Careers of Behrend Political Science Alumni

Updated September 2022

There are exactly 500 living POLSC alumni since the first major graduated in 1977.

We were able to determine the current jobs of 442 (88%) of those alumni.*

Career Paths

Of those 442 alumni, the most common career paths are:

Field Number and Percentage of Total
Business Professionals (n=151, 34%)
Law** (n=84, 19%)
Government Service** (n=83, 19%)
Education (n=60, 14%)
Politics and Policy*** (n=13, 3%)
Other (n=64, 14%)

* Some older alumni have retired; they are counted in the fields of their most recent jobs.
** Thirteen alumni (3%), mostly government attorneys, have been counted in two career areas.
*** Outside of government service.
Eleven alumni work in some aspect of international affairs in government service, education, or policy.


Business Professions

Among the 151 alumni who work as business professionals, 18 work in banking or finance, 16 work as sales professionals, 15 work in insurance, 13 own a small business, 11 work in health care management, 10 work in human resources, and 8 work in marketing.

Some of the business professionals hold the following positions:

  • Risk Lead, Google
  • Commercial Underwriter, Erie Insurance
  • Senior Data Analytics Specialist, Erie Insurance
  • Senior Loan Officer, H&R Block
  • Senior Portfolio Manager, Northwest Bank
  • Procurement Specialist, Rolls Royce Nuclear
  • Associate Marketing Strategy Analyst, Highmark
  • Director, Product and App Development, Hertz
  • Senior Vice President, Credit Review Manager, M&T Bank
  • Senior Sales Analyst, Southeast Toyota
  • Program Planner, Lockheed Martin
  • Product Marketing Manager, Motorola
  • Senior Manager, Industry Analyst Relations, Oracle
  • Head of Esports and Games, Nielsen Company
  • Director of Program Management, Collins Aerospace
  • Partner and Chief Marketing Officer, Gemstick (cannabis rolling papers)

Law

Among the eighty-four alumni who work in the legal field are:

  • 43 attorneys who own or work for small or large law firms
  • 12 government attorneys
  • 12 attorneys who work for private businesses or non-profit groups
  • 10 paralegals or legal assistants
  • 2 mediators
  • 2 who are currently in law school
  • 1 law librarian

Some government attorneys work for:

  • Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Federal Bureau of Prisons
  • Michigan Bureau of Elections
  • New York City Administration for Children's Services
  • Ohio Attorney General
  • Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
  • U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • U.S. Department of Justice
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • Warren County (PA) District Attorney's office

Some of the corporate and non-profit counsels work for:

  • GEICO
  • KidsVoice
  • Marathon Petroleum
  • Peoples Natural Gas
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • Thomson Reuters

Government Service

Among the eighty-three alumni who work in government service:

  • 44 work for the U.S. federal government
  • 22 work for state governments
  • 16 work for local governments
  • 1 works for the government of France
  • 10 are current or retired police officers
  • 10 are active-duty career military officers
  • 12 are government attorneys

Three alumni currently hold elected office:

  • Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
  • District Attorney for Potter County, PA
  • District Judge in Erie County, PA

Federal government positions of alumni (excluding attorneys) include:

  • Deputy Assistant Director, U.S. Marshals Service

  • U.S. Capitol Police officer

  • Research Analyst, FBI

  • Case Analyst, Social Security Administration

  • Deputy Director for Program Management, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Personnel Security Specialist, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist, U.S. Department of Defense

  • Program and Management Analyst, U.S. Department of Treasury

  • Senior Systems Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

  • Data Analyst, U.S. Senate Office of Public Records

  • U.S. Border Patrol agent

  • Program Manager, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

  • Analyst, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

  • Intelligence Educator, Office of Director of National Intelligence

  • Supervisory Data Analyst, Federal Trade Commission

  • Examiner, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

State government positions of alumni (excluding attorneys) include:

  • Pennsylvania State Police trooper

  • Deputy Director for Community Development, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development

  • Executive Director, Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System

  • Killer Whale Policy Lead, Washington (state) Department of Fish and Wildlife

  • Program Manager, Florida Conservation Corps

  • Policy Analyst, Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority

  • Executive Director, Pennsylvania Governor's Action Team

  • Policy Analyst, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission

Local government positions of alumni (excluding attorneys) include:

  • Caseworker Supervisor, Erie County Office of Children and Youth
  • Investigator, Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department
  • Police Officer, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

  • Housing Development Office Manager, City of Cleveland, OH

  • Planner, Transportation Program Development, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

  • Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer, Grove City, PA

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, Erie County, PA

Those with military careers are serving in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Marines.


