Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Political science research assistant education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a political science research assistant. Political science research assistants usually study political science, economics, or international relations. 79% of political science research assistants hold a bachelor's degree, and 10% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 221 real political science research assistant resumes to see exactly what political science research assistant education sections show.
The most common colleges for political science research assistants are the University of California - Davis and the University of California - Davis.
There are also many online political science research assistant courses to help get the education required to be a political science research assistant.
What education do you need to become a political science research assistant?
What degree do you need to be a political science research assistant?
- Bachelor's, 79%
- Master's, 10%
- Doctorate, 5%
- Associate, 3%
- Other Degrees, 3%
What should I major in to become a political science research assistant?
- Political Science, 53%
- Economics, 7%
- History, 6%
- Other Majors, 27%
Most common colleges for political science research assistants
| Political science research assistant common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of California - Davis | 10.64% |
| University of Washington | 6.38% |
| Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania | 6.38% |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | 6.38% |
| James Madison University | 6.38% |
Best majors for political science research assistants
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Political Science | 52.6% |
| 2 | Economics | 7.3% |
| 3 | International Relations | 6.6% |
| 4 | History | 5.8% |
| 5 | Law | 3.6% |
Best colleges for political science research assistants
The best colleges for political science research assistants are Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and Duke University.
A political science research assistant with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for political science research assistants. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become political science research assistants.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
2. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
3. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
In-state tuition
$53,399
Enrollment
7,356
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
8. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$55,188
Enrollment
15,105
9. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
10. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
20 best online courses for political science research assistants
Advertising disclosure
1. Survey Data Collection and Analytics
This specialization covers the fundamentals of surveys as used in market research, evaluation research, social science and political research, official government statistics, and many other topic domains. In six courses, you will learn the basics of questionnaire design, data collection methods, sampling design, dealing with missing values, making estimates, combining data from different sources, and the analysis of survey data. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll apply the skills learned...
2. Data Science for Health Research
In Data Science for Health Research, learn to organize and visualize health data using statistical analysis in programs like R. Explore how to translate data, interpret statistical models, and predict outcomes to help make data-informed decisions within the public health field...
3. The Data Science Course: Complete Data Science Bootcamp 2023
Complete Data Science Training: Mathematics, Statistics, Python, Advanced Statistics in Python, Machine & Deep Learning...
4. Data Science Bootcamp 2022: 5 Data Science Projects
Data Science and Machine Learning Masterclass with Python with 5 Data Science Real World Projects...
5. Statistics / Data Analysis: Survey Data and Likert Scales
How to Process Survey Data and Analyze Likert Scales In SPSS...
6. Complete Data Science Training with Python for Data Analysis
Beginners python data analytics : Data science introduction : Learn data science : Python data analysis methods tutorial...
7. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R
Harness the Power of Machine Learning in R for Data/Text Mining, & Natural Language Processing with Practical Examples...
8. R Programming: Advanced Analytics In R For Data Science
Take Your R & R Studio Skills To The Next Level. Data Analytics, Data Science, Statistical Analysis in Business, GGPlot2...
9. Data Science for Professionals
It's time to leave spreadsheets behind.....
10. Complete Data Wrangling & Data Visualisation With Python
Learn to Preprocess, Wrangle and Visualise Data For Practical Data Science Applications in Python...
11. Data Science: Master Machine Learning Without Coding
Learn Fundamentals Of Data Science & Machine Learning With Rapidminer (No Coding). Dataset & Solutions Included...
12. Introduction to Machine Learning for Data Science
A primer on Machine Learning for Data Science. Revealed for everyday people, by the Backyard Data Scientist...
13. Statistics for Data Science and Business Analysis
Statistics you need in the office: Descriptive & Inferential statistics, Hypothesis testing, Regression analysis...
14. Intro to Data Science: QuickStart Guide + AI & ChatGPT Bonus
Learn the critical elements of Data Science, from visualization to databases to Python and more, in just 6 weeks!...
15. Machine Learning, Data Science and Generative AI with Python
Complete hands-on machine learning and AI tutorial with data science, Tensorflow, GPT, Open AI, and neural networks...
16. Data Science and Machine Learning Bootcamp with R
Learn how to use the R programming language for data science and machine learning and data visualization!...
17. Data Science Foundations
Fundamentals of Data Science: Learn the Tools and Techniques...
18. Data Science with Python Complete Course
Data Science 2021 : Complete Data Science...
19. Data Science A-Z™: Hands-On Exercises & ChatGPT Bonus [2023]
Learn Data Science step by step through real Analytics examples. Data Mining, Modeling, Tableau Visualization and more!...
20. Data Science: Complete Data Science & Machine Learning
Learn and master the Data Science, Python for Machine Learning, Math for Machine Learning, Statistics for Data Science...
Top 10 most affordable universities for political science research assistants
The most affordable schools for political science research assistants are Baruch College of the City University of New York, hunter college of the city university of new york, and california state university - bakersfield.
If the best universities for political science research assistants are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for political science research assistants.
1. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
4. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
5. Queens College of the City University of New York
Queens, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,338
Cost of attendance
14,281
6. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
7. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
8. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
9. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
10. Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$4,831
Cost of attendance
19,559
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for political science research assistants
The hardest universities for political science research assistants to get into are Harvard University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and Duke University.
Some great schools for political science research assistants are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for political science research assistants based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
3. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
4. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,506
8. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
9. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
10. Brown University
Providence, RI • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for political science research assistants
The easiest schools for political science research assistants to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, felician university, and kean university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a political science research assistant without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for political science research assistants.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
3. Kean University
Union, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
86%
SAT average
991
4. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - Camden
Camden, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
71%
SAT average
1,086
5. William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
994
6. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
7. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
8. American International College
Springfield, MA • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
1,010
9. Rosemont College
Rosemont, PA • Private
Admissions rate
89%
SAT average
1,026
10. Brewton-Parker College
Mount Vernon, GA • Private
Admissions rate
97%
SAT average
953
Average political science research assistant salary by education level
| Political science research assistant education level | Political science research assistant salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $76,094 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $62,408 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $65,218 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $68,363 |
Political science research assistant education FAQs
Have more questions? See all answers to common life, physical, and social science questions.
Search for political science research assistant jobs
Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025