Our Graduate Programs

Graduate Study in Political Science at Purdue offers specializations in traditional fields such as American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Public Policy, and possesses strengths in areas that cut across traditional fields, such as technology and governance, political methodology, political economy and development, political institutions and institutional reform, environmental policy, national security, human rights and political violence, and politics related to group identity and conflict.

Graduate students and faculty at Purdue participate in research labs and programs in the department, including the Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL), the International Politics and Responsible Tech (iPART) Lab, the Computational Social Science Lab, the Law and Conflict Research Lab, and the labs associated with the Purdue Program on American Institutional Renewal. 

Students and faculty also participate in Purdue's many interdisciplinary research centers and collaborative groups on campus including the Center for CSPAN Scholarship and Engagement, the Institute for a Sustainable Future, the Purdue Policy Research Institute. Students receive rigorous training in a wide range of research methods in the department and through workshops, coursework, and speakers in the cross-college initiative Advanced Methods at Purdue (AMAP).

If you are considering doctoral study, please explore the information on the Prospective Students page.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Political Science

Doctoral students specialize (major) in American, Comparative, International Relations or Public Policy with a secondary specialization (minor) in: a) one of the major fields, b) political methodology, or c) a custom designed field. Our curriculum has ample room to explore interdisciplinary interests and applied fields. We welcome students with interests in traditional academic career paths and applied career paths.

Doctoral students become deeply immersed in the process of scholarly research and are quickly prepared to be full collaborators and independent researchers. We encourage students to execute research projects in preparation for academic and applied careers. In addition, we prepare doctoral students for independent classroom instruction and make every effort to provide an independent teaching experience for each doctoral student completing our program. 

Master of Arts Degree in Political Science

Generally, we only admit to the M.A. program those students who are interested in pursuing both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. Students who apply to our program with a Bachelor's degree or an M.A. in another field will complete the M.A. in political science as part of the curriculum of the M.A./Ph.D program.