The B.S. in political science is aimed at preparing students to pursue a variety of career options in the public, non-profit, and private sectors. Students can also use the political science degree as a starting point to attend law school or study public administration or political science at the graduate level. Another option for political science graduates is to pursue teacher certification to teach at the middle and high school levels in the social sciences, such as through MGA’s Master of Arts in Teaching program.

Regardless of the career path students choose, in the political science program they will learn how to read and critically analyze primary and secondary source materials, collect and understand data, synthesize existing and new research, and present findings to various audiences. Students will also have the opportunity to apply their academic preparation through an experiential learning experience at the end of the program; students may do so either by completing an internship opportunity or a research project supervised by a faculty member.

The career paths available to students who have earned a bachelor's degree in political science are quite varied. Many students go straight into the workforce, either in the public or private sectors, working in areas such as data analysis, government administration, and public relations. Other students pursue graduate degrees in areas such as law, secondary education, political science, public administration, and public policy.

Regardless of whether you plan to attend graduate school or not, the returns on a bachelor's degree in political science can be quite substantial. According to recent research by Federal Reserve economist Doug Webber, the estimated median lifetime earnings of students with just a bachelor's degree in political science are around $2.77 million, around twice the average lifetime earnings of individuals with just a high school diploma.

Comparing individuals with just bachelor's degrees, on average political science majors go on to earn substantially more than students in many other bachelor's degree programs including communications, computer programming, criminal justice, general business, history, management, psychology, and social work.

Political science majors who go on to earn graduate degrees have among the highest median earnings for any undergraduate major, with average lifetime earnings of over $3.42 million, even exceeding those for students with undergraduate degrees in fields such as nursing and other health sciences.

Current students can change their major to political science using the Change of Major form; they should complete the top of the form and ask a political science faculty member for their signature to begin the process.

A minor is a concentration including a number of courses in a particular area, designed to complement the study of a major with coursework in another field of study. A minor is an opportunity to explore an area of interest without making the commitment to complete a second major. Students who complete a minor in a particular area will have the minor designated on their transcript, in addition to their degree and major.

A certificate program is similar to a minor; the main difference is some certificates can be earned without completing a degree. Certificates are designated on students' transcripts and, in some cases, may be awarded a separate diploma as well.

We strongly encourage students majoring in political science to pursue a minor or a certificate program in another area of interest; most minors and certificates can be completed within the 120 semester hours required for the bachelor of science in political science, with some planning.

More ambitious students can pursue a second degree in a different area of study, although this will require completing more than 120 semester hours to fulfill the requirements of both majors. Students should consult with an advisor on making a choice of a minor, certificate program, or second major to pursue.

• To add a minor to their current degree, students should complete the Request to Add/Change Minor form.
• Students who want to pursue a certificate program should complete the Declaration of Second Major/Degree form.
• Students who want to add a second major to their existing major should use the Declaration of Second Major/Degree form.

The political science minor at MGA is a six-course (18 semester hour) sequence designed to expose students to the study of politics and government. While a minor in political science is probably not deep enough to study political science at the graduate level without additional upper-level coursework, it would help prepare students for the master of public administration (MPA) degree.

A minor in political science also makes sense for professional degree programs for students who expect to work in government or will have jobs in areas of the workforce that interact with government on a regular basis, such as defense, education, health care, information technology, and management.

Depending on a student's current major, adding a minor may increase the number of required courses to finish the degree beyond the minimum required in the degree program. Students should check the catalog or consult with an advisor in their major area before adding a minor.

Students can only add the political science minor to a bachelor's degree; students pursuing an associate's degree would need to switch to a four-year degree program. To add a minor in political science, students should complete the Request to Add/Change Minor form.

The European Union Studies Certificate Program is an interdisciplinary collaborative program involving several of Georgia's public universities that focuses on the study of the European Union (E.U.) and its member states. The E.U. is one of America's largest trading partners and includes most of the countries of Europe. An understanding of the E.U. is increasingly important in the business world, as well as being an asset to students who plan to pursue careers in government service.

To earn the certificate, students complete five courses (15 semester hours) on the European Union, which include courses offered by MGA faculty in various departments along with classes with the EURO prefix offered online by faculty from various colleges and universities in the state.

For details on the program's curriculum, please see the current MGA catalog. More information is also available at the central website for the program at www.eustudiesprogram.org.

Students who are currently enrolled in any four-year major can pursue the E.U. Studies Certificate by completing the Declaration of Second Major/Degree form.

Middle Georgia State students have excellent campuses in Dublin and Warner Robins where they can complete 60 semester hours of almost any baccalaureate degree that the college offers, including the bachelor of science in political science degree. Students can also complete the university's core curriculum online.

Once the core curriculum is completed at one of these campuses, students will be able to continue their junior and senior course work in Cochran or Macon, either as residential or commuter students; the Cochran campus is about a half-hour drive from Dublin and Warner Robins, while the Macon campus is about 20–30 minutes from Warner Robins.

Students in Cochran and Macon also have the option of completing a bachelor’s degree in another discipline along with the minor in political science, or completing a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies including a five-course concentration in political science.

While some political science courses are offered online, and it is possible to complete the minor fully online (effective Fall 2021), it is not possible to complete the major without taking some face-to-face courses in Cochran or Macon.

Classes on the Eastman campus are generally only available to students in aviation-related degree and certificate programs, in accordance with FAA and Homeland Security regulations.

