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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

19 Colleges
$14,899 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,486 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Political Science & Government Master'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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Political Science & Government Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 19 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master'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 Master'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 master’s degree in California. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

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

UC Berkeley also made our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #2.

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#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Francisco State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SFSU graduate students pay an average of $8,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Irvine helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value political science and government schools in California. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Sacramento is a great value for political science and government students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Sac State are $8,826 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.

UCLA also made our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #4.

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California State University - Chico 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. Chico State is a large public school located in the city of Chico.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Chico State are $9,298 per year.

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California State University - Fullerton 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. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Fullerton.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $8,410 per year.

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University of California - San Diego ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.

UCSD also claimed a spot on our Best Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. UCSB is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

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

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California State University - Los Angeles came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Political Science & Government Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State LA are $8,219 a year.

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

Explore all the Best Value Political Science & Government Colleges 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 19 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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