Political science departments report declines in enrollments and majors in recent years

S Mann - PS: Political Science & Politics, 1996 - cambridge.org
S Mann
PS: Political Science & Politics, 1996cambridge.org
Trends in undergraduate student enrollments and degrees in political science over the last
15 years is a good news/bad news story. The bad news that provides the current headline is
generating lively exchanges among political science faculty on the PSRT-L since May. It
may be that, with the considerable increase in high school graduates expected over the next
decade, the decrease in students selecting political science courses and majors will turn
around. But many reasons offered by faculty for the decline are worth explicating and …
Trends in undergraduate student enrollments and degrees in political science over the last 15 years is a good news/bad news story. The bad news that provides the current headline is generating lively exchanges among political science faculty on the PSRT-L since May. It may be that, with the considerable increase in high school graduates expected over the next decade, the decrease in students selecting political science courses and majors will turn around. But many reasons offered by faculty for the decline are worth explicating and examining especially because enrollments in Ph. D. programs are increasing, necessitating an expansion, not a contraction, of faculty positions. Data from the APSA's
Cambridge University Press