Best Political Science Bachelor’s Programs for 2027

BYU puts research near the beginning of its 44-credit major. Political Inquiry leads into a project in American politics, comparative politics, international relations, public policy, or political theory. You'll also take Statistical Analysis and choose an additional skills course, with options including data visualization, survey methods, and computer programming. That sequence gives you practice investigating political questions before you fill out the rest of your upper-level electives and complete the required political philosophy course.

Florida's political science major combines 30 credits in the department with a separate introductory statistics requirement. You choose three introductory courses from American government, comparative politics, international relations and political theory, then complete substantial upper-level work. At least half of the political science credits must be taken at UF. If you're considering graduate research, the department recommends further statistics, Research Methods and its honors program. Those recommendations give you a way to extend the required major toward more sustained analytical work.

Florida State combines political science with a required minor or second major. Within the major, you'll study across subfields and take Research Methods in Political Science, which covers research design, collecting data and interpreting findings. The department recommends taking methods early so you can use those skills in advanced classes, papers and internships. Most major coursework must be upper level. Public administration cannot serve as the required minor because its courses already contribute to the political science major.

UNC–Chapel Hill's nine-course political science major includes American politics, international relations, comparative politics, political theory and research methods. For the methods requirement, you can choose public-opinion analysis, experimental research, strategy, game theory or other approved courses. Its Data in Politics track adds a sequence in working with social science data and applied courses that use those skills in a paper or project. You'll also complete at least one advanced political science course at the 400 level, alongside electives in your chosen interests.

UT Austin calls its political science major Government, and the BA asks for 30 hours of GOV coursework, 18 of them upper-division. You'll take upper-division courses in at least three of eight fields, which include political theory, public and comparative law, public policy, research methods and international relations. A tools course is required too, such as Research Methods in Government or Statistical Analysis in Political Science, and AP credit can't fill it. The internship menu stands out: legislative, campaigns and elections, administrative and political internships sit alongside a Government Research Internship, though only six internship hours count toward the major. You'll also finish six upper-division hours in one foreign language.

Maryland's Government and Politics major splits into two curriculums. The Bachelor of Arts trains you to read and interpret political science research, while the Bachelor of Science pushes you to produce it, adding Advanced Empirical Research plus 300 and 400-level methods and quantitative methods courses. Both start with American Government, a math or statistics course and Scope and Methods for Political Science Research, and the BA adds The Study of Political Philosophy as its theory requirement. You'll need at least 36 GVPT credits, half of them upper-level, plus Principles of Microeconomics and a foreign language through the elementary level. Benchmarks keep you on pace, and the first set has to be done within two semesters of entering the major.

At Berkeley, the political science major comes to 12 courses: three lower-division requirements, eight upper-division courses and one history course from an approved list. Methods comes early through PS 3, Intro to Empirical Theory and Quantitative Methods, or you can choose Data Science C8 paired with PS 88 for heavier data training. You'll take at least one course in each of five primary subfields, then specialize in one by completing its introductory course and two upper-division courses. Upper-division seats fill quickly, so the department urges you to declare by March of sophomore year. Strong students can apply to honors, a year-long PS H190A and B seminar that ends in a thesis, usually 50 to 60 pages or longer.

UCLA's preparation for the political science major is five courses. You choose four introductions from political theory, world politics, politics and strategy, American politics and comparative politics, and you add POL SCI 6, Introduction to Data Analysis, where Statistics 10 or 12 can substitute. The major itself is 10 upper-division political science courses, at least 40 units in all, each worth four or more units and taken for a letter grade. You pick those courses yourself from Political Science M105 through 199, so your focus is yours to shape. Departmental honors depends on a senior thesis, and highest honors is open to students who finish with a 3.85 major GPA and an A+ on that thesis.

Georgia separates its broad political science AB from a more quantitative BS. The AB lets you combine political theory and methods with American government and electives. The BS adds a stronger sequence in research methods, formal theory, and data analysis. An optional Courts, Justice, and Law emphasis groups courses on the legal system and legal theory. Both choices sit within SPIA, where language study and economics also form part of the undergraduate education.

Purdue organizes the major around a 12-credit concentration recorded on your transcript. Choices include Environmental Politics and Policy, National and International Security, Law and Political Thought, and Politics of Groups, Organizations, and Representation. You can also conduct applied research with faculty and participate in departmental labs. The department supports internships at several levels of government and in other organizations, so your concentration can guide both elective choices and practical experience.

