POLITICS STUDENTS CONTINUE TO EXCEL

At Ave Maria University, faith and excellence reinforce one another for the purpose of forming students who are spiritually and intellectually robust. In the words of our provost, Dr. Roger Nutt, “The wonderful thing about AMU is our students are able to learn without ever being forced to compromise their faith.”

AMU’s politics department has a well-deserved reputation for offering one of the University’s most remarkable majors. The courses — Introduction to Political Thought, Constitutional Law, and International Relations — are challenging. Moreover, all politics seniors are required to complete a comprehensive examination paired with their senior thesis. Evidence suggests politics students and alumni reap great benefits from the wellrounded education they receive in this major.

The department’s success is measured in part by how well its seniors perform on the Major Field Test (MFT) in Political Science. The MFT in Political Science is a standardized test — taken by poli-sci students at over a hundred universities across America — produced by the Educational Testing Service. This year’s cohort of nine seniors majoring in politics achieved outstanding MFT results. The cohort’s mean placed the class of 2023 in the 96th percentile overall on this standardized test.

A breakdown of their collective performance reveals they received a competitive education in every subfield within political science. Politics majors in the class of 2023 ranked as follows:

Political Thought - 99th percentile

International Relations - 98th percentile

American Government - 93rd percentile

Comparative Politics - 88th percentile

The politics department at Ave not only prepares its students to understand and interpret the debates relevant to today’s political climate, but it also provides its students with the knowledge necessary to contextualize these discussions within the larger realm of political and philosophical discourse.

— Thomas Gilmore ('23), Politics

Given the intellectual camaraderie among the politics students and the passion and brilliance among the faculty, it’s no surprise the class of 2023 exceeded expectations and aced the Major Field Test.

— Thomas Walter ('23), Politics

This year’s test results improved upon the results of the previous year by 6%. Last year, majors in the class of 2022 placed in the 90th percentile. The class of 2023 placed in the 96th!

The 2022 politics graduates are of exceptional character, each member contributing his or her unique genius to the atmosphere. ... the faculty’s high expectations and diverse skillsets, coupled with intentional development of their students, guarantees a customized education rivaling that of any other institution.

— Raquel Althoff ('22), Politics

Similar test results were achieved by politics students in the classes of 2016, 2019, and 2020. The class of 2016 distinguished itself for achieving some of the highest scores ever on the MFT for the politics department. Major Field Test results depend both on the quality of the education received by students and the distribution of excellent test-takers within a given cohort. The impressive results achieved by AMU students majoring in politics over the years is a testament to the caliber of students attracted to this major. It is also a testament to the quality of the education they receive at Ave Maria.

The quality of both the students and the faculty in the politics department is phenomenal.

— Casey Whittier ('23), Politics

The department features longstanding and beloved faculty, including Dr. Seana Sugrue and Dr. John Colman, as well as newly welcomed addition Dr. Lidiya Zubytska. The department is currently chaired by Dr. James Patterson. Dr. Roger Nutt commended the politics faculty and their colleagues across the University, saying, “The consistently high performance on the Major Field Test among AMU politics students proves what we know to be true: a faithful Catholic university is, de facto, a truly outstanding university.”