Which Missouri political science program has the lowest debt?

Missouri State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,500, with first-year pay of $37,944.

How much do political science graduates earn in Missouri?

The median across 6 Missouri political science bachelor's programs is $36,886 in the first year after graduating and $64,048 five years after.

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

6 Missouri programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
6 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 Missouri political science bachelor's program pays its graduates $36,886 in their first year, $1,402 more than the national median. Truman State reports the highest first-year pay ($39,813), and Missouri State the lowest median debt ($20,500).

Median first-year pay$36,886National $35,484

Median pay after 5 years$64,048National $61,481

Median federal debt$23,098National $23,500

Debt-to-earnings67%National 65%

All 6 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	Truman StateKirksville · public	$39,813	Not reported	$26,649	67%
2	Missouri StateSpringfield · public	$37,944	$67,212	$20,500	54%
3	University of MissouriColumbia · public	$37,722	$69,949	$22,517	60%
4	UMSLSaint Louis · public	$36,050	$51,429	$25,250	70%
5	University of Central MissouriWarrensburg · public	$35,556	$52,911	$23,678	67%
6	Saint Louis UniversitySaint Louis · private nonprofit	$30,502	$64,048	$25,000	82%

4 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

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 the 6 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

$59,240

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,540Top 10%: $79,300

Social Science Research Assistants

$65,940

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $39,250Top 10%: $79,860

Economists

$117,010

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $73,260Top 10%: $229,510

Political Scientists

$142,080

Median 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.

Common questions

Truman State in Kirksville reports the highest median first-year pay, $39,813. Its median federal debt is $26,649.

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 Missouri 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