2022 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

For its 2022 ranking, College Factual looked at 191 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for political science and government students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,850 master's degrees in political science and government to qualified students.

What's on this page: * 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 and government for getting your master'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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master'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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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 many resources a school devotes to political science and government students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other political science and government students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• 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 and government students go into to obtain their master'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 and government related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Political Science & Government Schools

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 ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Featured Political Science & Government Programs

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

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Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Political Science & Government in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in political science and government. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Political Science

#1

Yale University

New Haven, CT

39 Annual Graduates

Yale University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in political science and government. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Yale University

#2

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

89 Annual Graduates

$82,800 Median Starting Salary

$36,583 Median Student Debt

It is difficult to beat Johns Hopkins University if you want to pursue a master's degree in political science and government. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Political Science & Government master's degree recipients from Johns Hopkins University earn a boost of about $27,963 over the average income of political science and government graduates.

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

#3

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

36 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in political science and government. Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Harvard University

#4

Duke University

Durham, NC

25 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in political science and government has to take a look at Duke University. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Duke University

#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

11 Annual Graduates

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

#6

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY

42 Annual Graduates

Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Columbia University in the City of New York

#7

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

13 Annual Graduates

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

#8

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

56 Annual Graduates

$64,167 Median Student Debt

Georgetown is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Georgetown University

#9

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

21 Annual Graduates

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

#10

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

5 Annual Graduates

UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of Pennsylvania

#11

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

10 Annual Graduates

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

#12

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

8 Annual Graduates

Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of Notre Dame

#13

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

9 Annual Graduates

UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of Chicago

#14

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO

5 Annual Graduates

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

#15

George Washington University

Washington, DC

178 Annual Graduates

$63,800 Median Starting Salary

$47,779 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the political science and government major at George Washington University make $8,963 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

#16

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

4 Annual Graduates

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

#17

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA

8 Annual Graduates

Lehigh is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bethlehem.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Lehigh University

#18

Brown University

Providence, RI

9 Annual Graduates

Brown is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Providence.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Brown University

#19

Rice University

Houston, TX

7 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 master’s in political science and government from Rice University

#20

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI

6 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

#21

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

12 Annual Graduates

Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Villanova University

#22

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

7 Annual Graduates

Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in political science and government from Emory University

#23

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

25 Annual Graduates

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of California - Los Angeles

#24

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

25 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in political science and government from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

#25

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

9 Annual Graduates

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

Rest of the Top Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

#25

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

#26

Boston College

Chestnut Hill, MA

#27

Teachers College at Columbia University

New York, NY

#28

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools award.

Political Science & Government by Region

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

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Political Science

One of 12 majors within the Social Sciences area of study, Political Science & Government has other similar majors worth exploring.

Political Science Concentrations

Majors Similar to Political Science

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.

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