facebook icon twitter icon youtube icon

Political Science Careers

Your options are broad and diverse

  • An impressive number of Political Science students earn advanced degrees. More than 60% of our alumni go on to a graduate (MA or PhD) or law school (JD) program.
  • 70% of students get experience an internship in law or politics. Due to our prime location near Des Moines and a D.C. semester program, many complete two or more internships.
  • The Culver Center and Culver Fellows program gives Simpson students opportunities to interact with national political figures that very few other colleges can match.
  • Excellent students join our Simpson Debate team, national champions in 2016 and 2018, and runner up in 2017 in debate at the PDK tournament.

What is the final result? Great jobs! Here are what some of our political science majors are doing: (accordion)

Legal Profession

  • Judge, District Court of Nebraska
  • Assistant Attorney General, State of Iowa
  • Clerk, Missouri Supreme Court
  • Legal Staff, Child Support Recovery Unit
  • Iowa County Attorneys (Polk, Clarke)
  • General Counsel, Fareway
  • Clerk, 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Public Defender, Polk County
  • Anti-Trust Attorney, U.S. Justice Department
  • Counsel/Lobbyist, Nebraska Hospital Assoc.
  • Environmental Clerk, law firm

Politics & Communications

  • Scheduler, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
  • Senior Researcher, Center for Media & Democracy
  • Scheduler, Office of Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds
  • Communications Director, Next Gen Climate
  • Public Affairs Reporter, Des Moines Register
  • Senior Executive, LS2 Political Consulting
  • Consultant, Victory Enterprises (R)
  • Research Analyst, Link Strategies (D)
  • Finance Director, Iowa Democratic Party
  • Staff, U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee
  • Marketing Coordinator, Iowa Startup Accelerator
  • Operations Director, America’s Renewable Future
  • Communications, Conservation Law Foundation
  • Director of Govt Relations/Energy, Wilderness Society

Government

  • Administrator, Florida Dept. of Veterans Affairs
  • Assistant to the President of the Iowa Senate
  • Analyst, Iowa Legislative Services Agency
  • Analyst, Kansas Legislative Research Department
  • Legislative Affairs, Transportation Security (TSA)
  • Senior Legislative Analyst, Colorado Legislature
  • Tax Auditor, NY Department of Tax & Finance
  • Attorney, Iowa Insurance Division

Corporate & Lobbying.

  • Vice President, Assoc. of General Contractors of Iowa
  • Executive Director, Iowa Renewable Fuels Assoc.
  • CEO, Greater Des Moines Partnership
  • Legislative Assistant, Capital Edge lobbying
  • Research Analyst, American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Senior Applications Analyst, Sony Entertainment
  • Government Relations, Cerner (London, UK)
  • Government Relations, Iowa Hospital Association
  • Director of Government Relations, Cyngenta

International & Military

  • Officer, U.S. Secret Service
  • Logistics Officer, U.S. Marine Corps
  • Senior Associate for Security, Command Consulting Group
  • Linguistics Officer, U.S. Air Force
  • Foreign Service Officer, U.S. State Department
  • Language Trainer, Wissen International
  • Officer, U.S. Special Operations Command
  • Pilot, U.S. Navy
  • Peace Corps

Education and more!

  • Ph.D. student in Political Science, U of Texas – Dallas
  • Law students: Georgetown University, UNC, Drake, Nebraska
  • Education Specialist, Library of Congress
  • Curator’s Assistant, Monticello
  • Global Studies teacher
  • Social Studies teacher
  • Government teacher