Which Illinois political science program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,834, with first-year pay of $54,737.

How much do political science graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 20 Illinois political science bachelor's programs is $34,418 in the first year after graduating and $61,432 five years after.

How many political science bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

20 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 19 of them also report federal debt.

Political Science (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

20 programs report first-year pay
19 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Political Science and Government

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois political science bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,418 in their first year, $1,066 less than the national median. University of Chicago reports the highest first-year pay ($56,022), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($16,834).

Median first-year pay$34,418National $35,484

Median pay after 5 years$61,432National $61,481

Median federal debt$24,562National $23,500

Debt-to-earnings68%National 65%

All 20 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$56,022	$88,531	$18,500	33%
2	Northwestern UniversityEvanston · private nonprofit	$54,737	$76,128	$16,834	31%
3	Wheaton CollegeWheaton · private nonprofit	$45,069	Not reported	$23,250	52%
4	UICChicago · public	$38,363	$57,896	$21,761	57%
5	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$37,531	$63,180	$24,499	65%
6	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$37,007	$68,766	$23,250	63%
7	Roosevelt UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$36,521	Not reported	$24,625	67%
8	Augustana CollegeRock Island · private nonprofit	$35,626	$60,666	$27,000	76%
9	UIUCChampaign · public	$35,172	$74,311	$20,025	57%
10	Illinois StateNormal · public	$34,519	$62,313	$22,201	64%
11	Lake Forest CollegeLake Forest · private nonprofit	$34,317	$56,287	$27,000	79%
12	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$32,359	$41,581	$25,000	77%
13	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$32,225	$60,494	$27,000	84%
14	Monmouth CollegeMonmouth · private nonprofit	$32,103	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	Bradley UniversityPeoria · private nonprofit	$31,902	$58,690	$27,000	85%
16	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$31,786	$61,148	$24,250	76%
17	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$28,721	$61,716	$24,739	86%
18	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$26,635	$50,172	$26,171	98%
19	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$25,912	$51,738	$17,550	68%
20	Saint Xavier UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$25,828	Not reported	$23,716	92%

Monmouth College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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 the 19 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$79,990

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $49,020Top 10%: $135,960

Social Science Research Assistants

$64,890

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $37,460Top 10%: $116,530

Economists

$124,720

Median 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

$103,780

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $71,990Top 10%: $127,190

Common questions

University of Chicago in Chicago reports the highest median first-year pay, $56,022. Its median federal debt is $18,500.

Political Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked504 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the political science bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024