Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Value Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$19,388 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,516 Avg Salary

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

With 8,494 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, political science and government is the #14 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Political Science & Government Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for political science students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

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

Our analysis found University of California - Berkeley to be the best value school for political science and government students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in California. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for political science in California.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Berkeley Report

Request Information

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Political Science & Government Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Los Angeles Report

Request Information

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Santa Barbara is a great value for political science and government students working on their doctor’s degree. UCSB is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.

UCSB graduate students pay an average of $13,581 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Santa Barbara

Request Information

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Davis helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value political science and government schools in California. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Davis are $13,608 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Davis

Request Information

Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the # 5 spot on the list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the city of Irvine.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Irvine

Request Information

With a ranking of #6, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $13,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - San Diego

Request Information

University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the city of Riverside.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCR are $13,467 a year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Riverside Report

Request Information

University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree political science and government programs. Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Santa Cruz are $13,895 per year.

Read full report on Political Science & Government at University of California - Santa Cruz

Request Information

Claremont Graduate University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for political science and government students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Claremont Graduate University are $36,380 per year.

Claremont Graduate University not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Political Science & Government Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Political Science & Government at Claremont Graduate University Report

Request Information

With a ranking of #10, University of California - Merced did quite well on this year’s best value schools for political science and government students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the rural area of Merced, UC Merced is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Merced are $13,207 a year.

Full Political Science & Government at University of California - Merced Report

Request Information

Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Political Science & Government Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 984
Oregon 543
Nevada 224
Hawaii 141
Alaska 16

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

Majors Similar to Political Science

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 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.

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.