Is a Political Science and Government degree worth it?
Across 517 schools, graduates of Political Science and Government earn a median $61,638 five years out on $21,500 of debt. Most go on to work as Lawyers (17% of them, per Census ACS). These earnings and debt figures come from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
Median 5-yr pay
$61,638
Median debt
$21,500
Years to pay off
3.4
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
34%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
-1.4%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
2.8%
$65,971 vs $64,143
Net price
$19,735/yr
Debt-test failures
0.6%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$2,206
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Political Science and Government in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.