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Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$21,820 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,486 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 156 degrees and certificates were awarded to political science and government students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #63 most popular major in the state.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

The Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for political science students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for political science majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for political science and government students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Springfield is a great value for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIS are $11,111 per year.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Northeastern Illinois University is a great value for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northeastern Illinois University are $9,428 a year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Northeastern Illinois University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WIU are $12,182 a year.

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#5

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Eastern Illinois University is a great value for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. EIU is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Charleston.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at EIU are $10,640 per year.

Full Political Science & Government at Eastern Illinois University Report

Northern Illinois University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 #7 on the list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $17,823 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC also took the #3 spot in our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a very large student population.

UIC graduate students pay an average of $17,277 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Loyola University Chicago came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 a year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Loyola University Chicago

#10

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

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

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northwestern are $56,567 a year.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at Northwestern University

Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 53
Ohio 59
Indiana 48
Wisconsin 40

Political Science & Government is one of 12 different types of programs to choose from.

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 11 schools only.

  • 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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