Ranked #12 in popularity, political science & government is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 123 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Political Science & Government Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 7,829 bachelor's degrees in political science & government to qualified students.
Gain a solid understanding of American political history, the current political landscape, and the major political parties with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Choosing a Great Political Science & Government School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The political science bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on political science & government students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of political science & government students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for political science & government to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized political science & government related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for political science & government students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Political Science & Government Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Political Science & Government Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
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Gain a solid understanding of American political history, the current political landscape, and the major political parties with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Political Science & Government in the Middle Atlantic Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science & government. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
24 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Political Science
Georgetown University is a great option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science & government. Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Georgetown University receive an earnings boost of about $16,834 above the average earnings of political science & government graduates.
It's difficult to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in political science & government. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Columbia University in the City of New York earn $22,664 more than the average political science graduate.
University of Pennsylvania is a wonderful decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in political science & government. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from University of Pennsylvania get an earnings boost of around $27,060 over the average income of political science & government majors.
George Washington University is a wonderful option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in political science & government. Located in the large city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from George Washington University make $13,124 more than the standard political science grad.
Located in the large city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from American University get an earnings boost of about $9,621 above the average income of political science & government graduates.
NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from New York University earn a boost of approximately $12,370 over the average income of political science & government majors.
Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Cornell University get an earnings boost of about $21,879 over the typical income of political science & government graduates.
Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Maryland - College Park make $4,275 more than the average political science grad.
Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Villanova University make $8,136 more than the average political science grad.
Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Syracuse University make $4,819 more than the average political science student.
Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Princeton University get an earnings boost of about $24,904 above the average income of political science & government graduates.
Barnard is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of New York.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Barnard College get an earnings boost of about $18,885 above the average income of political science & government majors.
Bucknell is a small private not-for-profit university located in the distant town of Lewisburg.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Bucknell University make $14,599 more than the average political science grad.
Located in the rural area of Hamilton, Colgate is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Colgate University earn a boost of about $17,651 above the typical earnings of political science & government majors.
Fordham U is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Bronx.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Fordham University make $3,396 more than the standard political science student.
Located in the suburb of Swarthmore, Swarthmore is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Those political science & government students who get their bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College make $2,036 more than the typical political science graduate.
Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Lafayette College earn a boost of about $9,699 above the average income of political science & government majors.
Located in the midsize suburb of Clinton, Hamilton is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the political science & government program at Hamilton College get $20,394 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
CUA is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.
Political Science & Government bachelor's degree recipients from Catholic University of America earn a boost of approximately $6,204 over the average earnings of political science & government majors.
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Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Political Science & Government students in the Middle Atlantic Region that almost earned our Best Political Science & Government Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The political science bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
