{
  "major": "Political Science",
  "slug": "political-science",
  "field": "Social Sciences & Humanities",
  "as_of": "2026",
  "url": "https://collegeranked.com/best-political-science-schools/",
  "source": "U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2026 release); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics",
  "metric_definitions": {
    "median_earnings": "Median earnings one year after graduation (Scorecard)",
    "net_price": "Average annual cost of attendance after grant aid. For PUBLIC schools this reflects IN-STATE cost; out-of-state students pay more.",
    "roi_10yr_usd": "Ten years of earnings minus four years of net price",
    "public": "true = public university (net_price is in-state basis); false = private (residency-neutral)"
  },
  "total_colleges_with_reported_data": 528,
  "shown": 25,
  "ranking": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "school": "Princeton University",
      "state": "NJ",
      "median_earnings": 63317,
      "net_price": 6128,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 608658,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "school": "Harvard University",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 61543,
      "net_price": 19066,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 539166,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "school": "Yale University",
      "state": "CT",
      "median_earnings": 57466,
      "net_price": 23777,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 479552,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "school": "Columbia University in the City of New York",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 61077,
      "net_price": 21590,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 524410,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "school": "Bowdoin College",
      "state": "ME",
      "median_earnings": 60626,
      "net_price": 14398,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 548668,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "school": "Williams College",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 56817,
      "net_price": 17716,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 497306,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 7,
      "school": "University of Chicago",
      "state": "IL",
      "median_earnings": 56022,
      "net_price": 14860,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 500780,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 8,
      "school": "Rice University",
      "state": "TX",
      "median_earnings": 54728,
      "net_price": 13370,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 493800,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 9,
      "school": "University of Pennsylvania",
      "state": "PA",
      "median_earnings": 65473,
      "net_price": 28699,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 539934,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 10,
      "school": "Colby College",
      "state": "ME",
      "median_earnings": 54353,
      "net_price": 17180,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 474810,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 11,
      "school": "Dartmouth College",
      "state": "NH",
      "median_earnings": 72618,
      "net_price": 29519,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 608104,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 12,
      "school": "Stanford University",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 59297,
      "net_price": 13807,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 537742,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 13,
      "school": "Vanderbilt University",
      "state": "TN",
      "median_earnings": 46843,
      "net_price": 15846,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 405046,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 14,
      "school": "Amherst College",
      "state": "MA",
      "median_earnings": 61125,
      "net_price": 23367,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 517782,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 15,
      "school": "Duke University",
      "state": "NC",
      "median_earnings": 54970,
      "net_price": 29612,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 431252,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 16,
      "school": "Barnard College",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 57298,
      "net_price": 28800,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 457780,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 17,
      "school": "Colgate University",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 56064,
      "net_price": 28786,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 445496,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 18,
      "school": "Brigham Young University",
      "state": "UT",
      "median_earnings": 47020,
      "net_price": 15564,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 407944,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 19,
      "school": "University of California-Berkeley",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 45418,
      "net_price": 13481,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 400256,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 20,
      "school": "Cornell University",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 60292,
      "net_price": 28690,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 488160,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 21,
      "school": "California State University-East Bay",
      "state": "CA",
      "median_earnings": 40460,
      "net_price": 9320,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 367320,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 22,
      "school": "Brown University",
      "state": "RI",
      "median_earnings": 54634,
      "net_price": 25184,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 445604,
      "public": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 23,
      "school": "University of Virginia-Main Campus",
      "state": "VA",
      "median_earnings": 45875,
      "net_price": 21565,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 372490,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 24,
      "school": "CUNY Lehman College",
      "state": "NY",
      "median_earnings": 43059,
      "net_price": 3148,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 417998,
      "public": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 25,
      "school": "University of Maryland-College Park",
      "state": "MD",
      "median_earnings": 42688,
      "net_price": 15678,
      "roi_10yr_usd": 364168,
      "public": true
    }
  ]
}