B.A. Political Science - Political Science | Political Science | High Point University

“High Point’s political science professors guided me into one of the country’s best known graduate programs in international development policy. The phenomenal instruction and advising I received during and after graduation played a critical role in helping me to build the confidence and skills that I would need to land my first professional job in my chosen field.”

– Christine Elliot, Class of 2007

Program Overview

Students choose to study political science because they want to be challenged and empowered to make a difference in issues that matter. Because of this, the political science program at High Point University is centered on the development of the critical research, communication and analytical skills required to understand and engage many of the most important decisions and behaviors that shape our lives and the world. Majors choose our program because they want to develop close relationships with faculty members who are committed to mentoring them throughout their undergraduate education and beyond. As a result, our alumni go on to highly competitive graduate and law schools, and they build successful careers in a wide range of areas including electoral and advocacy campaigns, government service, legal affairs, policy analysis, and other fields that require well-honed leadership, critical thinking, and communication skills.

A Focused Curriculum

Our engaging and challenging program guides students to develop the necessary tools to make an immediate impact in the professional world. First-year majors begin to develop these skills in the major’s introductory seminars, which emphasize how political scientists think about and propose solutions to important social, economic and political problems. As they advance through the degree, majors choose from an intriguing mix of courses on the American political system, international politics, and the research methods that social scientists use to explain and change the world around them. During their final year, all majors complete a capstone experience that involves either a semester-long political internship or substantial research project, which they publicly present at a symposium. In order to reflect our students’ diverse interests, the program’s curriculum is intentionally flexible: majors choose from a variety of options for most of their required hours, and most complement their degree with a second major, a semester of study in a foreign country, or one or more political internships.