’s in political science & government from University of Maryland - College Park

8

Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

26 Annual Graduates

Princeton is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Princeton.More information about a master’s in political science & government from Princeton University

9

Villanova University
Villanova, PA

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in political science & government from Villanova University

10

New York University
New York, NY

42 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in political science & government from New York University

Best Political Science & Government Colleges by State

Explore the best political science & government colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	261	217
Pennsylvania	248	40
Maryland	193	112
New Jersey	188	48
District of Columbia	154	251
Delaware	109	6

View All Rankings >

Political Science & Government Related Rankings by Major

Political Science & Government is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Political Science Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Political Science	469
American Government & Politics (United States)	153
Other Political Science & Government	59

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
International Relations & National Security	2,233
Economics	1,261
General Social Sciences	376
Geography & Cartography	286
Sociology	260
Anthropology	208
Other Social Sciences	144
Urban Studies	136
Archeology	17
Demography & Population Studies	5

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to UKWiki at English Wikipedia. More about our data sources and methodologies.