Education

Among the sixty alumni who work in education are:

  • 15 social studies teachers
  • 7 who work as teachers in other fields in elementary or high schools
  • 7 who work as elementary or high school administrators
  • 4 university professors
  • 19 college or university administrators
  • 2 who are pursuing graduate degrees in order to teach
  • 6 who work in other parts of the education sector

Positions held by our alumni in elementary and secondary education include:

  • Social Studies teacher, Millcreek School District

  • Social Studies teacher, Iroquois School District

  • Social Studies teacher, Erie School District

  • Social Studies teacher in suburban Rochester, NY

  • Social Studies teacher in suburban Pittsburgh

  • Social Studies teacher in suburban Philadelphia

  • Social Studies teacher in Baltimore, MD

  • Social Studies teacher in suburban Austin, TX

  • Social Studies teacher in Bradenton, FL

  • School principal in Boston

  • School principal in Arkansas suburb of Memphis, TN

Positions held by our alumni at universities and colleges include:

  • Professor of Marketing and Sales, Ohio University

  • Dean of Undergraduate Student Success, University of Texas Permian Basin

  • Associate Director of Student Affairs, Penn State Behrend

  • Associate Director of Advising, Penn State Behrend

  • Student Service Specialist, University of Nebraska

  • Head of Reference Services, University of Connecticut Law Library

  • Doctoral Programs Coordinator, Stevens Institute of Technology School of Business

  • Faculty Affairs Coordinator, Georgia Tech

  • Director of Donor Engagement, Robert Morris University

  • Residence Life Coordinator, Thomas Jefferson University

  • Social Media Manager, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine


Politics and Policy

Outside of government service, thirteen alumni currently work in politics or public policy

Among the positions of our alumni in politics and policy are:

  • Government Relations Specialist, Erie Insurance

  • Political Director at Unite Here (union), Local 25, in Washington, D.C.

  • Ballot Measures Staff Writer, Ballotpedia

  • Director of Opposition Research, Invest in America

  • Senior Proposal Intelligence Analyst, RTI International


International Affairs

Eleven alumni already included in other career areas have internationally focused careers

Among the positions of our alumni with internationally focused careers are:

  • Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State

  • International Relations Officer, U.S. Department of Labor

  • Director for International Trade Policy, Toyota Motor North America

  • Program Manager, Embassy of France, Washington, D.C.

  • International Admissions Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh


Other Career Areas

Our remaining alumni work in a variety of fields, with health care practitioners, non-profit professionals, entertainment management, counselors, therapists, and social workers among the most numerous careers. Jobs held by some of our alumni in these other fields include:

  • Executive Director, Neighborhood Learning Alliance in Pittsburgh

  • General Manager, The Erie Club

  • Director of Podcasts, Turner Classic Movies

  • Executive Assistant to the President, Millcreek Community Hospital

  • Senior Director, Public Relations, Cashmere Agency

  • Project Manager, Our West Bayfront, Erie

  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist

  • Registered Nurse

  • Social Worker, Highmark Health

  • Program Director, Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh


Graduate and Law Schools

Among the law schools attended by our alumni since 2000 are:

  • Ave Maria School of Law

  • Boston College

  • Case Western Reserve University

  • Catholic University of Washington, D.C.

  • Cleveland Marshall College of Law

  • Cornell University

  • Duquesne University

  • Michigan State University

  • New York University

  • Ohio Northern University

  • Penn State Dickinson School of Law

  • Syracuse University

  • The George Washington University

  • The Ohio State University

  • Thomas M. Cooley Law School

  • University of Buffalo

  • University of Dayton

  • University of Maryland

  • University of Michigan

  • University of Pittsburgh

  • Vermont Law School

  • Widener University

  • Willamette University

Among the graduate schools attended by our alumni since 2000 are:

  • Binghamton University

  • Cambridge University (England)

  • Carnegie-Mellon University

  • Cleveland State University

  • Cornell University

  • Fudan University (Shanghai, China)

  • Georgetown University

  • Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland)

  • Louisiana State University

  • Mercyhurst University

  • Oregon State University

  • Penn State Harrisburg

  • Pepperdine University

  • The George Washington University

  • The Johns Hopkins University

  • University of Buffalo

  • University of Delaware

  • University of Illinois at Chicago

  • University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies

  • University of Leeds (England)

  • University of Pennsylvania

  • University of Pittsburgh

  • University of South Carolina

  • University of Virginia

  • University of Windsor (Ontario, Canada)