BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
Best Political Science Schools Near Garden City, KS (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Garden City, Kansas is home to about 27,781 residents. Median household income is $72,511 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 18.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In Kansas, the top-earning political science-related role is Management Analysts at a median $81,210 annually (BLS, May 2025).
Closest Political Science Schools to Garden City
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer political science programs near Garden City, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Garden City city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Garden City.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Garden City at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Population
27,781
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003)
Median household income
$72,511
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013)
Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+
18.7%
Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003)
Other Garden City-Area Cities With Political Science Programs
What are the highest-paying political science roles in Kansas?
Based on BLS May 2025 state wage data, the top-paying political science-related roles in Kansas are: Management Analysts ($81,210), Social and Community Service Managers ($79,260), Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary ($78,800). Wages for Garden City workers will track these statewide medians, adjusted for local cost of living.
Should I look at programs in Dodge City instead of Garden City?
Dodge City, KS is 48.2 miles from Garden City and has its own set of local political science programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Is Garden City an affordable place to study political science?
Garden City’s median household income of $72,511 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Garden City while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Kansas public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
