2025 Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for political science & government students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 33 doctor's degrees in political science & government during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

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.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on political science & government students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of political science & government students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt political science & government students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized political science & government related body.

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Political Science & Government in Illinois

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for political science & government students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Doctorate in Political Science

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

12 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in political science & government. 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

2

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

11 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in political science & government. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a doctorate in political science & government from University of Chicago

Best Political Science & Government Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Political Science & Government Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	149	23
Ohio	144	12
Indiana	132	24
Wisconsin	108	11

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Political Science

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	33

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Economics	117
Anthropology	34
Sociology	34
General Social Sciences	6
Geography & Cartography	2

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.