UConn Department of Political Science

What UConn Department of Political Science does

The UConn Department of Political Science is an academic unit within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut, a public state university headquartered in Storrs, Connecticut. The department delivers undergraduate and graduate education across five subfields — American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, and Public Law — serving 900+ undergraduate majors, 115 honors students, and approximately 40 graduate students. Its core offerings include a Bachelor's degree, minor, and Alan R. Bennett Honors Program at the undergraduate level, plus Ph.D., Accelerated MA, and a specialized MA in Intersectional Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics at the graduate level. The department is staffed by 40 faculty distributed across five UConn campuses and supports six recently established research labs, a faculty bookshelf of published scholarship, and student-led publishing such as the Undergraduate Political Review.

The department's underlying technology is purely academic — research and educational programs rather than proprietary software products. Revenue is not commercially generated; it flows from state appropriations through UConn and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, tuition collected by the university, and external research grants. Documented grants include funding from the NSF, Russell Sage Foundation, Schmidt Futures Foundation, the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry for Science Research and the Arts (via the $516,015 Connecticut Baden-Wurttemberg Human Rights Research Consortium), and the New England University Collaboration on Renewable and Sustainable Energy. Partnerships span the UConn Humanities Institute, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, NCITE (Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence), and the NSF WISER Center. Go-to-market is event-driven: students are recruited through university admissions, high school outreach, college fairs, social media (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube), and a recently launched POLS Alumni Mentorship Program.

Name

UConn Department of Political Science

Legal name

University of Connecticut Department of Political Science

Website

https://polisci.uconn.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The UConn Department of Political Science is a public university academic unit offering undergraduate majors, honors, and graduate degrees in political science across five subfields, serving 900+ undergrads and 40 graduate students through 40 faculty at five UConn campuses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education — Political Science

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAAAI

Public Research Universities with Multi-Campus Systems

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

Keywords

• Political science education
• Higher education programs
• Undergraduate degrees
• Graduate research
• Humanities and social sciences

Headquarters

HQ city

Storrs, CT

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. University Funding: Department receives operational funding from the University of Connecticut and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences budget allocations
2. Research Grants: Faculty and students secure external funding from organizations such as NSF, Russell Sage Foundation, Schmidt Futures Foundation, and government agencies for research projects
3. Tuition Revenue: Department generates value through enrollment-driven tuition revenue as part of the broader university system

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The UConn Department of Political Science is an academic unit that delivers undergraduate and graduate education in political science, including a 900+ student undergraduate major, a 115-student honors program, an undergraduate minor, a Ph.D. program, an accelerated MA, and specialized graduate offerings in Intersectional Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. It also operates faculty-led research labs, hosts conferences and seminars, and supports student publications and undergraduate research opportunities.

Product overview

The UConn Department of Political Science offers a comprehensive portfolio of educational products spanning undergraduate majors (900+ majors), minors, honors programs (115 honors students), and graduate programs including Ph.D., accelerated MA, and specialized MA programs in Intersectional Indigeneity, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. The department also supports student publications (Undergraduate Political Review), research labs, and annual research events. Programs bridge the humanities and social sciences with five research subfields: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory, and Public Law.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Undergraduate Major in Political Science

Quantifiable outcome

• Students regularly present at major conferences including APSA, ISA, MPSA, NEPSA
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and flagship.

• NSF Weather Innovation and Smart Energy and Resilience (WISER) CentermajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Shareen Hertel contributed to NSF IUCRC grant awarded through WISER jointly run by UConn and U-Albany for mapping tool addressing socioeconomic disparities in power outage impacts.
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Department of Political Science is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UConn. CLAS provides administrative oversight, funding, and institutional support for the department's programs and operations.
• UConn Humanities InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple faculty members are fellows at the UConn Humanities Institute. The institute provides fellowship opportunities and hosts colloquia series where faculty present research.
• Baden Wurttemberg Ministry for Science Research and the ArtsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint funding partner in the Connecticut Baden-Wurttemberg Human Rights Research Consortium with $516,015 total grant for human rights research programming.
• UConn Office of Global AffairsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funding partner in the Connecticut Baden-Wurttemberg Human Rights Research Consortium ($247,586 from UConn Office of Global Affairs).
• Gladstein Family Human Rights InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShareen Hertel's Wiktor Osiatyński Chair in Human Rights is associated with this institute. The institute director was consulted in the selection process.
• National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDepartment of Homeland Security Center of Excellence where Evan Perkoski published terrorism research reports.
• New England University Collaboration on Renewable and Sustainable EnergymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOksan Bayulgen and Lyle Scruggs secured $100,000 interdisciplinary collaboration grant for CLEAN EARTH project involving environmental advocacy.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Political Science: Major public research university political science department offering BA, MA, and PhD across standard subfields. Strong direct peer on public-research-university model.
• MIT Department of Political Science: Political science department at a research-intensive university offering PhD and undergraduate programs. Comparable on methodological rigor and quantitative research focus.
• UC Berkeley Department of Political Science: Public research university political science department with PhD, MA, and undergraduate majors across the same five subfields. Comparable in faculty scale and research output.
• Harvard Department of Government: Elite political science department with full subfield coverage and strong PhD placement. Comparable on graduate program depth and research output, though private rather than public.
• University of Michigan Department of Political Science: Top-ranked public research university political science department with similar multi-subfield coverage (American, Comparative, IR, Theory, Law) and PhD program scale. Closest large-public-university peer.
• Cornell Department of Government: Ivy-league political science/government department covering the same subfields with comparable PhD placement record. Comparable on program structure and graduate training.
• Yale Department of Political Science: Elite private university political science department in Connecticut offering BA, MA, and PhD programs. Direct peer given overlapping geography, subfield coverage, and graduate program structure.
• Stanford Department of Political Science: Top research-university political science department with BA and PhD programs covering standard subfields. Comparable on research productivity and graduate placement.
• Columbia Department of Political Science: Top-ranked political science department offering BA, MA, and PhD programs across the same five subfields. Comparable on research output and graduate training.

Regional players

• University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Political Science: New England public university political science department that competes with UConn for the same regional applicant pool in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Most direct regional competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@uconnpoliticalscience
• Facebookfacebook.com/UConn-Political-Science-Department-1549535538632832
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uconn-department-of-political-science
• Instagraminstagram.com/uconn_pols

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UConn Department of Political Science