Since 2004, 106 students have completed a PhD in political science at the University of Minnesota. Of these graduates 88% are in academic or academic-related appointments; 70% of these hold tenure-track or tenured academic appointments at major state flagship universities, elite private universities, and leading liberal arts colleges, as well as at smaller regional, state university branch campuses. A small but growing number of students use their PhDs to pursue non-academic research careers in government, the private non-profit sector and NGOs, and business.

Political science graduates have found homes at a variety of academic institutions and businesses around the globe, including:

• Albert Magnus College
• Albion College
• American University
• Arizona State University
• Ateneo de Manila University
• Barnard College
• Berea College
• Bilgi University
• Bogazici University, Turkey
• Bucknell University
• Colby-Sawyer College
• College of the Holy Cross
• College of Wooster
• Dartmouth
• Duke University
• East China Normal University
• Elon University
• European University Institute, Firenze
• Exeter College
• Florida State University
• Furman University
• George Washington University
• Gothenburg University, Sweden
• Gustavus Adolphus College
• Hamilton College
• Hamline University
• Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea
• High Point University
• Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Iowa State University
• Istanbul Sehir University
• Istanbul Technical University
• Izmir University
• John Jay College
• KOC University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Loyola University
• Loyola University, Maryland
• McMaster University
• Miami University
• Middle Tennessee State University
• Middlebury College
• New York University
• Newcastle University
• Oberlin College
• Ohio Wesleyan University
• Oklahoma State University
• Oxford University
• Purdue University
• Randolph College
• Rhodes College
• San Diego State University
• San Francisco State University
• SOAS University of London
• Southwestern University
• St. Olaf College
• Texas A&M University
• The Ohio State University
• Trinity College
• Tulane University
• Universidad de los Andes
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
• University of Bristol
• University of British Columbia
• University of Cambridge
• University of Delaware
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of Nebraska Lincoln
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• University of North Carolina, Greensboro
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Puget Sound
• University of St Andrews
• University of Texas Austin
• University of Tulsa
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• Vassar College
• Wake Forest University
• Washington State University
• Wesleyan University
• Whitman College
• Willamette University
• Williams College
• Wooster University