The Department of Political Science is seeing a shift that stands out against broader trends across university enrollment. While applications to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) have declined, the political science major is growing.
Department of Political Science Chair Molly Melin discovered applications to the major are up roughly 20% even as CAS overall has seen about an 11% decrease from reports given to her by Senior Associate Dean Asim Gangopadhayaya.
The increase comes at a time when universities across the country are preparing for an enrollment cliff — a decline in the number of college-aged students due to falling birth rates, The Phoenix previously reported.
Assistant professor Yuna Blajer de la Garza said the department anticipated enrollment challenges, but political science has become the exception.
With ongoing global conflicts, increasing political polarization and rapidly changing policy landscapes, students may be turning to political science for tools to understand the world around them, Blajer de la Garza hypothesized.
“People are trying to make sense of what is happening,” Blajer de la Garza said.
Melin echoed the same findings, noting students are joining political science seeking concepts and a vocabulary to interpret and explain what they see in the news.
Rather than reacting purely emotionally, Melin said political science offers frameworks which help students analyze complex issues more critically.
That understanding often translates into action.
Associate professor of political science Jennifer Forestal said students are not only more informed but searching for ways to respond to what they see. Forestal explained that students are exposed to a constant stream of political information which pushes them to look for deeper understanding.
That desire to understand politics may also be shaped by how students encounter information in the first place.
Forestal points to the role of digital media in shaping student interest. She said social media has fundamentally changed how students encounter politics, making information more accessible while also more overwhelming.
“It’s made it possible to get news from a variety of sources,” Forestal said. “On the other hand, it makes for what can often be a really confusing and overwhelming information environment.”
That environment, Forestal said, may be pushing students toward political science as a way to make sense of the volume of information they encounter daily.
First-year political science and multimedia journalism student Violet Cavanagh said the current political climate played a role in her decision to pursue the major.
“That trend totally makes sense to me because I see it as a ton of people seeing this need for a fix of the justice system or a fix to the administration,” Cavanagh said. “I feel like I’ve always had a strong desire to help fix the justice system and so political science was always kind of in the back of my mind.”
For others, engagement looks more interpersonal. Second-year political science and English student Audrey Schultz said she is often the person friends turn to when major political events happen.
“I’m always asked the question of how did this happen,” Schultz said. “I always get that and I’m just like here let me give you a run down.”
Faculty also emphasized how political science isn’t limited to one path. The curriculum spans courses in political theory, international relations and American politics.
Cavanagh pointed to her international relations course as especially impactful, noting that it not only introduces current events but explains the mechanics behind those events and why they occurred.
Blajer de la Garza described political science as part of a broader liberal arts education which encourages students to create a comprehensive view of the world.
“If you think about people who were scholars in the 17th century or the 16th century, they would never be policing the line between, like, philosophy and politics and economics and sociology,” Blajer de la Garza said. “I mean, these are different disciplines that are interested in different things but that are all in conversation.”
The department also offers opportunities beyond the classroom, including undergraduate research according to professor and incoming Department of Political Science Chair David Doherty.
Doherty highlighted collaborative projects with students examining topics like crime rates and political attitudes through his Cook County Community Survey course.
At the same time, the department is facing structural challenges. Plans to demolish Coffey Hall, where political science faculty currently reside, to a new space on Broadway which has yet to be constructed, raises concerns about space limitations and accessibility for students, The Phoenix previously reported.
Faculty are also frustrated with the pace of university administrative decision-making, lack of consultation in the relocation process and corresponding investment from administration.
Still, interest in political science continues to rise. According to Melin, applications to the major are up roughly 20%, even as the College of Arts and Sciences overall has seen a decline.
Career outcomes may also play a role within students’ interest in political science.
According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, employment for lawyers is projected to grow by 7.36% from 2022 to 2032, reflecting steady demand in the field.
Law school applications have also seen a positive shift with a 13.4% increase in overall applications compared to this time last year.
Melin said students today are much more informed than in previous generations. Political science, she said, offers a way to navigate uncertainty from news overload with structure and perspective.
