Missouri State Political Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Political Science and Government
- Public university
- Springfield, MO
- About 27 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Missouri State political science graduates earn about what political science graduates earn nationally, $37,944 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,500 in federal loans, close to the national median of $23,500. One other Missouri program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Missouri and national columns are the medians across all political science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Missouri State graduates earn more than the national figure and about $3,164 more than the Missouri median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri political science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Missouri medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 77% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $217 a month, or 6.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
81% of graduates (21 of 26) were working in Missouri one year after graduating. Prices in the Springfield area are about 11% below the national average, so a $37,944 salary here buys what about $42,833 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to political science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$59,240Median pay in Missouri. 24,380 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Social Science Research Assistants
$65,940Median pay in Missouri. 750 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Economists
$117,010Median pay in Missouri. 280 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
Political Scientists
$142,080Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 400 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.
About Missouri State
Political Science ranks 23rd of 52 bachelor's programs at Missouri State by first-year earnings. The top three are Construction Management ($73,731), Nursing ($66,183), and Computer Science ($64,949).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,944 one year after graduating and $67,212 five years after. The median across political science bachelor's programs in Missouri is $36,886.
The median federal loan balance is $20,500, which ranks the lowest of 6 political science bachelor's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $217 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 54% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 65%.
Most do. 81% (21 of 26) were working in Missouri one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Missouri comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the political science program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024