Cal Poly's political science senior project can take the form of a substantial research paper or an applied project with a written component. Departmental examples include organizing voter registration and documenting work on an electoral campaign. The project runs through a two-course sequence. Within the Global Politics concentration, courses address conflict, developing regions, foreign policy, and international institutions, with room for approved government or research internships. It's a degree with a defined final piece of independent work.

Michigan asks for two introductory prerequisites before you declare, chosen from political theory, American politics, comparative politics and world politics. The major is then at least 30 POLSCI credits at the 300 level or above, including two 400-level courses or one 400-level course and one upper-level writing course. You'll cover four of five subfields: political theory, American government, comparative politics, world politics and methodology. The department encourages a 400-level topics seminar in senior year. Honors runs through POLSCI 381, Political Science Research Design, which you take before senior year, followed by a two-semester Senior Honors Proseminar where you write the thesis with a faculty advisor.

Getting into political science at UW takes three introductory courses with at least a 2.0 in each, because it's a minimum requirement major. The full major is 50 credits: those 15 introductory credits plus 35 upper-level credits. Distribution means one course from three of five fields: political theory, comparative government and politics, international relations, American government and politics, and methods. Four electives fill out the rest. If you want more depth, two optional programs add a transcript notation. The International Security Option focuses on the causes of war and the use and control of force, and the Political Economy Option studies how politics and economics interact.

Binghamton pairs ten political science courses with four complementary courses spread across at least three other social science departments. Two advanced political science seminars must be taken at Binghamton, making sustained seminar work part of the degree rather than an optional honors add-on. Alongside the general BA, the university lists Legal Studies and Global and International Affairs tracks. Its department also maintains ties to New York legislative internships and the SUNY Brockport Washington Program.

USF's political science major examines American institutions, elections and constitutional law alongside political theory and international politics. Its optional internship program connects that coursework with public-policy experience and academic writing. You'll secure your own placement and obtain approval before starting, then enroll in Field Work in Political Science. The academic work includes a weekly reflective journal and a final research paper drawing on your experience. Participation requires a 3.0 political science major GPA, and an on-site supervisor evaluates the internship.

There's no application for Wisconsin's political science major, so you declare when you're ready. The major is 30 credits. You begin with three courses drawn from three of four areas (international relations, American government, political theory and comparative politics), then add one research methods course such as Political Data Science, Political Choice and Strategy or Introduction to Survey Research. Electives cover the remaining credits, and up to six credits of directed study and the Legislative Internship can count. If you're aiming for Honors in the Major, you'll need a 3.5 GPA in political science and a two-semester Senior Honors Thesis sequence, and thesis applications are due in the spring of your third year.

Harvard calls its political science major Government, and it opens with Gov 97, the sophomore tutorial. You'll meet the methods requirement with one statistics course, usually Gov 50: Data, and you can keep climbing through Gov 51 to the graduate course Gov 2001 before you graduate. Breadth comes from one course each in political theory, comparative government, American government and international relations. The standard track runs 10 courses and includes a Gov 94 seminar. The honors track runs 13, adding a Research Practice Course, two terms of the Gov 99 senior tutorial and a senior thesis. Seniors who want hands-on policy work can take Gov 98, the Senior Capstone, which ends in an applied policy analysis project.

At UVA, the political science major for students drawn to domestic politics or political philosophy is the B.A. in Government. You'll take at least one class in each of four subfields: American politics, comparative politics, international relations and political theory. Then you pick a track and add three more courses in either American politics or political theory. The major totals 30 credits of Politics coursework plus 12 credits of related classes in fields such as economics, history, philosophy, psychology and sociology. To declare, you need two Politics classes taken at UVA with a C or better. Third-years with strong grades can apply to the Distinguished Majors Program, which centers on a year-long thesis seminar, PLAD 4960/4961.

UCF's political science BA offers tracks in American politics and policy, prelaw, international relations and comparative politics, and intelligence and national security. You'll build the major around American National Government and Scope and Methods of Political Science before completing your track's requirements. The degree can be completed online, although elective and prerequisite availability differs by format. Internships require school approval before they can count toward the major, and limited placements include government offices, law offices and campaign headquarters. Plan your track and practical experience together.

Columbia's political science major has you choose a primary subfield and a secondary one from American politics, comparative politics, international relations and political theory. You take two introductory courses, at least three courses in your primary subfield and two in the secondary, within a minimum of nine political science courses. Research methods is a separate requirement, with options such as Empirical Research Methods in Political Science and Experimental Research. Every major writes original research papers in two 3000-level seminars, small discussion classes that need instructor approval to join. For a longer project, seniors can apply to the full-year Honors Seminar, which replaces those seminars and produces a thesis of about 75 pages.