The Bachelor of Arts in Political Science is designed to provide students with the substantive and analytical skills necessary to study important questions about how citizens influence government, the responsibilities and effectiveness of government, and the consequences of what public institutions and officials do for individual and community well-being.

Course work explores Congress, the Supreme Court and other institutions, international relations, law, political behavior, political economy, political institutions, political theory, and public policy. The program prepares students for more advanced study and provides them with the core knowledge needed for professional education in law and public policy, and the skills useful for careers in business, education, government and public service.

Careers in Political Science

A bachelor’s degree in political science can be applied to many different career paths, from positions in government and business to journalism, teaching, nonprofit management and public policy analysis and advocacy. The career flexibility comes from the critical and strategic thinking skills that are developed in the major.

As with most liberal arts degrees, a BA in political science will not prepare a student for a specific job, but it will instill knowledge and communication and analytical skills that are valued by employers. It also provides a foundation for graduate study or advanced professional education in fields such as law, public administration and public policy.

The University’s Career Center is an important resource for students pursuing their career. Licensed counselors are available to provide strategies for mastering job interviews, writing professional cover letters and resumes and help students connect with campus recruiters, among other services.

Marketable Skills

Review the marketable skills for this academic program.

Political Science at UT Dallas

The BA in political science degree requires 120 hours to graduate: 42 hours from the University’s core curriculum, 57 hours from the major and 21 hours of electives. Students must complete a set of core courses within the major. An 18-hour minor in political science also is offered through the school. A

ll undergraduates can arrange for internships through the Career Center. In addition, students have the opportunity to spend a semester in Washington, D.C., completing an internship and taking classes through the Bill Archer Fellowship Program. Archer is highly competitive and open to the entire UT System, but UT Dallas students routinely earn a substantial number of slots. Students participate in a number of political- or law-related organizations including UT Dallas’ chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society.

Pre-Law Program

The Pre-Law Advising and Resource Center at UT Dallas works with students interested in pursuing a legal career. Their guidance begins in the students’ early years at the University and continues through preparation for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

Many pre-law students at UT Dallas are admitted to the nation’s top 10 law schools, and the majority earn admission to law school on their first attempt. Undergraduates may enroll in classes included in the school’s master’s programs in constitutional law studies, legislative studies, public policy or general political science.

Fast Track

The Fast Track program enables exceptionally gifted UT Dallas students to include master’s level courses in their undergraduate degree plans. Students who meet the requirements for admission to graduate school and the minimum GPA requirement for their major can take up to 15 hours of graduate level coursework that can apply toward their undergraduate and graduate level coursework. To take graduate courses in the Fast Track program upper-division undergraduates must have completed 90 semester credit hours and petition their associate dean for permission to take graduate courses.

About the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Founded in 1975 as the School of Social Sciences, the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS) is a compact, focused policy school embedded within a large, Carnegie-recognized Tier One university. EPPS students receive all of the benefits of studying at a major research university while also capitalizing on personalized instruction and close connections with faculty and classmates of a small college.

An EPPS education is interdisciplinary. Our nine discipline areas include:

• Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Cyber and Big Data Analytics
• Economics
• Geospatial Information Sciences
• Political Science
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Public Policy and Political Economy
• Public Health, and
• Sociology

All nine disciplines are interrelated, and an understanding of one informs a better understanding of the others. For this reason, we encourage our students to explore the various majors and minors within EPPS and to take classes across majors. 

As an undergraduate in EPPS, you will have the opportunity to work with professors who are probing issues that will affect your future. You will develop the vital skills you need to thrive in a rapidly evolving, highly competitive job market. EPPS will prepare you for careers in government, non-profits and the private sector that enable you to make a real difference in the world of today and tomorrow.  The school has six affiliated centers and initiatives:

• Texas Schools Project

• Institute for Urban Policy Research
• Army ROTC – Comet Battalion
• North Texas Quality of Life Initiative
• Taiwan Studies Program
• Initiative for Civil Leadership

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts: Criminology, economics, geospatial information sciences, international political economy, political science, public affairs, public health, public policy, sociology

Master of Science: Applied sociology, criminology, cyber security, technology and policy, economics, geospatial information sciences, international political economy, social data analytics and research

Master of Arts: Political science

Master of Public Affairs: Public affairs

Master of Public Policy: Public policy

Doctor of Philosophy: Criminology, economics, geospatial information sciences, political science, public affairs, public policy and political economy

Undergraduate Certificates

Undergraduate Certificates

EPPS offers the following 12-hour undergraduate certificates, which generally can be completed in one year of part-time evening classes:

• Nonprofit Management: designed to provide an overview of the nature and context of nonprofit organizations and develop competencies needed by nonprofit managers.

Graduate Certificates

EPPS offers the following 15-hour graduate certificates, which generally can be completed in one year of part-time evening classes:

• Arts Manageement and Leadership: focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary to work in the nonprofit sector professional settings providing visual or performing arts content and services.
• Economic and Demographic Data Analysis: focusing on the understanding and application of quantitative analysis of demographic and economic data.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS): focusing on the application of GIS in government, private sector and scientific areas.
• Geospatial Intelligence: focusing on the application of geospatial ideas and techniques to national security and other intelligence activity.
• International Banking and Monetary Systems: focusing on applications for monetary economics, forecasting, and macroeconomic aspects of banking
• Local Government Management: designed to broaden knowledge of important issues and approaches employed by professional local public administrators.
• Nonprofit Management: designed to provide an overview of the nature and context of nonprofit organizations and develop competencies needed by nonprofit managers.
• Program Evaluation: designed to provide students the opportunity to gain competencies in the design and implementation of program evaluations in fields such as education, health care, human services, criminal justice and economic development.
• Public Budgeting and Financial Management: designed to enhance students’ understanding and experience in public budgeting and financial management and control, governmental or non-profit accounting, and public expenditure planning, management, and fiscal control.
• Public Human Resources Management: designed to give students a full introduction to the principles, strategies, and techniques of public human resources management.
• Remote Sensing: focusing on remote sensing and digital image processing.
• Spatial Data Science: focusing on big data handling, machine learning, programming skills, and capabilities in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing/drone, geovisualization, locational intelligence, and spatial pattern analysis.
• Nonprofit Management: designed to broaden knowledge of important issues in the nonprofit sector and learn practical skills of managing people and data that are key to securing managerial positions and being successful in the nonprofit sector.