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What does this major pay at different colleges?

Pick a major, a degree level and a state. You get what graduates of each college's program earned four years after graduating and what they borrowed in federal loans, from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, with the national median for the same program as the yardstick.

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Political Science, bachelor's programs in California

Among 34 California bachelor's programs in Political Science with federal earnings data, Santa Clara University graduates earn the highest median, $93,518 four years after graduating, with a median federal debt of $20,500. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo follows at $81,843. The national median for bachelor's graduates in the same program is $63,293. (2017-19 graduates, measured 2022-23, College Scorecard.)

Programs with data
34
Highest median
$93,518
National median
$63,293
The link opens this exact comparison.
Political Science, bachelor's programs in California: median earnings four years after graduating and median federal debt, in order of earnings.
CollegeMedian earnings, 4 yrs aftervs national medianDebt borrowed at this college (median)
Santa Clara University$93,518+48%$20,500
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$81,843+29%$17,831
University of California, Berkeley$75,128+19%$13,000
University of Southern California$75,090+19%$12,000
University of California, Los Angeles$74,202+17%$15,000
Loyola Marymount University$72,375+14%$20,500
University of San Francisco$72,263+14%$23,000
California State University-East Bay$71,022+12%$18,322
University of California-Santa Barbara$70,384+11%$15,033
Chapman University$68,856+9%$20,500
University of California-Davis$67,759+7%$13,687
University of California-San Diego$67,713+7%$15,000
University of California-Santa Cruz$65,890+4%$16,703
Sonoma State University$65,009+3%$15,000
San Diego State University$64,824about the same$17,364
University of California-Irvine$63,318about the same$16,000
University of California-Merced$62,815about the same$17,132
University of San Diego$62,301about the same$25,344
California State University-Fresno$62,298about the same$11,749
San Francisco State University$61,915about the same$16,200
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona$61,712about the same$15,000
California State University-Chico$61,293−3%$20,000
California State University-Sacramento$60,278−5%$15,850
California State University-Long Beach$59,787−6%$14,236
California State University-Dominguez Hills$59,558−6%$11,093

The 25 highest of 34 programs. Ordered by median earnings four years after graduating: one federal measure, not a ranking of program quality.

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The Political Science major guideHow much the college matters, by major

What these numbers are

Earnings: graduates of 2017-18 and 2018-19, earnings measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars. Only programs with at least 30 graduates in the earnings cohort are listed, and a multi-state system whose figure pools campuses in several states is left out of state lists. Median earnings of graduates who received federal student aid, worked, and were not enrolled in school; debt is the median federal loans borrowed at this college by graduates who borrowed (Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized and Grad PLUS; not Parent PLUS, private loans or interest). Programs with too few graduates are suppressed by the Department of Education. Federal program group: Political Science and Government. Earnings reflect who enrolls and where graduates work as well as the program itself.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field-of-study data, 10 June 2026. Download every program (CSV).