Major decision guide
Political Science vs History
History asks what happened and why, and treats the archive as the primary instrument — evidence is documentary, and the argument is built from sources in their own context. Political science asks how systems behave, and generalises across cases in search of patterns that hold beyond any single one. A historian is suspicious of a claim that ignores context; a political scientist is suspicious of a claim that cannot travel to another case.
How each major is officially classified
Both definitions below are the official U.S. Department of Education (NCES) CIP 2020 descriptions — not CampusPin summaries.
CIP 45.1001
Political Science
Official title: Political Science and Government, General · Family: social sciences
A general program that focuses on the systematic study of political institutions and behavior. Includes instruction in political philosophy, political theory, comparative government and politics, political parties and interest groups, public opinion, political research methods, studies of the government and politics of specific countries, and studies of specific political institutions and processes.
CIP 54.0101
History
Official title: History, General · Family: history
A program that focuses on the general study and interpretation of the past, including the gathering, recording, synthesizing and criticizing of evidence and theories about past events. Includes instruction in historiography; historical research methods; studies of specific periods, issues and cultures; and applications to areas such as historic preservation, public policy, and records administration.
What you actually study
Political Science
- American politics and government
- Comparative politics across countries and systems
- International relations and foreign policy
- Political theory (classical and contemporary)
- Public policy analysis
- Quantitative methods for political research
- Constitutional law
History
- Survey courses across U.S., European, and world history
- Historical methods and historiography
- Primary-source research and archival skills
- Field-specific advanced seminars
- Senior research thesis
- A foreign language (often required for graduate-bound students)
Where each major leads
The federal CIP–SOC crosswalk maps each academic program to the occupations it is designed to feed. Comparing the two lists shows where Political Science and History converge and where they part. Every wage below is the BLS 2024 national median for that occupation — not an outcome for the major, and not a starting salary.
Mapped to both (2)
Occupations the federal crosswalk associates with both programs.
$136,550 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.5% 2024–2034.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$64,580 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to decline 1.6% 2024–2034.
Mapped to Political Science only (3)
The crosswalk associates these with Political Science but not with History. Graduates of either major are still hired into many of them.
$139,380 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Master's degree. Employment is projected to decline 3.1% 2024–2034.
Social Science Research Assistants
$58,040 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Bachelor's degree. Employment is projected to grow 4.4% 2024–2034.
Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
$94,680 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Doctoral or professional degree. Employment is projected to grow 2.0% 2024–2034.
Mapped to History only (3)
The crosswalk associates these with History but not with Political Science. Graduates of either major are still hired into many of them.
$74,050 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Master's degree. Employment is projected to grow 2.2% 2024–2034.
History Teachers, Postsecondary
$81,500 annual median (2024)
Typically enters with: Doctoral or professional degree. Employment is projected to show little or no change 2024–2034.
Tour Guides and Escorts
Not in CampusPin’s occupation dataset
A major does not restrict you to these occupations, and plenty of graduates work outside them. The mapping describes what each program is built to prepare you for.
Which one tends to suit which student
This part is CampusPin’s judgement, not a measurement. Neither major is better; they suit different temperaments.
Political Science may fit if…
You want to explain how power works now, you are comfortable with theory and data, and you are drawn to questions about institutions, elections and policy rather than to the past for its own sake.
History may fit if…
You want depth in a period or place, you like archival and primary-source work, and you would rather reconstruct one case thoroughly than compare fifty shallowly.
Commonly misunderstood
These are frequently treated as interchangeable "pre-law" majors. Law schools do not require either, and the federal crosswalk associates both with a broadly similar set of occupations — the real difference is the research method you will spend four years practising, which is the part that transfers.
What to ask each department
Curricula vary far more between institutions than between these two majors. These questions surface the differences that actually matter for this choice.
- 1Does the history programme require a language or a research seminar with original sources, and how early does that start?
- 2How much statistics does the political science degree require here? Departments vary enormously on this.
- 3Can I write a thesis in either department, and which one supervises the kind of question I actually want to ask?
- 4If I want to teach in a public school, which of the two satisfies this state's social studies certification more cleanly?
How this comparison was built
The occupation lists come from the official NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk, which maps each academic program to the occupations it prepares students for. CampusPin intersects the two programs’ lists to show the shared and distinct destinations; the grouping is arithmetic on a federal dataset, not an editorial ranking.
Wages, projected employment change, and typical entry-level education come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and are attached to the occupation, not to the major. A median is the midpoint for everyone in that occupation nationally, including people with decades of experience, so it is not a starting salary and not a promise.
The “which one tends to suit which student” and “what to ask” sections are editorial judgement, labelled as such. CampusPin does not rank majors and takes no position on which is worth more.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a Political Science and a History major?
- History asks what happened and why, and treats the archive as the primary instrument — evidence is documentary, and the argument is built from sources in their own context. Political science asks how systems behave, and generalises across cases in search of patterns that hold beyond any single one. A historian is suspicious of a claim that ignores context; a political scientist is suspicious of a claim that cannot travel to another case.
- Do Political Science and History lead to the same jobs?
- Partly. The federal CIP–SOC crosswalk maps both programs to 2 of the same occupations — including Managers, All Other, Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education. It also maps 3 occupations to Political Science that it does not map to History, and 3 to History that it does not map to Political Science. A degree is not a restriction — graduates work outside these lists routinely — but the mapping shows where each program is designed to lead.
- Which pays more, Political Science or History?
- CampusPin does not publish a "higher-paying major" answer, because the data does not support one. BLS reports median wages by OCCUPATION, not by college major, and both of these majors lead to a range of occupations that overlap. The per-occupation medians on this page are the honest version of that question: compare the specific roles you are actually interested in, and remember that pay varies widely by employer, region, and experience.
- Is there anything commonly misunderstood about choosing between Political Science and History?
- These are frequently treated as interchangeable "pre-law" majors. Law schools do not require either, and the federal crosswalk associates both with a broadly similar set of occupations — the real difference is the research method you will spend four years practising, which is the part that transfers.
Read the full major guides
Related comparisons
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Data sources & methodology
Academic classifications, occupation mappings, and wage figures for Political Science and History come from federal datasets committed to this site.
Sources used across this page
Not every source informs every figure. Each data point draws on the source appropriate to it see the relevant section and the data dictionary for field-level provenance.
NCES Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2020)
Official academic program taxonomy: the code, title, and definition shown for each major.
NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 Crosswalk
The federal mapping from academic programs to occupations. Determines which occupations each major is shown as leading to.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Median annual wage, projected employment change, and typical entry-level education for every occupation named.
IPEDS / NCES College Navigator
Federal enrollment, admissions, tuition, retention, and program data. Released annually with a 1–2 year lag.
Where a value is unavailable it is shown as unavailable, never as 0, free, or a negative judgment. Always confirm final details with the institution before applying.
Suggested citation
CampusPin. Political Science vs History: How to Choose a Major. Retrieved from https://campuspin.com/compare-majors/political-science-vs-history