Northern Illinois University Political Science (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Political Science and Government
- Public university
- Dekalb, IL
- About 63 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Northern Illinois University political science graduates earn about what political science graduates earn nationally, $32,225 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, more than at 82% of political science programs in the country. Several Illinois programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Illinois and national columns are the medians across all political science bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Northern Illinois University graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Illinois median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois political science program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois 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 88% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned more in their first year than other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 10.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 22 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $31,599.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
91% of graduates (77 of 85) were working in Illinois one year after graduating. Prices in the Chicago area are about 4% above the national average, so a $32,225 salary here buys what about $31,107 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
$79,990Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$64,890Median pay in Illinois. 250 people work in this job in Illinois. 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
$124,720Median pay nationwide. 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
$103,780Median pay in Illinois. 110 people work in this job in Illinois. 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 Northern Illinois University
Political Science ranks 32nd of 41 bachelor's programs at Northern Illinois University by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($77,257), Nursing ($75,557), and Electrical Engineering ($74,442).
Other political science bachelor's programs near Dekalb
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,225 one year after graduating and $60,494 five years after. The median across political science bachelor's programs in Illinois is $34,418.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 16th lowest of 19 political science bachelor's programs in Illinois. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 84% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 65%. Compare the cost with other Illinois programs before deciding.
Most do. 91% (77 of 85) were working in Illinois 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 Illinois 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