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2023 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

178 Colleges
$50,486 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree School for You

Political Science & Government is the #75 most popular major in the country with 2,664 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 178 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Political Science & Government

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Our analysis found Johns Hopkins University to be the best school for political science and government students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Johns Hopkins University

#2

Rice University

Houston, TX

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Rice University is a great place for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Political Science & Government at Rice University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means The Graduate Center, CUNY is a great place for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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#4

Yale University

New Haven, CT

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Yale University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Political Science & Government at Yale University Report

#5

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Political Science & Government at Harvard University Report

Teachers College at Columbia University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

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#7

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Providence.

Full Political Science & Government at Brown University Report

#8

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #8, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Cornell University

#9

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

With a ranking of #10, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Read More…

#11

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame ranked #11 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Notre Dame Report

#12

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Northwestern University

#13

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Princeton University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.

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#14

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#15

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of Pennsylvania

#16

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, VA

University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #16 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville.

Full Political Science & Government at University of Virginia - Main Campus Report

Washington University in St Louis ranked #17 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saint Louis.

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#18

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Georgetown University

#19

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington University landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at George Washington University

Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Columbia University in the City of New York

University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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#22

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg.

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#23

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

With a ranking of #23, Villanova University did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Full Political Science & Government at Villanova University Report

#24

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

University of Chicago landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Read More…

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

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

#26

University of Rochester

Rochester, NY

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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

Rank College Location
27 Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA
28 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
29 Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA
30 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
31 Catholic University of America Washington, DC
32 Citadel Military College of South Carolina Charleston, SC
33 Emory University Atlanta, GA
34 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
35 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA

Political Science & Government by Region

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

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 12 majors within the area of study, political science and government has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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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