Social sciences

Political Science and Government

Western Oregon University · Monmouth, OR

Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · same subjectSee the evidence

The degree in numbers

Cost & earnings.

Annual tuition$30,735Institution-level tuition; programme fees may differ · before aid
Grouped debt estimate$24,750Same subject at 12 matched peer institutions · bachelor's
Annual credentials awarded11Average of available recent award years; not the earnings sample size.

Earnings context

One career stage.
A clearer comparison.

USD · Bachelor's · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.

Selected degree estimate$30,047
Same subject · national$33,993
Social sciences · national$32,389

Behind the number

Your comparison group.

Medium evidence

Same subject at 12 matched peer institutions · bachelor's

Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $24,604–$32,602.

Historical earnings archive. College Scorecard legacy FOS archive (file dated 2022-01-19; cohorts vary). Do not interpret this as today's graduate salary. Further study and career changes are not modelled by this early-career figure.

Bachelor's outcomes · 2 years after completion
Institution & subjectReported earnings
California State Polytechnic University-HumboldtPolitical Science and Government$27,947
Fairmont State UniversityPolitical Science and Government$29,685
South Dakota State UniversityPolitical Science and Government$30,409
University of Pittsburgh-GreensburgPolitical Science and Government · shared campus reporting$25,484
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend CollegePolitical Science and Government$34,586
University of Southern MississippiPolitical Science and Government$20,140
California State University-East BayPolitical Science and Government$44,356
University of Colorado Colorado SpringsPolitical Science and Government$35,864
California State University-StanislausPolitical Science and Government$18,771
Marshall UniversityPolitical Science and Government$21,964
Southern Illinois University-EdwardsvillePolitical Science and Government$31,941
Austin Peay State UniversityPolitical Science and Government$31,581
How matching & uncertainty work

We first look for the same subject code (or exact subject name), qualification, country, currency, source release and earnings horizon. Peer institutions are matched using admissions selectivity, completion rates, undergraduate size and institution type, with a small preference for the same region. These are institutional proxies, not a ranking of programme quality.

If subject-matched peers are sparse, we try related subjects at closely matched universities, related degrees at this university, then an explicitly labelled national reference. We never multiply a salary by a university prestige score.

Peer and national estimates give each reporting institution one vote, after taking the median of its related programmes. Shared branch-campus outcomes count once. The middle-half range describes variation between reporting institutions. It is not an individual salary range or a statistical confidence interval.

Evidence labels describe match quality and coverage, not validated prediction accuracy. Admissions and size are undergraduate institutional measures, so graduate-degree comparisons are especially approximate.

Historical cohort outcomes are not promised salaries or a causal effect of attending this programme. College Scorecard earnings cover eligible federal-aid recipients, not every graduate or international student. Source definitions ↗