Political Science and Government at Patrick Henry College

Patrick Henry College's political science program carries estimated debt of $27,000—higher than the Virginia median of $23,750—while first-year earnings projections of $41,500 based on comparable Virginia programs fall short of what graduates from Liberty, UVA, and George Mason typically command. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.65 isn't alarming by itself, but it tells only part of the story for a program serving an exclusively non-Pell Grant student body with a high admission rate.

The challenge here is that we're working entirely with estimates drawn from peer programs across Virginia, not actual outcomes from Patrick Henry graduates. Similar political science bachelor's programs in the state suggest earnings that barely exceed the national median for this field, while the debt load runs about 14% above it. The school's strong SAT scores (1351 average) suggest an academically capable student body, but there's no concrete evidence that this translates into the kind of career outcomes that graduates from Virginia's top-tier public universities are seeing—those programs report earnings $4,000 to $5,000 higher in the first year.

Before committing to this program, you need actual placement data directly from Patrick Henry: where do their political science graduates land, and what are they earning? The estimated figures suggest a workable but unexceptional financial outcome, one that depends heavily on your child's career trajectory beyond that first year. Without real outcomes data, you're betting on the school's reputation and network to deliver results that peer institutions are achieving with lower debt burdens.