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2024 Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools

103 Colleges in the United States
654 Doctor's Degrees
$70,516 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your doctor's degree in political science & government, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #43 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 103 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for political science & government students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 654 doctor's degrees in political science & government to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools Your choice of political science & government for getting your doctor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

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

More Ways to Rank Political Science & Government Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Political Science Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Political Science & Government in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for political science & government students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

15 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Political Science

1
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
14 Annual Graduates

Yale University is a great choice for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in political science & government. Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Yale University

2
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
21 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in political science & government. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Harvard University

3
18 Annual Graduates

University of Chicago is a good option for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in political science & government. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from University of Chicago

4
13 Annual Graduates

Columbia University in the City of New York is a great option for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in political science & government. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Columbia University in the City of New York

5
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
20 Annual Graduates

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

6
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
3 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Rice University

7
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
6 Annual Graduates

UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from University of Pennsylvania

8
11 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Northwestern University

9
Princeton crest
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Princeton University

10
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
15 Annual Graduates

Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Duke University

11
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
6 Annual Graduates

Brown is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Brown University

12
Georgetown crest
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
13 Annual Graduates

Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Georgetown University

13
8 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Cornell University

14
4 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Johns Hopkins University

15
2 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from Washington University in St Louis

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Political Science & Government students that almost earned our Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
17 Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN
18 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
19 New York University New York, NY
20 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
21 Emory University Atlanta, GA
22 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
23 George Washington University Washington, DC
24 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
25 Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA

Political Science & Government by Region

View the Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 13 majors within the Social Sciences area of study, Political Science & Government has other similar majors worth exploring.

Political Science Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Political Science 639
Other Political Science & Government 15

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 1,248
Sociology 577
Anthropology 469
Geography & Cartography 249
Other Social Sciences 108
International Relations & National Security 73
Urban Studies 24
Archeology 14
Demography & Population Studies 9
General Social Sciences 6

Notes and References

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