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Best Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools

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

In 2020-2021, 49,282 people earned a degree or certificate in political science and government, making the major the #20 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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, Course Advisor 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. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

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

Check out the political science master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

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

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Our 2023 rankings named Johns Hopkins University the best school in the United States for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

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#2

Rice University

Houston, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rice University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The Graduate Center, CUNY. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public college with a moderately-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 college with a fairly large student population.

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#5

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Out of the 178 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvard University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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With a ranking of #6, Teachers College at Columbia University did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Teachers College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

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#7

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Brown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Providence.

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#8

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

Cornell 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 #8 on the list. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#9

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

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#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 suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#12

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

With a ranking of #12, Northwestern 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 Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#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 moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small 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 large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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#15

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree political science and government programs. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

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#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.

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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 large suburb of Saint Louis.

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#18

Georgetown University

Washington, DC

Georgetown University ranked #18 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Georgetown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.

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#19

George Washington University

Washington, DC

George Washington 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 #19 on the list. GWU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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Columbia University in the City of New York came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

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University of California - Berkeley ranked #21 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

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#22

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

With a ranking of #22, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.

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#23

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#24

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

With a ranking of #24, University of Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

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With a ranking of #25, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best schools for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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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 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306
Anthropology 11,415

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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