The political science degree program emphasizes American political institutions and processes, although all students also complete coursework that covers politics and government in other countries (comparative politics) and international conflict and cooperation as well. Students will also get a solid foundation in research design, data analysis, and the interpretation and presentation of data.

Students have elective opportunities to study a variety of topics including constitutional law, U.S. foreign policy, environmental policy, British politics, southern politics, and political parties and elections, as well as special topics courses offered on an infrequent basis.

All students in the political science major must take a class that applies their skills and knowledge, either in a professional setting (POLS 4895, Internship) or a supervised independent research project (POLS 4898, Research Practicum). In general, students planning to enter the workforce directly after graduation typically opt for the internship, while students planning graduate-level studies often choose the research practicum.

There are numerous internship opportunities available to MGA students. The Georgia Legislative Internship Program (POLS 4896) is a full-time internship offered by the state legislature every spring in Atlanta, while there are numerous part-time internship options in the local area, in various government and non-profit agencies and local businesses.

Political science majors at Middle Georgia State are generally not required to take foreign language courses, unless they need to do so to fulfill the university system’s admissions requirements for first-time college students. However, we encourage all students to study another language, and foreign language credit (including AP, IB, and CLEP credit) can be applied toward the bachelor’s degree requirements. Fluency in a second language is a skill that can benefit students in both the workforce and graduate studies.

Our university currently offers courses in French, Korean, Latin, and Spanish. For more details on MGA's non-English language courses, please contact the Department of Media, Culture, and the Arts.

Of course. There's a very good chance that most of your political science courses will transfer. Students sometimes have to take a few core courses as prerequisites when they transfer, particularly those transferring from out-of-state or private institutions. To earn a bachelor’s degree at MGA, you will need to complete at least 30 semester hours of the 120 required semester hours as a student here.

For more information about transfer credit, see the admissions, advising, and registrar's pages for transfer students.

Most students fulfill these requirements by completing POLS 1101 (American Government) here at MGA, or by transferring the equivalent course in from another public university or college in Georgia.

If you have completed an equivalent course in another state, scored a 3 or higher on the U.S. Government and Politics AP exam, or took an equivalent course at a private college or university, you will normally receive credit for the U.S. constitution requirement along with transfer credit for POLS 1101. However, you will probably still need to fulfill the Georgia constitution requirement by taking an exam on Georgia state government offered by the testing center. For more details, please refer to the testing center's website.

Information about the U.S. and Georgia history requirements can be found on the Department of History's website or at the testing center.

Yes, quite a few political science courses are offered online every semester, including sections of American government along with several 2000-level and upper-level courses. However, students will not be able to complete the major in political science by just taking online courses.

Most of our online courses are full-session (15-week) courses in the fall and spring terms, although we do offer some short-session courses as well.

If you have questions about your class, the first person you should contact is the instructor of the course, using their office phone number, the email tool in Brightspace (Desire2Learn), or their campus email address.

For MGA courses, you can find your professor's name either on your schedule in SWORDS, on the current course schedule, or on your class syllabus posted in Brightspace. Contact information for our full-time faculty members can be found in the MGA Directory. Part-time faculty can be contacted using the email address given on their syllabus or via Brightspace.

Instructor information for POLS 1101 courses delivered by eCore can be found on eCore's website.

Instructor information for courses with the EURO prefix delivered via GoVIEW can be found on the EU Studies Program website.

If you are unable to resolve the situation with your instructor, please contact the appropriate individual below:

• eCore courses: MGA eCore coordinator / Email: .
• EURO courses: Dr. Michael Baun at Valdosta State.
• Other courses: Dr. Christopher N. Lawrence / Email: .

Rather than expecting students to complete a particular undergraduate major, according to the American Bar Association—the largest organization of U.S. attorneys—most law schools are looking for students who have taken challenging courses and succeeded in them, as well as those who perform well on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and have strong letters of recommendation.

However, political science is a very popular major for students who attend law school, although many arts and sciences majors are also common choices, including biology, English, history, and psychology. It can also be valuable for future lawyers to take classes in a variety of fields, as a broad base of knowledge beyond legal studies is useful for people who plan to practice law; for example, a personal injury lawyer would benefit from some knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

The Department of Political Science now offers a specific minor in pre-law that introduces students from any major to legal writing, the U.S. judicial system, and constitutional law. This minor is designed to be a solid foundation for a successful law school application for many students. In the coming months, we also plan to designate a pre-law advisor, who will serve as a resource for students who are planning to attend law school regardless of major.

Alternatively, students who major in English can pursue the pre-law concentration in that degree program. For more information, please contact the Department of English. Students with a major in English may also complete the pre-law minor offered by our department.

The A.S. in Political Science degree, which was largely intended for students who planned to transfer to another college or university to complete a bachelor's degree, was deactivated by Middle Georgia State University on July 1, 2019. If you previously selected the A.S. degree program and have maintained continuous enrollment at MGA since before that date, you can still complete the degree by following the requirements in your current edition of the catalog. However, this degree is no longer available to newly-admitted or re-admitted students, and existing students in other degree programs can no longer switch to this degree program.

We recommend that current students interested in studying political science at MGA, even if they plan to eventually transfer to another institution, switch to the four-year political degree by completing a Change of Major form and submitting it to their advisor, as this will avoid potential financial aid issues with taking upper-level classes while enrolled in an associate's degree program. All of the courses included in the former A.S. degree plan will count toward earning the Bachelor of Science degree.